Here’s an excellent time management tip for business coaches–or anyone who’s self-employed from master copywriter Bob Bly.
For decades, I have been a semi-workaholic who works 11 to 12 hour days and rarely takes a vacation.
But I do have a technique I want to share with you for giving yourself a break once a month.
It makes you feel as if you are playing hooky for the day, though in fact, you are getting a lot done.
I call it “M-Day” or “Miscellaneous Day.”
How “M-Day” Works
Each month, I pick one day.
It has to be a day when I have no pressing deadlines, no phone meetings, no other appointments, and nothing to deliver to a client or publisher due that same week.
On regular days, I schedule my work during the day so I am working on one project or another during every hour, with a short rest between hour increments.
On Miscellaneous Day, there is no schedule. So I don’t HAVE to do anything at any particular time.
I crank up the music.
And I spend M-Day working on whatever project or task strikes my fancy.
Then I jump to something else … well, whenever the mood strikes me.
I often start M-Day with easy, light work — like a magazine article, working on one of my info marketing projects, or writing an article for my e-newsletter, as I am doing right now.
But often I will get inspired to tackle one or more tougher jobs on M-Day … such as a particularly challenging sales letter … and if that mood strikes me, I do it with great gusto.
And somehow, because of the immense freedom I have on M-Day, if anything I enjoy it even more than usual (and I really enjoy writing sales letters) … and do it even better and faster than
usual!
How to Handle Miscellaneous Tasks on “M-Day”
M-Day is also a good day for me to handle miscellaneous tasks that I often put aside because of my usual multiple writing deadlines, such as filling out paperwork or straightening out the occasional problem with a health insurance claim or similar stuff. Miscellany that is boring and distasteful, but still needs to be done.
(For instance, recently my health insurance didn’t pay a provider because they said my other health insurance carrier should handle it. And you guessed it, I do not HAVE another insurance plan. They are my sole carrier. But I had to spend time on the phone and filling out forms to prove it before they would pay the claim!)
For me, M-Day relaxes and revitalizes me, while giving me a full day in the office that is different and therefore even more fun than usual. And, it is always a very productive day — not really a hooky day at all!
I think it’s the change of pace in an otherwise fairly set routine that is part of the secret of M-Day — it’s a full-day “pattern interruption.”
The other aspect is, with all the projects I can work on during M-Day to choose from, I feel like a kid in a candy store, picking whatever I want as the mood strikes me. There is a big smile on my face and a lightness of spirit that is so invigorating!
So why don’t I do more Miscellaneous Days?
One M-Day a month is just about right for me. I tried doing two Miscellaneous Days a few months ago, and it didn’t feel right — I felt like a slacker. You may be different.
My suggestion is that you try giving yourself a Miscellaneous Day soon.
If it works for you as it does for me, give yourself one M-Day a month.
You will thank me for it.
Time to sign off now and get back to more M-Day fun!
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