What to do when “to do” isn’t happening, aka, Calgon ™! Take me away activities
Sometimes you face one or more of the following conditions:
- your to do list is heinous
- you’ve looked at your email and just can’t face it
- you have a few minutes between meetings and don’t need to go to the bathroom or get coffee (interesting how these relate–one could just buy a cup of coffee and dump it directly in the toilet and eliminate the middle man, as it were)
- you just need a break
So here’s my list of stuff you can do that inches toward productivity while still providing a “break-like” feel:
- remove really large files from your mail, assuming you’re a luser like me who has a mail quota
- clean up your computer desktop
- weed out some paper files
- streamline your bookmarks
- read a magazine
- take a walk on campus. I call this my “sanity stroll”
- walk around and talk to staff, especially those who don’t work close to your office. Say hi, listen, and learn. In Leadership land they’ve actually given this a name: management by walking around. I guess if you’re the boss, you get to interrupt folks and drag them down with you? 🙂
rufusb said:
Oct 14, 08 at 9:44 amI would add: Find a private room and have a few minutes of “weeping time” like Holly Hunter in Broadcast News.
admin said:
Oct 14, 08 at 5:10 pmYes, there is an aspect to the “sanity stroll” that’s more like the “weep walk” or a “freedom flight”…