We spend much of our time as infants and children pushing boundaries: of learning; of development; of what we can get away with. Most toddlers indulge in a tried and tested brand of showing off and being mischievous. Reward and permission are two of the social contract clauses we members of Plankind first come to know, explore and exploit.

Having noticed the prevalence of conversations lately, that include comments about how fast the year is going, how busy people seem to be, how personal and professional lives seem to be a little stuck between pre-pandemic and present balances of communication and interaction, this Philosopher-in-Residence decided to press pause to remind us all of a few things we need to actively give ourselves permission to do:

1. Take a lunch break. You do have time, you’re choosing to be a hostage to being busy. Break the habit of desk-dwelling, multi-tasking and just make yourself some food and spend at least the time it takes to it said lunch not doing anything else!
2. Leave your phone at home/in another room. Just for an hour if that sounds completely alien to you. You don’t have to be permanently on. You’re allowed to concentrate without interruptions sometimes.
3. Cancel plans. Yes, even we planners by profession do this sometimes! If you woke up feeling awful, got a headache, or just can’t focus today, you don’t have to religiously stick to and slog through absolutely everything that had been on the to do list for today.
4. Do nothing at all. Just for 10 minutes at first. There are 144 x 10minuteses in a day. So you probably can spare one of them to chill out.
5. Do something that isn’t something, for at least 5 minutes. This could be a mini mindfulness or meditation, mid-morning stretch, playing your favourite song. There are 288 x 5minuteses in a day, so this is in the realm of the possible.

Next fortnight, I’ll be musing On Health. I wish you well, until then.

Please get in touch with any particular aspects of this subject you’d like me to write about.

In the meantime,

Happy Planning

PS If you want some other free tips for your business life, check out the Working Well blog – out fortnightly on Wednesdays, courtesy of Make Me A Plan’s Productivity Expert, Penny Le Kelly. Browse the latest edition here:

https://www.makemeaplan.com/news/love-language/