Wednesday was a day that flew by. I had a number of excellent meetings, a great administrative professional lunch, a few great conversations, and then, a short bit of time to try and wrap my head around everything that happened that day.
In fact, the day was so busy, that I was handling phone calls up until the time I picked my daughter up from her afterschool program.
While this is great, and it showcases the many ways in which my role is exciting, intriguing, and learning-rich, it also is a pace that I wish was a bit slower. I’ve found, over the years, that I need a bit of thinking time each day in order to be at my best.
For me, I don’t mind being overwhelmed, but I tend to do best, and tend to be most effective, when I have a bit of down time each day to collect myself, reprioritize, and get my bearings. When I run from learning opportunity to learning opportunity, with little or no time to process, I find that I end up leaving a part of my brain in the previous activity; I almost have to do so in order to “wrap everything up.” This makes it hard for me to give everything to the new task, which is unfortunate, because I always want to work at my best.
Knowing that I need time to think encourages me to find ways to build small pieces of reflection time into my schedule. While not always easy, I do find that I’m more effective when I have those moments to breathe, and a bit of time, to even think. The other option, of course, is for me to continue to grow so that I can be my best even when I don’t have downtime. While this will be challenging for me, it is an excellent way to continue my growth!