Brain Fog ~ Short Temperament Getting You Down?

When I mentally and physically shut down, there isn’t any way that I can be productive. I am a one-person small business, and I pride myself on doing quality work, working through client issues, & being accessible.

This energizer bunny completely loses her energy. I can’t think straight, can’t remember phone numbers, and literally cringe when that cell phone rings. I hit a wall. I am a multi-tasker and think on my feet. What I didn’t realize I was doing, listening to my own warning signals. For me, when I get up in the morning and feel just as tired as I did the night before ~ that is my body telling me “I need a break!”

I had to sit back and ask myself why do I feel guilty for taking a day off? If I worked for someone else, I would have set hours and set days. Working for myself, my set hours became 12 hour days and working weekends.

This hit home! I put myself in this situation. I knew I needed to change my accessibility; so after much thought, I decided I would instill work parameters and I would not be available (for business issues) on the weekends.

This wasn’t the game-changer, though. Not only did I have to educate my clients, but I had to follow through with the new working hours and days. One last hurdle for me was me! I had to be ok with honoring myself that day off.

Let’s start with what happened with the changes:

• My clients had no issue with my revised work schedule. What? So the issue wasn’t my clients, the issue was me! Note to self, “Do Not Form an opinion about what others think.”
• Why did I feel I had to be “on” 24/7? As a solo entrepreneur, the implication to be available is erroneous. I felt I needed to be all things. Unfortunately, my business side of things was sliding. I couldn’t give the energy to family, home and business. There just wasn’t enough of me to go around.
• Taking a mental health day for just myself made little sense. I would shake my head when reading about a “mental health day”. Now, I understood what they were talking about! Taking that day - sometimes in the middle of the week, is the key to being productive.
• I actually began my morning asking myself, “how do you feel this morning Judy?” Depending on the answer, either I was ready to slay the dragon or I couldn’t care less. I really started paying attention to the “I couldn’t care less” attitude. Sometimes I had no choice. I set appointments in advance. Short of an emergency, I would not call and reschedule. When this happened, I still honored my obligation, but the difference was my mindset. I would consciously shorten my day. Rearranging my to do list just meant that those tasks would still be there tomorrow.
• My best mental health day is one that I don’t arrange. Throwing that schedule out the window is the best mental health day I could have. I may stay in my sweats all day! Curl up with a good mystery, get my Starbucks iced drink, turn off my phone, and shut the laptop completely down. I may decide to take Sir Riley on a very long walk, enjoy the lake, watch him jump in and chase the ducks. Having different mental health days is the key to listening to your heart.
• The biggest take away, realizing I needed to be accountable to myself only. I had to figure out what worked for me. Changing course isn’t easy. But with time, taking care of myself is actually making me more productive.

Taking weekends off was the best decision I ever made. I leave the door open to do a bit of client work on the weekend, but I don’t tell my clients that!