Yesterday I had one of my “cool” work days. The kind of days when you know you have things to do, and you are clear mentally that you must be at work, but you don’t physically feel like doing a darn thing.

I have learned that fighting other people and things (including ourselves) is futile. So I just “went with it” and did the part of my “job” that I did have interest, energy and time to do at that time and made it a “phone day.”

Long before I was a tween, I loved talking on the phone. Yeah, yeah, what little girl doesn’t? But even back then, I knew I loved it more than the average girl. At 13, I was beyond elated when I got my very own landline (Google it) extension in my room! If I was not at school, practice, work, or out with friends doing the things teenagers do, I was attached to this “dumb” phone that did more for me than any smartphone ever could later on. It was my lifeline – office, social calendar, dating site – everything rolled into one beige princess phone.

Back to my cool day, I needed to write, edit and re-edit some work, but I could not get my brain to embrace it. My body took over, and I propped myself up on my bed with my blue “husband” (that’s what I recently learned is the name of that support pillow with arm “wings” on the side), muted Law & Order in the background (an obsession and guilty pleasure I proudly admit), and with an Anna Quindlen book by my side, simply started talking on the phone.

Back in the day, PR, media and sales and almost anyone got the job done by “working the phones.” And since I factored in my mood and my motivation (not to mention the cold and sinusitis I seemed to have), I found a fun and cool way to work smarter, and had a far more productive day than had I would have had forcing myself to do something else.

We all have very long “don’t want to but have to do lists.” But sometimes, it’s all about mixing things up. Not only did I get tons accomplished with 5 new confirmed participants, 4 scheduled interviews, and 7 meetings, I had great conversations with colleagues and friends, and even a really touching moment with mom that left everyone smiling through and through after the conversation.
We all have days when we don’t mentally or physically feel up to work, but we also have realities like rent and mortgages and life that remind us that we are adults who if we don’t work, we don’t eat. So instead of fighting these days – join them.

Think of the parts of your work that you really do like: hanging with clients, an office errand (even if it’s getting out of the office at an unexpected time for an hour), or a lunch with a work friend, or being able to order from your favorite spot. Perhaps you too can be excited about the day of back-to-back meetings to offer you a cool diversion, such as great food and a break from your regular routine.

All I am suggesting from my tiny example is that when you work for yourself or others, you can find new and different ways to approach how and what we do at a particular time or on a particular day in order to do more than just get you through the day.

Even if you can’t rewrite your day exactly how you want it to be, we all can find little ways to do one or two things to turn an overwhelming “laundry list” day into one that is certainly cooler and little more fun than the day you thought it would be. Hope you can turn today into a cool day.

“Easy” by The Commodores

Sometimes life and career is about just about being “easy” and going with the flow.