You Can’t Have a Slow Day

How is it possible to have a slow day? How can you have a day where there’s very little to do, one in which you don’t get much done?

The very idea that one can have a slow day tells you more about the person that makes that statement than they might imagine. What it suggests is that they believe they need to do the work that shows up as it shows up. They are doing work in real time. That work probably shows up in their email inbox. This is an indication that the person who had a “slow day” is reactive, passively waiting for tasks to appear so that they can complete them. After completing tasks, they wait for another to present them with work to do.

Having a slow day is an indication that tasks are be being assigned by someone else. The work isn’t something they have decided to do because it is important, meaningful work.

If one were to be proactive, intentional, taking control of their day, it would be impossible to have a slow day. If you are dictating the tempo, then that pace is going to be whatever you set. If you are designing the work that needs to be done, committing to doing it in 60 to 90-minute blocks, and giving your full focus and attention to those tasks that move the needle, you cannot have a slow day. Instead you have a productive day. You have a day where you produce results that matter. You create outcomes that, were you to look at a highlight reel from the week, would make you look like a superstar.

Having a slow day isn’t something that need ever happen to you. It is a choice you make. You can be intentional and productive, or you can be something less than those things.