I knew as soon as I woke up. I could feel it in my… well, the aching lump of flesh that was my body when I went to bed. Today was an off day.
Most days are ‘average’ – you get a fair bit done and a fair bit not done. As long as the barbarians are kept at the gate, then we’ll call it productive. Once in a blue moon we might have an ‘on’ day – where everything clicks. You are in the zone. The day is so good you even finish the day with less on your to do list than you started…
But the most significant type of day we have is an off-day. Not as frequent as those average days, but not as rare as the on days. The trouble is, most of us spend the off day trying to convince ourselves that all is fine. You see, productive people don’t have off days – they have hacks. And tools. And blogs. And stuff. Bah…
What you need to do is to spot when you are having an off day – that way you can write the bugger off an treading water. What do they look like? Well, funny you should ask – I have prepared a list:
- It hurts when you get up
- It takes several attempts to get up
- It’s not a Friday
- There is no milk left when you try and make breakfast
- You can’t find your car keys
- It rains. But only when you are half way to work and have left your coat at home
- All public transport is running late and all traffic lights are on red
- Everyone at work is straing at you in an odd way
- Your cup of tea tastes of coffee, and you coffee taste of… well, not coffee
- Your boss is acting as if you have questioned his parentage
- All your deadlines have got together and performed a flanking manouver on you
- The printer doesn’t work
- The photocopier seems to be sniggering at you as it mauls your document
- You left your wallet at home. With your lunch. And your phone
- Some wierd time vortex has meant it take 10 hours to get from 2pm to 5pm
- Etc etc etc
I reckon if you can tick of 5 of those then you are having an off day. And there is NOTHING you can do about it. Just accept that you’ll not be able to engage your mind, motivate you soul, or please your people. Write the day off as a lost cause. Just get through it. Expect zero productivity, and even less thanks. Tick over. And you know what? As you you stop caring what is going on, things might just start to get better…
