Bad Days, Good Days
Different moods make us human. Thank goodness being human also gives us something else: the ability to reflect
The week before last I had a really bad day. Not seeing a perspective for change, having worked from home for the last year and three months. Yet another day of back to back video meetings. Admin stuff. Issues. Working in a non-airconditioned room.
Last week I had a really good day. A team call giving me a new perspective. Exploring ideas with a customer. Getting stuff done. Calling a colleague, just to ask: “how’s life?”
Yet, I worked from the same kitchen chair. The room temperature wasn’t that different. I had about the same number of meetings packed into that day. And obviously, I had the same job.
Reflecting on this earlier today, I thought again of how miserable that bad day had felt. How it had sucked my energy. How I wanted to shut down my laptop just to forget and watch Netflix. Which, as I remember, I did not really enjoy either. I reflected also on the energy I felt after that good day last week. The inner sparks, that were ignited. And what made it different.
Interaction
Human interaction makes a difference. Surely, in these times of remote work due to Covid-19, it is hard or simply impossible to find personal interaction. But there are altenatives to Zoom, Skype and MS Teams meetings. Giving somebody a call without my mind drifting away by thinking how I look on video, and contiuously checking all the mini video screens of the participants one by one. A phone call as we were used to many years ago, makes us listen in a different way. Simply because we don’t have the visual element switched on. Moreover, a call can avoid receiving another ten e-mails on the same subject. Which makes your admin lighter. And despite remote work, maybe you could still grab a coffee with a colleague or friend. That’s at least my plan, whenever I get my second vaccination, some bright day, this summer.
Decision
On the good day, I made a decision. I remember I made a decisive call on an issue that occupied me for a couple of weeks. Decisions declutter your mind. And free up space for something else. It also gives a feeling of accomplishment. The decision does not need to be your answer to a big question in your life. It can also be saying no to a request, or deciding not to dial into that next meeting. Decisions give you control, which is something I certainly didn’t have during that other day, two weeks ago.
Purpose
I remember that on that bad day I needed to get stuff done, which— as I felt — did not add much value. On the opposite, I remember a lively discussion with a colleague on that good day. We brainstormed on an idea, which we could pitch with a customer. This was all about value, about purpose. Fulfilling a purpose for a customer is at the heart of what we do. It made me feel that I was really working on the right priorities.
Thank goodness humans can reflect. To endure the next bad days which will certainly come, it helps knowing that good days will return as well. And that there must be something, that makes them that way.
