An old colleague had to cancel our lunch meeting last minute today. Whilst I was waiting for our meeting, I took the time to make some phone calls and do some brainstorming from Milsons Point overlooking the Sydney Opera House and Harbour Bridge, a gorgeous spot.
When I found out he could not make our catch-up, a flash of frustration crossed my mind because I am busy with a number of things I could have done otherwise. However, then I had a realisation:
What happens when we are busy? Most people push through their day and try to get everything done without taking any breaks, I have been there too early in my consulting career.
Over the last few years, I have learned the importance of stepping away, taking a break away from our computer, mobile phone and distractions, even when we are busy.
There is just something about being outside in nature for 15-30 minutes to calm down our mind and body. Let the stress flow away. And guess what? In those moments I have always found some new ideas to overcome the stress and busy workload in a more effective way.
The reality for most people, however, is that they bury themselves in their workload, then come home exhausted and escape to entertainment on their phones, internet or television. The problem I found with this is that there are no new ideas coming in, no new inspiration to actually deal with the stress and workload.
So like today, once my friend cancelled our lunch meeting last minute, I could have been upset about the misuse of my time.
However I realised that whilst spending time outside waiting for him, I had come up with a number of great ideas to market my business and connect with like-minded people.
Had I worked from home, I would not have come up with these ideas, so now I am grateful to have spent time outside brainstorming and relaxing, which was exactly what I needed.
What about you? Feeling overloaded with work and pressure? Then give yourself the gift of spending time away from your desk. Go for a walk outside without your phone, without distractions and just enjoy. You never know, you might come up with some of the greatest ideas to take a new and massive step forward!
