I set the alarm last night for this morning. I don’t normally do that because I have a child that historically can sense when an alarm is going to go off and wakes up about 20 minutes before it.  But lately said child has been sleeping in, and while it’s a lovely treat, I need to recognize that I am a morning person and the rush that occurs after a 7:45am wake-up is just not the best way to start my day.

This all happened because last week I found a notebook that I had written in 4 years ago to the day. It’s creepy like that.  Lexi was 12 days away from turning one and I had done some online exercise to determine what elements needed to be a part of my day and my week to feel like it had been a great week.

For giggles I thought I’d spend this week seeing if those things remain true. So far that’s very much the case.

One of the things on my list: take 5 minutes to learn about something I’m curious about.

I am curious by nature, but it is still something that needs to be nurtured because as the rush of the day goes by sometimes I find myself content letting a lot of questions go by unasked.

So today I spent five minutes learning more about goats. Capra being named after the italian word for goat was mostly an inside joke.  But the more I learn about them the more I see that it is the perfect fit – unintentionally perfect. Sometimes things work out better than you really believed they could.

My favorite thing I learned about goats this morning: Goats will test fences, either intentionally or simply because they are handy to climb on. If any of the fencing can be spread, pushed over or down, or otherwise be overcome, the goats will escape. (thanks Wikipedia)

I like this because it speaks to a goat’s curiosity – about a goat’s willingness to see what happens out there – and it’s not passive – they’re not waiting for the gate to open.  You know what else I love?  It says the goats will escape.  It’s not that they may or that they could or that they might.  It’s that they will.  They see an opportunity to move forward? They take it.  It’s brave and unknowing but they’re compelled to do it.

Next time I see a goat I’m teaching it to high-five.

Now I’m curious -what are you going to take 5 minutes to learn today?

 

You’ve worked hard and gotten your project just where it needs to be. Machinery (real or figurative) is humming and good things are happening. The problem is that to get where you want to go, you have to wait for that machinery to work it’s magic and you’ve got some down time. How do you fill that time productively without messing with the nifty little system you’ve got running in the background?

1. Check your list of important stuff. Is there anything you’ve been neglecting while you’ve been working intensely toward getting things up and running? Maybe it’s your social media presence. Maybe it’s your blog. Maybe there are clients you need to follow up with – check everything!
2. Go through the potential scenarios and outcomes from the process you’re waiting on and make plans for next steps based on the possibilities. This will help you be ready for whatever comes next, even if it’s something you didn’t entirely anticipate.
3. Make sure your work processes are streamlined and efficient. Take a close look at the way you approach your business and take out the extra stuff that you don’t need – or eliminate things that simply don’t need to be done.

And remember, you’ve worked hard to get to this point and have earned a breather. It is important to stay productive and use your time wisely, but it’s just as important to take a sanity break and relax a bit. What’s the use of hard work if you don’t get to enjoy the fruits of your labor?