Burritos & Sundresses
It's summertime and most of my motivation, to put it bluntly, is focused on Chipotle, Mountain Dew and girls. It reminds me of that episode of Friends when someone asks Joey what he'd rather give up, food or women? I still have no answer, all I see is a pretty lady in a sundress handing me a Chipotle burrito with steak and guacamole, telling me I won the race. I have no damn clue what that means. Someday this paragraph may be used against me.
Seriously though, and especially given that I live in Ohio, land of the 4 schizophrenic seasons, I don't feel like working at all... and I actually have a lot to do. I have some exciting things going on over the next year (like Chipotle and Mountain Dew), and this is the perfect time to plan for them and get ahead.
If only I had motivation... so in 'continuing the greatness' as Bron Bron would say and blogging monthly, I've written the following to myself in the hope it helps you and I. Even if you don’t work for yourself, summer procrastination is still worth Power Swording.
3 Tips for Destroying Summer Procrastination
Tip 1: Make yourself work, at a minimum, 9-5 OR an 8 hour shift
If you need to break it up into 2, 4 hour shifts that's fine. Just do some damn work. Don't take days off just because, ya know, it's summer. I see people do this, and it's bullshit. Especially if you do consulting work like me, this is probably your lightest quarter of the year, making it the PERFECT time to get ahead and position yourself masterfully for the rest of the year and the first half of next.
If your client is having drinks on a beach somewhere and you’re at the office, don't be jealous, be productive. It's the ideal time to do some delayed spring cleaning. More importantly, it's the perfect time to work on those projects that the folks at Franklin Covey would call 'Important' but not 'Urgent'. You know, the project that will actually make you the most money in the long run but gets pushed back because of day-to-day, week-to-week demands.
Tip 2: Use vacation days when you play hooky
If you work for yourself, it means you have a certain amount of passion for whatever you are doing. Which means if you just walk out of the office when there is work to be done, you'll spend the duration of the time feeling guilty. So however you allocate your vacation time, use it if you want to take a day off. Which leads to…
Tip 3: Absolutely DO take some time off in summer to celebrate good work
Look, I live in Ohio. We have the 4 seasons. I'd be nuts not to take SOME time off in summer. Also, as I said before, a lot of clients tend to go on vacation this time of year so the opportunity is perfect. To make them count for even more, use them to celebrate milestones and accomplishments for the work you are doing. The ultimate albacore around your neck is a vacation day you spend feeling guilty about lackluster performance. So take time off to celebrate having played hard all 4 quarters of the game that is whatever you do professionally. Because you know, PEOPLE RESPECT YOU MORE WHEN YOU PLAY HARD ALL 4 QUARTERS OF THE GAME.
WARNING TO YOU
Ignore these tips at your own peril... Kyle.
Next Actions
· Please RSS my feed if you haven't already. It'll make your life easier by eliminating the need to always be checking back here.
· Feeling generous? I greatly appreciate any bookmarks you want to give me in Digg, Stumbleupon, Delicious, etc.
· Hey if you liked this post or thought it blew, I don't care, tell me something and show me you're alive ;).
So what are you going to do with your planned day off? I suggest Soak City with Mark & me... it's perfect for the lazy man not wanting to swim, but wanting to be in the heat and near bikini-clad women... http://www.cedarpoint.com/public/park/soakcity/attractions/index.cfm All I can say is "bubble bar".
Posted by: Dreamkiller | June 30, 2011 at 10:46 AM
I could be convinced...
Posted by: kyle776677 | June 30, 2011 at 11:14 AM
I think LeBron James could use some of your advice about playing hard for 4 quarters... Or at least during the clutch time of the 'fiscal' year. Granted, I am happy to watch his demise.
With that said... I am inspired to actually use this free time to pursue my dream of self-employment even more. Thanks Kyle.
Posted by: Outspoknpoet | June 30, 2011 at 12:12 PM
Perhaps you could inspire Bron by giving him a mental map.. or four. Although, helping him may lead to all of Ohio hating you, and thriving off of your failures (Kyle fail? Yea.. right!) You are preaching to the choir with the Chipotle and Sundress references, but Paris? Couldn't find a classier heiress? Anyways, always look forward to your blog, keep up the solid work. Don't take your talents to South Beach and skip July's post.
Posted by: Drew Hoover | June 30, 2011 at 07:45 PM
Drew, thanks for the kind words and I laughed my ass off when I read your above comments. I think if Lebron were to become my client it would involve something to the effect of:
(A) At his next free agency he's a Cavalier for the league minimum.
(B) He gets 2 - 4th quarters off in regular season games - that's it. We all need a mental health day or two... the time for that is not in the playoffs.
I'm hoping Ohio would embrace me at that point, you know bringing home the prodigal son at a pain & suffering cut rate. Even Lebron would probably love coming to Ohio and not getting booed at places like Cedar Point, Cracker Barrel and the DMV. Plus my contract with Lebron would involve wording to the effect of 'all of the Mountain Dew, Chipotle and heiresses I could handle for life' (okay, kidding about the heiresses, Kyle is many things but gold digger isn't one of them).
And Drew are you trying to say a socialite with a sex tape is not classy? C'mon now, sex tape is synonymous with class and culture. For example, I give you Kim Kardashian. Omm....
Posted by: kyle776677 | July 01, 2011 at 08:51 AM
Hey Kyle, have you ever looked at the Topicscape.com mind mapping tool? They say it's essentially a Mindmanager add-in, but allows creation of 3D mindmaps. What say you?
Posted by: Rich Bouma | July 19, 2011 at 11:59 PM
Rich,
I'm familiar with it and I'm not a user of Topicscape. At a gut level I like it, it's almost like an RTS (Real-Time Strategy) Game for your information. Given that it plays nicely with MindManager and PersonalBrain, I would have no qualms about using it if I felt the need.
Even though its about 4 years old, the following blog post by Chuck Frey captures it pretty well:
http://mindmapping.typepad.com/the_mind_mapping_software/2007/03/review_calls_3d.html
Hope it helps Rich.
Posted by: kyle776677 | July 21, 2011 at 01:38 PM
Thanks, Kyle. I'm glad you're blogging.
Posted by: Richard Bouma | July 25, 2011 at 12:22 AM