Of a Theme
“We must speak by the card, or equivocation will undo us!”
This is my second or perhaps third--ok, it’s at least my fifth--attempt at writing this week’s blog. While inhaling the Internet miasma of rules for catchy titles, searchable words, content standards, and article length, I forgot that I’m not a big fan of following rules.
But I do partake in an occasional guideline. And I like to know rules so that I know when I am scribbling outside the lines. Like now.
Rule. Ruler. Guide. A measure. Imperial measure of the king’s body--the last knuckle of the thumb or a foot. We've standardized the king’s body to a 25 cent piece of wood with the list of American presidents on the reverse who, though of all different sizes, embody the rules. Mostly.
Daily Constitutional
As I head into the Fall with my Bento box of employment and contribution, I realize I need a plan to make all the pieces fit into their spaces. Versions one through five of this blog, detailed all of my plans for planning time from annual notebooks to seasonal initiatives to daily rituals to chunking minutes. Laying out and explaining my elaborate inverted triangle for productivity has taken almost three days. This is not the irony you are looking for.
In their book "Made to Stick", Chip and Dan Heath use Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential campaign as an example of taking complex issues and making them simple. In 1992, the US was mired in a recession and Clinton, “a policy wonk” liked “to pontificate on virtually every issue that he was asked about.” James Carville, Clinton’s key adviser, reminded the campaign (and the candidate) to keep it simple. “Let’s don’t be too clever here, don’t come down here thinking we’re too smart. Let’s just remember the basics.”
It’s the economy, stupid!
Of all my strategies for planning priorities, conquering chaos, and mastering minutes, theming days is the only one that stuck. Economy isn’t a bullet list or a schedule. It’s a poem in tight form. Except when it is not. But it is always of a theme.
Disclaimer: Though I tried not to invoke the gods in explaining my approach to each day, there are moments when I simply had to. I have been working with these themes to make my work-from-home schedule more productive for months. I discovered in writing this piece that the namesake of the day does actually carry a lot of weight in the activity of the day; there is a reason why this works.
We may no longer believe in ancient gods, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
Monday. Get Down to Business.
Poor Monday. Its mistake was following Sun-day. Moon-day. Let it reflect the energy and brightness of Sunday onto your most important project. Job applications that are submitted on Mondays are more likely to be read than those submitted on other days. By Monday, all those annoyances of last week will have faded. Turn Monday’s full face on what will create the most good in your week.
Tuesday. Watercooler Social.
Tuesday is a social day. You worked on an important project yesterday, now you are ready to share what you’ve done and learn what others are doing. I make phone calls, hold meetings, and invoice on Tuesdays. Since I made good progress on Monday, I can take some time to gather what I need to drive my week ahead.
Wednesday. Yes, I will be there.
I’m a Gemini. I see no reason why I cannot have two days in the week organized around talking. Woden, the Germanic god after whom Wednesday is named, crowns the apex of the week. He is aligned with Mercury, the messenger. On Wednesdays, I get out there and deliver the message. I meet. I talk. I connect.
Thursday. Bring the hammer down.
I like a Thursday deadline. On Monday, I am focused. Tuesdays and Wednesdays are brimming with movement. Thursday requires a stout heart and a steady hand. It’s serious. If it doesn’t get done today, it probably won’t get done this week. Scrabbling up the hill on Friday when the weekend has you by the ankle rarely pulls you in the direction you need to go.
Friday. Get Happi(er).
I don’t work on Fridays, but when I do, I work on me. Friday is the day when I get what I need to be me for me--and me for you. Learning and development. Household. Reading. Running late to my coffee date because I took an extra-long yoga class. Picking up my kids early from school. Sharing a bottle of wine--the good bottle--with my husband.
Saturday & Sunday
They are a cute couple, aren’t they? S & S. Special & Sacred. Interchangeable in many calendars. Dessert. Honor here what you treasure most.
These are my rules to be interpreted through each body. I’ll never go metric. It's a weekly grid that, if you set it up right, grows and shrinks to fit what you put in it.
And when it's done, it’s done.
