Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow

What is the redeeming aspect of all this snow?

I notice that it forces many over-scheduled people to get access to the most valuable commodity around these days–unscheduled time!

When meetings, trips and kids activities get cancelled there arises an awareness of how you pack your days. It seems people breathe a bit when they are forced to take a snow day, especially when many others are doing the same thing.

Are packed days good for business? Extended periods without any white space in the day takes its toll on your mind and body. You only realize this when you slow down (or are forced to slow down). During periods of long days and weeks and months as a CEO, when I would finally go on vacation I’d be sick for the first few days of the trip. At least I was with my family right!

My inner Pusher loves packed days but those innovative, dreamer parts of me need space to be creative. That’s why I like plane rides – I get to dream a bit.

Then there are relationships. When I work with teams on off-sites I wonder if the biggest gift they are getting from being with me is just time to connect with each other. It’s little surprise that relationships among co-workers (especially senior execs) are so shallow and fragile. There’s little open time to for them to know each other and so many are connecting mostly via email. Hundreds of hours working together their core need for connection goes unmet. To many business managers and staff stand at the edge of a crystal clear lake dying of thirst.

Like a farmer who knows better than to fight mother nature, if you are one of the 100 million people in the US affected by the weather this week see it as an opportunity to slow down. You may make better progress as a result.

Give me your thoughts and tricks for creating white space in your day/week.

Filed in: Work/Life Balance