Schedule Some FUN and Watch...
...Your Creative Energy SoarI create my own schedule – I’ve been doing so for years. My tendency, however, is to work more and harder than is good for me. This week I woke up and thought, “I have been pushing myself for months now– I need to slow down.” It was like an awakening. I realized that I forgot to have fun – I hadn’t been diving for 6 months, forgot I had a bicycle, stopped taking the dog to the beach, etc. With this awakening, I scheduled a dive, a bike ride and took my dog to the beach. I listened to myself and had fun. This week, I felt so much more productive. Funny how that works - I had to schedule fun to break the cycle of working too much and too hard.
Fun is critical to our success. When we stop having fun, our creativity dwindles and low energy sets in. When this happens, it creates a downward spiral whereas we have to work harder and longer to get things done. Here are a few signs that our minds and bodies tell us when we need to schedule fun and rejuvenate our creative selves…
1. Feeling like you didn’t get anything done. Have you ever completed a day and said to yourself, “I feel like I didn’t get anything done today.”? I’ve learned that this is a sign that energy is low and it is taking longer to be productive, thus feeling like nothing is getting done.
2. Dreaming of “getaways” – if you find yourself thinking about how nice it would be to sit on a beach or relax in a lounge chair – it’s time to schedule some fun!
3. Body signs – heart palpitations, new physical ailments, anxiety, old feelings of worry or fear setting in….if we don’t listen to our minds, our bodies will speak to us.
4. Morning Cues and/or Intuition – When we first wake up, we are often given Morning Cues – intuitive messages about ourselves, our needs, or our lives. Morning cues may tell you that you need to take a day off or may give you messages of other kinds. Listen to your morning cues – be still and quite for a few minutes before you get out of bed in the morning. Ask yourself, “what do I need today?” Our job is to respect our inner voice – it helps us stay balanced.
Schedule fun time and enjoy yourself!