I started work on Monday morning and felt I was wading through treacle……so I began researching the life of 1930’s movie star James Cagney. The ‘treatment’ worked!It is so easy to get into the routine of drudgery, doing the same old things day in and day out. However, every day brings new possibilities and the opportunity for fresh eyes. Getting back to good old ‘You Dirty Rat’ Cagney (did you know he never actually said those words in the move Taxi!), I had a research project to do and had planned to do my ‘Hollywood Homework’ that evening.
However, I did not feel like doing my ‘day job’ at 9am and knew I wouldn’t make effective progress if I tried, so I decided to ‘flip’ my day and began work on Cagney. Within three hours I had come alive and achieved so much more, simply because I’d engaged in stimulating work early on in the day. I returned to my ‘day job’ later in the afternoon, and got through all the work that needed doing in half the time. My ‘day flip’ created new motivation and stronger focus, and I finished up achieving more on what would have been a ‘sluggish’ day (it comes to us all).Sometimes it pays to take a look at the working day from a different perspective. I can hear you all saying ‘ah yes, but I work for an employer and it’s not that easy’. My reply is simple ‘every day has possibilities and you can choose to find them or make excuses as to why you can’t”.
This isn’t about James Cagney or anything else for that matter, it is about working effectively. Where your daily workload is within your control, choosing to engage with something that galvanises you is far better than doing something that doesn’t. Be smart in your working and, whenever possible, make two and two equal five. Set out to achieve more by being smarter with your day.