The idea of being productive is one that many of us think about and even wish for; we all want to end the day feeling accomplished and fulfilled. But what do you do when you feel stuck? What would be the next move when you feel as though you are behind the eight-ball, and there is no progress happening? I will mention four actionable things you could do to get unstuck and have a productive day.
STOP
When trying to regain your footing on a day that seems to be spiraling out of control and looking as though you won't be productive, stop! The first thing here is to do is to stop what you are doing. Don't take one more step, don't write another word on that email, or send that text, just stop; What you are doing is (obviously) not working, so just stop.
As a child, I can remember being in class and hearing that if you are ever in a burning building, you must crawl low towards the nearest exit. You crawl low because the smoke of the fire will rise, and low you will find a gap to be able to crawl and get out without inhaling too much smoke
Another thing I can recall learning was that if you got caught by the fire, you should stop, drop, and roll. The kneejerk reaction may be to want to run, however, running will make things worse; this will give more energy to the flames.
When we are facing a day that seems to be going downhill, we need to stop; continuing in the actions we're taking will only lead to further frustration.
Drop
The second thing to do is to Drop everything. Drop the phone, the tablet, the keyboard, the pen, pencil, and pad. Drop what you are doing. This is the moment to take a deep breath. Simply stopping isn't enough, actually, drop what you are doing and take a minute.
reorganize
Once you stop what you are doing and drop everything, it's time to reorganize. The fact is that if your feeling like you are in quicksand, proper planning was not involved. Sometimes we overthink the time we have available or underestimate the difficulties of a particular project. And of course, life will throw us curve balls from time to time, which usually takes form in the least expected moment and the busiest moments.
By actually stopping what you are doing and dropping everything, you can take a moment not only to take a deep breath but to also recalibrate. This is a moment to reprioritize. Create a small list of the top 3 things that have to get done ASAP, the rest, it can wait. Don't overwhelm yourself with a list of 50 things because truly, the paper will carry anything you put down, but the idea is to finish the day feeling accomplished, feeling productive.
roll
Now that you have reorganized, it's time to roll. Let's get back to work. The day isn't over so roll with it! You had your moment to stop, drop, reorganize, now let roll! If you dwell in your frustration for too long, you will finish the day feeling incomplete and unfulfilled. As you reorganize and get ready to roll, this is a good moment to remember the vision and the goals you have established.
