When everyday feels like Groundhog Day

It’s been just over a year now with shutdowns, lock-downs, stay at home orders, grey zones and red zones, and just like most of you, I can’t keep up. Regardless of what colour or lock-down type it is, we’ve pretty much been indoors. Going out for a few drives, dropping off groceries for my daughter who lives an hour away from us and only going out when we must for groceries, and even that, hubby has that covered so I remain mostly indoors. It feels like Groundhog Day every day. One day blending into another into one very long and tiring year. To find some light to things and stay motivated, I’ve been trying to find something new, something to look forward to everyday. It’s hard at times when everyday feels just like the day before but I really do try. It gets me up and looking forward to the day and maybe the event I’m anticipating, however small that maybe.

I’ve listed some of my favourites and yes, they are somewhat in raking order.

·       Leafs games!!

·       Raptor’s games and the Jays – although I still can’t sit through an entire baseball game on tv yet.

·       Long drives by the Lakeshore or anywhere near water.

·       A long walk in nature.

·       New yoga classes.

·       Online seminars and learnings – these have been great to keep up with what others are doing to adapt to this new norm and stretch my learnings.

·       A virtual coffee chats.

·       House party with friends – no not an actual party but an app that’s a bunch of games you play virtually with friends.

·       A good book – this has been something really exciting to look forward to, and I don’t give the ones that don’t resonate with me anymore of my time. I was someone that pushed through to continue reading but not anymore. There are way too many good ones to get to.

·       Duolingo – another app – I’m learning Spanish. I’ve been keeping this up every day. I will be well prepared the next time I travel whenever that is.

·       Planning the next trip. Researching, looking up new destinations, flipping through You Tube videos has me looking forward to the next trip. Definitely not the same as going but planning, plotting and researching is lots of fun. I have three booked and am waiting for the green light to fly.

·       A meal from a local restaurant.

·       A new project.

·       Shutterfly – I spent an entire weekend converting all those old vacation pics into photo books. It was an absolute joy to get the books and go through them.

·       Netflix series – there’s some great ones. It’s nice to look forward to a new episode each day.

·       Explore new ideas and opportunities. Plan them out. Make it happen.

·       Change up a room. We spruced up the principle bedroom with curtains and what a transformation it was.

·       I’m fortunate to be working on a big construction project. There is never a dull moment at work and seems something new happens everyday that never fails to surprise me.

·       Selfcare. So essential, so carve out the time!

·       Declutter – organize! 

·       I hate cooking – but a few times I did make it a point to plan and cook a meal – Moussaka one day and nachos another. It was something to look forward to and everyone enjoyed it. I am yet to plan the next but again…something to look forward to.

These are just a few of my favourites and I am always looking for more ideas. When everyday feels like Groundhog Day, challenge yourself to find something new. Dig deep. What’s new? Tweet me some of your ideas I can try out.

Mindful Leadership

 Mindfulness is being aware of yourself, your feelings and being in the present moment fully. It’s being super focused on the present without judgment. Fully being here in the now. No thoughts of your to-do list, what’s in the past or what’s to come. Not as easy to do specially with all the distractions and “noise” all around. 

We have been trained to multi-task, tackle an endless list of tasks amongst the myriad of distractions. If we can’t juggle, churn results and compete tasks with speed often times we are left with feeling lack and failure. So it’s no wonder we can’t be still, be present and just tune into the present moment. This is exactly what mindfulness is. It’s shutting down that chattering mind and pressing pause, to truly take in what’s happening, what you are feeling and reflecting without judgement of yourself and others. 

So what is mindful leadership? Let’s break it down. Leadership is about empowering, guiding and moving people forward to be better, do better. Mindful leadership is about doing just that in addition to being fully present for yourself and others. Consciously being aware of the present and giving yourself and others your full attention. At times we confuse leadership with getting things done through others. It’s not just getting things done that’s important but HOW it’s done. How it’s delivered and how it’s impacting the people we lead is just as important, if not more. This is where being mindful comes in. Being mindful and truly aware of the present moment, how you are feeling and how those you lead maybe feeling allows you to not only deliver results but also deliver them mindfully, effectively and compassionately, truly empowering others to be and do their best. 

How can we practice more mindful leadership? Here’s a few of my suggestions;

1. Meditation or set aside quiet time - start with a daily habit of setting aside about 10-20 min daily to meditate or sit quietly turning off the mind chatter. Meditation is one of the most effective ways of cultivating mindfulness. It maybe difficult for some to practice quiet meditation at first, so start with small, gradual steps. There’s a ton of apps to help start a good meditation habit. Bringing awareness and focus to your breath - in through the nose, and out through the nose is one of the quickest ways to tune into the present moment and quiet the mind. Start with small moments, with a minute or two and begin to increase it slowly.
2. Pause before you act or react. Next time there’s something tugging your attention, stop, reflect, and then take action. Not everything will be a fight or flight moment. Practicing a pause allows you to be in the present moment, and reflect your best next steps. 
3. Check in with yourself and others you lead regularly. How are you doing? How are you feeling at this present moment? These are some questions you can ask yourself and others that you lead. Give yourself and others that space to answer. LISTEN to the answers without judgement. Being mindful is about being in the present moment and  your feelings with no judgement. Recognizing that there is no good or bad but that it just is. Let it sit. 
4. Hold space - to hold space for someone is truly being present, withholding judgments, and that human tendency to go into solution mode. This is true even for yourself. It’s giving yourself and those you lead the time and space when they are going through a difficult problem to slowly work itself through. 
5. Avoid picking up the phone - set aside time to leave the distractions at bay. Tempting as it maybe to multi-task, just stop. Put down the phone or whatever the other distraction is and focus on just one thing. While multi-tasking maybe an essential skill these days it dilutes the mind of really staying focused and finding that flow. It doesn’t have to be all the time, but find sometime throughout the day to focus on one thing and one thing only. 
6. Exercise - it’s yoga for me. I find an easy linkage between yoga and mindfulness but it maybe something else for you. A run, a walk, or whatever choose, find time to move. Working out the body also works the mind. It’s also a great way to release tension and stress which often gets in the way of being present and being mindful. 

Mindful,leadership is an essential quality in good leadership. You can’t be a good leader without being mindful. Practicing and cultivating mindfulness should be a daily habit. What are some of your suggestions? 

Rest and Relax

 It’s 10 months since COVID times and a new norm established. I’ve been working from home since March and quite frankly it’s been even busier. I’m on my laptop at the start to the very end of the working day and by the time I log out I’m pretty beat. I think at work, there was that natural interruptions, breaks, travel time to meetings and of course the office chatter. I do love working from home. It allows me to sleep in just a little longer and waking up naturally instead of a jarring alarm clock. I don’t have to rush to catch a train to work and back home. Once I’m done my day, I get to shut off and I’m home with my family. Lots of bonuses for sure. It does however, get a bit exhausting. The screen time draining. So in between it all I’ve been doing what I can stay healthy, safe and sane. Yoga helps. So does wine and family. This past few months have been exceptionally busy. So this weekend when someone asked me “so what are your plans this weekend” I didn’t hesitate to answer “rest and relaxation”. It gets too easy to get sucked in to constantly be working, moving and staying busy, we forget that sometimes, we just need rest. Yep, it’s R and R for me and making sure I milk every lethargic habit this weekend;

• watching endless You Tube videos on food and travel. I’ve been watching Sailing Nadji and gosh I so want to buy a sail boat and go sailing around the world. Yosh, Bonita and Marley seem to be on to something right. 
• curling up under a blanket reading my very latest book, The Skin We’re In by Desmond Cole. It’s a tough and sad one so I read a chapter at a time. 
• talking to family. 
• listening to my daughter’s Radio Show at Laurier called the Basement
• shamelessly playing Candy Crush on my phone. 
• hot tubbing it at night.

Nothing too much and nothing too exciting. Just unwinding and coming down from some pretty intense few weeks. 

Always make time for doing nothing. Your brain needs the rest and so do you.