Why 'head down, crack on' isn't always a good idea

“Are you ok?” she asks with concern at the end of our monthly catch-up call.

“Yes, I’m fine” I reply, too quickly. Surprised by the question. Flummoxed as to what I’d said to give her cause to ask it. I’m excited about what’s happening in my business. I’ve created a new Club and am having loads of amazing conversations with fabulous people. Why would she ask if I’m ok?

We end the call in usual cheery fashion, and I amble back to my desk to close down my laptop, draw the curtains, turn on the lamps and get ready for the evening. As I pootle, it gradually dawns on me.

No, I’m not ok.

I mean, I’m ok. But I’m not.

I’m suddenly aware of the tell-tale tension in my jaw. The gripping that happens when I’ve been in ‘head down, crack on’ mode for too long. I’m exhausted.

The trouble is it’s easy for me to fall into this pattern without realising it. It’s not as if I’m working 10-hour days, burning the candle at both ends. But what I’ve come to realise is that how depleted I am has nothing to do with how much time I spend working, and everything to do with the types of work I’m doing and where I am in my cycle.

When you’re an Office Manager or a Team Leader it’s not the done thing to say you can’t attend a meeting because it’s the wrong week of your cycle. I mean, can you imagine? (Maybe one day the conventional workplace will be designed with women in mind, but let’s save that conversation for another day!) Back then I had very little control over my schedule, so I just got on with it. I was so busy, I had no way of noticing the monthly ebbs and flows. My head was down and I was cracking on.

Imagine my surprise when after starting my own business I realised that actually women are not designed to operate on a steady plateau of energy. The hormones released as we move through the month impact how much oomph we have. It’s science! Just the other day my Moody app suggested I ‘prepare for incoming sensitivity’, a message I hastily shared with Tom The Husband!

Anyway, back to the evening I realise I’m not quite ok. I get an early night and the next morning make myself a lemon and ginger tea, curl up on the sofa and start writing in my morning pages. Aha! Now I can see where I went wrong. There’d been WAY too much activity during the ‘winter’ week of my cycle. I’m an introvert with very little of the blaze energy needed to engage with humans, so there’s a limit to how much peopling I can do in a day. Scheduling in so many client sessions, virtual cuppas and Productivity Breakthrough Calls that week? BIG MISTAKE.

Even though I’ve had my cycle in my calendar for a few years now, I wasn’t really paying attention to it anymore. That winter week was jam-packed with calls, so clearly I needed a new system. Something to protect me from myself when I get all excited about something and might over-commit.

So here’s what I did.

I went into Acuity, my scheduling system of choice, and told it I’m not available AT ALL during the winter week of my cycle. That doesn’t mean I won’t see or speak to people in those weeks, but now I’m back in control. I get to choose who I engage with and when during those slower weeks, rather than people booking themselves in willy-nilly! (Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE people booking themselves in for things – so much more efficient than playing email ping pong – I just needed to redefine my boundaries.)

 If you’ve ever attended one of my talks or Masterclasses you may have heard me speak about the importance of paying attention to our energy levels so we can design our days and weeks accordingly. So we can work with, rather than against ourselves. 

Do you know when you’re at your best and when you to need to slow down and take it easy?  It’s not just about your monthly cycle (and if you’re a guy, thank you for hanging in there with me this far 😉). You might notice shifts in your energy at different times of the day, or when engaging in different types of activity.

How might you be able to take that intel and use it to enhance not just your productivity but how you feel in your business?

I’d love to hear what comes up for you, so please do share in the comments below. After all, what’s the point of being our own boss if we can’t find a working rhythm that feels good?

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