Book Ends! I discovered book ends!

The power of book ends? You may be asking, what in the world is Dr. Rita talking about?

I’ll tell you.

Like everyone, parts of my world have been turned upside down. I came to the realization that I got a significant amount of my energy from face to face meetings throughout my day. Overnight, with Covid, those meetings came to a screeching halt.

I spent the first two weeks of the pandemic re-doing my home office. And boy, did it need it! When I moved in, six and a half years ago, I plopped everything in and went to work. No repainting. No deciding how I would like it to be. I just made it as efficient as possible.

At the start of the lockdown, I realized I can’t be in there for 8 hours a day without going crazy. I busied myself with choosing the right color for a home office, ordering a new rug online…and a new lamp. A fun, funky red one. 

Painting the walls morphed into a meaningful exercise. With each stroke of the brush I reminded myself that I was letting go of the old and welcoming in the new. I wasn’t sure what the new was going to be yet, but I wanted to start making room for it.

That felt amazingly good!

I love my office today and whenever I meet up with a slump of energy or a frustration, I look at my blue wall and remember my conscious effort to be out with the old and in with the new.

You may be wondering at this point, what about the book ends?

I realized that even though I love my new office, I still needed a start and stop boundary at the beginning and end of my work day.

Here’s where the book ends come in.

I needed to find a way to book end the beginning and end of my day in a way unique to me. In a way that makes me happy as well as gives me energy.

I started by taking our dog, Bailey for an early walk every morning. He walked and so did I. Whenever I could let him off leash I would, because his enthusiasm for the day and his racing back and forth sparked the energy in me that I needed for my day.  Bookend for morning discovered and put in place.

It took a bit longer to find the afternoon book end. I’m an avid gardener so my afternoon book end has become a 4:30 stroll out to look over my flower and vegetable gardens. There’s always a new weed to pull or a new zinnia or tomato to plant. Bookend for afterwork discovered and put in place.

These book ends have been helpful beyond words for giving me a daily structure that gets me out in nature, doing something I love.

I’m curious. Do you have a deliberate way to start and end your day that fills you with joy and energy?  If so, let me know what you are doing. New ideas are always welcome.

Now my phone says its 4:28. Time to wrap up and get outside. I wonder what’s new in the garden today?

If you’d like to find more energy and joy at the beginning and end of your day, reach out to me and I’ll help you get creative.  Rita@WiseLeader.net or 612-598-6614

Until next time!
Dr. Rita

P.S. I'd love your help. Please share with others in your network. It helps leaders find me and helps my network grow. Thanks for being a catalyst in the development of women leaders!

612-598-6614
Rita@wiseleader.net
http://www.wiseleader.net/

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