Are You Allowed to Have An Off Day?

I had an off day on Monday. A grumpy, tired, don’t wanna get up, don’t wanna do anything, whiny, bitchy, glum, cantankerous, irritable, disagreeable kind of day. What made it a full Day of Disagreeable was the fact that I resisted it all day long. I really should know better – I teach this stuff. But therein lies the problem – I “should” know better? I do know better, but apparently because of that I’m not allowed to have an off day. Which is utterly absurd. I’m not perfect, I never pretended to be. The reason I can teach this stuff is because I’ve experienced it.

Because I’m a real girl. I’m human. And I have off days. But instead of acknowledging that I was having an off day, I chose to try to force myself to go ahead with my initial plans for the day, ignoring my energy, ignoring my tiredness, ignoring the fact that it was like pushing a rock uphill. Through treacle. With steel boots on. And a backpack full of rocks on my back.

The odd thing is, I do know better! I know that if I allow myself to feel how I feel, to follow my energy especially when that energy is low, not only do I feel better, I also find the low energy and disagreeableness don’t last as long. So on Monday, instead of struggling and fighting myself and having a bloody awful day, I could have just allowed myself to work with my energy. Which probably would have involved a good book, some meditation, a nice walk in the sun (which I did do, but only because the dog badgered me into it!)…and then would most likely have led to me feeling better and being keen to get on with the day of work, feeling rested and taken care of.

I know that. It’s even one of my life rules for 2013: Number 7: Work With My Energy. Here’s what I said about it in January: “I have been known to sit at my desk when I am struggling to hold my head up and stay awake. This is stupid. It’s counterproductive – no work gets done, it just takes me longer to recover!” D’oh. Working with your energy means you have to be allowed to feel how you feel on any given day.

You have to be allowed to have an off day. You have to be allowed to be human. You have to be allowed to have low energy, to be grumpy, to be tired, to not want to do your work, to not want to be happy clappy, to not want to get up! You have to be allowed to feel the way you feel. Because denial just makes it all last longer.

Ok, I got quite a lot done yesterday (under sufferance), I got to appreciate how good a good day feels on Tuesday and I got this article out of it, so it wasn’t a total dead loss. But it was an unnecessarily difficult day, and it’s not a nice feeling when you’re being ignored, when your feelings, your energy, your opinions don’t seem to matter to the whipmaster who just wants to GET SHIT DONE!

I do know that not everyone is lucky enough to work for the Best Boss In The World (themselves – and yes, self-employed people, that statement is heavy with irony!), and it is not acceptable to pop under your desk for a snooze when you need to, but you can do other small things to honour your energy – run up and down the stairs; take 20 deep breaths while pretending to read an e-mail or report; go to the loo, close your eyes and have a 60-second catnap; stretch; take a tea-break; go for a walk outside at lunch time; body pop down the corridors (please tell me if you do this); have a giggle with a colleague.

And for those of us who do work for the Best Boss In The World (themselves) – you can re-educate yourself about what makes a good, efficient, happy, productive worker. It’s not ‘nose to the grindstone and whip at the ready’, it’s working with your energy and allowing yourself to rest, to skive, to play, to get outside, to meditate, to stretch, to nap, to dance, to take a break and replenish so that when you come back to your desk you’re refreshed, ready, your mind is clear and oxygenated, you’re powered up and able to give your best.

Just a small thought, if you work for Other People, you may want to send them this article…plus a link to articles about Japanese sleep pods and the benefits of daytime naps, like this one!

And of course, this does not just relate to work. It relates to your downtime too. How often do you allow yourself to stay in bed all day on the weekend? To have a DVD day? To veg out when there are chores waiting to be done? How often do you allow yourself to work with your energy? Or do you just keep going and going and going, like the energiser bunny?

You may want to give yourself permission to have an off day, or moment, or hour. To feel how you feel. To be a Real Girl. To be human. To not be perfect all of the time (trying to do the impossible is exhausting!), but to be who you are and how you are. Even though I know you want to be fabulous and brilliant and full of energy and joie de vivre every second of every day…who doesn’t?! But let’s be honest, we’re not like that all the time…and the irony is that if we allow ourselves to have an off day, we can get back to being fabulous and brilliant much sooner. Work WITH your energy, not against it. It’s easier, trust me.

– Something to Play With –

The next time you’re having an ‘off’ day, go with it – allow yourself to be grumpy and tired, and to nap and read and dance and meditate and do what YOU want to do (as much as you can). Work with your energy, not against it.

Love

Donna.x