03 Jul Bringing Spontaneity Back
During my trip to Kauai back in April, I made an important discovery: I actually loved picking things to do that day or in any given moment; there was something really exciting about it. As you can imagine, my life as an organizer is pretty well scheduled. In fact, my coach said that my life is more scheduled than anyone she’s ever known, and sadly not much of that time is scheduled for me. I admit, I go a bit overboard and often feel burnt out due to over scheduling (the curse of the entrepreneur and small business owner). The one thing I’m not scheduling time for is spontaneity!
So when I returned to California feeling a little blue, I came up with an idea: block one random day off in my calendar each month for a “spontaneous day” in which I do whatever I feel like that day.
But you’re scheduling a day… I hear you thinking.
Yes, the day has to be blocked off so I don’t book clients and so I know it’s a day for me to fully enjoy. But the key here is not to PLAN what I’m going to do on that day until that day comes. This is exactly what I did in Hawaii – we made no plans other than the plane ticket out there and the rental where we stayed. We got up and we discussed what we each wanted to do over our cup of coffee. If an idea came to us, we’d share and decided if we wanted to do it. It was simple but really great. We could do anything we wanted because the day was open and available to all options.
My first “spontaneous day” back home was in May and I went wine tasting in Napa with friends. We hit up two wineries and ate lunch at an amazing restaurant. It was glorious. My next “spontaneous day” is in July, but that’s because my dad came for a visit last month so I took a few days off to be spontaneous with him.
Each month I’ll decide what I want to do: have lunch with a friend, spend the day at the coast, hike with my dog, explore a new neighborhood of the city, or finally take a class I’ve been looking into (American Sign Language; Piano Lessons; cooking classes, etc.).
Doing something spontaneous every once in a while is good for the spirit! It keeps you open to new ideas and possibilities. We are all suffering from over-scheduling so I highly recommend you partake in mental health days (i.e. play hooky) or spontaneous days to help bring joy and childlike playfulness back into your life (at least that’s what I’m discovering from these days).
My mention of “spontaneous days” recently to a client inspired them to also try them out. Has it sparked something in you too? Please share in the comments below.
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