Doing the defrag 🧠

There's nothing like the first day after the school holidays to "defrag" my brain.

Those who remember the fun colour-sorting process of the old 486 PCs back in the 90's know exactly what I'm referring to.

So, so satisfying, watching all those random squares group themselves by coloured until they resemble clumps of colour in some sort of semi-sorted layout. (or was that just me???)

Tuesday is dubbed my "brain defrag day".

(Mondays I don't work, it's my Life Admin day, all the stuff I "need" to do on the home front!)

Then comes Tuesday....where I'm fully focused on business - but with no appointments, no commitments, no conversations no deliverables for anyone. At all.

If I want to write something I can. (a la this email). 

If I want to make a video, I'm free to.

If I want to talk to someone that's up to me.

But there is ZERO obligation to do any of it.

Sometimes I just walk, sit in a cafe, or gaze lovingly at my notebooks and to do lists. 

Or lay on the grass and think. 

"But I don't have that luxury".... a lot of people say to me when they hear how I spend my tuesdays.

"Well, that's subjective" is my response.

I've just come off two weeks of school holidays. Four tennis tournaments in all parts of the state.

Five medical appointments - including Xray, MRI and specialists.

Lots and lots of family commitments.

A book launch tour in progress.

Servicing wonderful clients all around the globe.

An extremely exciting, groundbreaking world-first project in the works.

Five kids who between them play 7 sports (4 x tennis, 1 x netball, 2 x rugby league)

Currently without the usual household supports while I recruit some assistance.

And yet, here I am in a cafe - two coffees and a falafel wrap in, easing my mind gently into the next phase.

"Doing the defrag"

Allowing my brain to sift, sort and shape all those random thoughts.

To prioritise and strategise.

Getting into my "best me" work mode.

Happy in my hoodie.

Cheerful and Charged.

Beautifully Messy. The way I like it.

These precious defrag hours make the rest of my work hours so much more potent, powerful and focused.

Whenever you think you're "too busy" to take time to think, it's a clear indication you probably need to, more than you realise.

Even better is if you can build that into your week, (or fortnight, month, whatever works for you!).

It did take me a couple of years between "intentionalising" this to when it was an actual weekly reality.

There is a time lag between what we want, what we take action towards, and what we experience the fullness of.

But if you never move towards it, you'll never get there.

And then you look back and it see how the pursuit of it was so so worth it!

Do you defrag??

******
 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Nina Christian is a Marketing Futurist & Global Marketing Mentor who helps people do their marketing in a more human way. 

She is a Certified Practicing Marketer (CPM), Life Member and Fellow of the Australian Marketing Institute & AMI State Chair (Vic) and for 20 years was director of Braveda (Winner, Best Marketing Agency, Australian Marketing Excellence Awards).

Several years ago Nina saw the world of marketing shifting – this time as people became their own brands.  With this, she created a new business as a thought leader, combining her expertise in brand building with personal positioning, resulting in a breakthrough praxis known as Marketing Me™.

She has a knack for simplifying the complex which comes from being a hands-on mum to five children, and uses this to turn time-sucking activities into easy-to-follow systems and processes that make a lot of sense and get outcomes fast.

There are different ways to work with Nina based on your situation and organisation size - with all of them you'll see rapid transformation and tangible outcomes fast. Book a chat with Nina here.