A Time Planning Secret––the Harmony Bath

Lesson 19



Leisure time is very important to me for many reasons, and effective time management improves both the quantity and quality of leisure time.  One of the most beneficial features of leisure time is the opportunity to recharge your batteries.  There is a point of diminishing returns in an overworked individual, and a case of burnout can render a person useless to him or herself and others.  Working oneself to death out of a personal compulsive need is not beneficial to anyone.

To avoid the erosion of morale and a general decrease in effectiveness, I’ve learned to schedule leisure time for both my staff and myself.  Setting a good example when it comes to rest is just as vital as being a good model for proper work habits.  Mental and physical renewal is vital components of a quality work ethic. 

1. Plan some quiet time alone each day. 

2. Break tough jobs down into more easily accomplished tasks. 

End your workday the right way.  The right way is to end on a high note or a point of accomplishment.  Doing so promotes satisfaction, improves the quality of your relaxation time, and helps you return to work the following day more refreshed and eager.  If you must end your day with an unresolved problem, then write down a clear summary of the problem as it stands when you leave it.  Before you leave, clear your desk or work area of clutter and distraction so you can attack the problem when you first walk in the following day.  These preparations will also serve you well before breaking for lunch, so you’ll get back up to speed more quickly and with less effort after your break.  Reorienting yourself after a break requires energy that can be saved with a little forethought before your break.

Work effectively and then take your vacation.  All too often, personal relationships with friends and family suffer because we are simply overloaded at work.  This is too high a price to pay for success. What is it all for anyway?  I used to pride myself in skimpy vacations until a mentor taught me that I was simply demonstrating my own lack of effectiveness in getting my work finished.  Never having time to take vacations is not a badge of honor, as much as it is a mark of ineffective time management.

Take your time and relax.  You’ll be a better worker, and more valuable to yourself and everyone else when you have been recharged.  This also means avoiding the urge to turn leisure time into a mini-military drill.  Relaxing means spending some time alone and engaging in activities that refresh you and recharge your batteries.

Here are some ways to give yourself a harmony bath and actually get more value out of sleeping:

·      Turn off the 10 o’clock or 11 o’clock news, with their, if it bleeds, it leads format. 

·      Spend the last 60 to 90 minutes of the day listening to relaxing music or reading or both. 

“Take a harmony bath at the end of each day.”

Building Your Morale

In order to join the Down and Out Club you have to nominate yourself and second the motion.
Elbert Hubbard (19th Century philosopher)

How long does it take for someone to pinpoint your morale level whether low, medium or high? Answer: 3 to 5 seconds maximum! This analyst of your morale level can be a customer, co-worker, family member or someone you’ve just met. But who’s responsible for your morale level? It’s the person now reading this sentence. Yep! It’s an inside job. It’s you and no other.

So here are a few tips that will really raise your morale level even if it’s high now. It always can be higher.

1. One of the greatest morale builders available is to have a feeling of accomplishment on a daily basis. Flying supersonic fighters at almost twice the speed of sound, I eagerly signed up for numerous survival courses. If I ever ejected and landed in the wild I wanted to stay alive until someone found me even if it was a few days. In every course they drove this point home. If you don’t have a feeling of accomplishment, even in some small way, on a daily basis your morale will be your biggest problem. The same applies to the business world. Remember a few blogs back when I talked about “butt snappers?”

2. Lay out a priority list of problems to be solved. In the Ozarks where I was raised, we said, “If you’ve got a frog to swallow, don’t look at it too long. If you’ve got more than one to swallow, swallow the biggest one first!” Also, they taste better fresh.

3. Find and talk to high morale achievers. They’ll be glad to know you admire them for their morale level and accomplishments. You’ll be inspired by the challenges they’ve overcome and the ones they’re currently working on.

4. Don’t inflate “mole hills into mountains” and stay away from those who do. Some can do that inflation by noon. Some can do it by 10:00 AM! Don’t walk away from negative people. Run! Back home we said it this way: “Don’t let the chickens roost over the well!!" that’ll ruin your drinkin’ water."

5. Have a confidant outside your industry with whom you can talk things over. Often in a friendly conversation with such a person, you explain, in simple terms, what challenge you’re experiencing at work. By reducing it to simple terms, don’t be surprised if that’s when you come up with the perfect answer.

6. Avoid physical and mental fatigue. Go for an occasional get-a-way, or a long walk in a park. Develop a hobby. This is when your mind and body refresh and you feel your morale elevate.

7. Laugh often and loud. Andrew Carnegie said, “I’ve found there is little success where there is little laughter.” Put a different way by humorist Fred Allen who said, “If you suppress laughter it goes to your hips and spreads.” I recommend that if you have had a bad day rent a very funny movie. Alfred Hitchcock’s favorite movie, which was not one he directed, was “Smokey and the Bandit.” I highly recommend it, too. A real knee slapper!

Please feel free to pass this along to others.

Higher up and farther on! The best is yet to be!

Danny