Can't get to the office? Get to your thinking space instead.

As I write this, snow is falling fast, if not thick. I live on the South Coast of the UK. I know, I know, hardly Nova Scotia. However, it's causing havoc with workplaces and transport. That means lots of us are at home unexpectedly. Taking advantage of unexpected time is always a good plan. Using that time to your long term advantage - especially when you are on paid time - is genius!

There's a well-known coaching pun, "Give yourself the Gift of The Present". In other words, not necessarily mine, "Be Here, Now". Stop what you are doing (making yet another cuppa, sneaking a read of the paper rather than the meeting notes you really ought to [be seen to] read, cruising social media ...). This extra time, away from the hurly burly of the office, is a real gift. How many times could you truthfully say you have stopped to think about what you are doing, and how you are doing it, recently? Feels a bit of a luxury, doesn't it? Well, now's the chance to make the most of that luxury, to take time to sit and think.

I am not suggesting you develop a deep meditative state, but you're welcome to if that is helpful. However, I am most definitely suggesting that you get yourself into a comfortable space, without distractions, and simply sit, relax ... and think. Allow your mind to run free, helping it along with positive thoughts you can introduce into the mix from time to time. Don't use this priceless time to sit and wallow in your woes or to fret about all the work that will be tumbling into your inbox waiting for your return. Instead, how would it be if you use this time, this precious time, to think about all the good things you have in your life? All the good things you have achieved? All the things you have done for others which were the right thing to do (even if they didn't receive the accolades or recognition ... it's not about that, right?!)?

By focusing intently on the positive, we can actually train our minds to bring positive thoughts to the fore, first, when we are problem solving. Of course, every topic will have its downsides, but finding the positives, the benefits, the plus-points will help you to frame a project or a pitch in a way which will connect with your colleagues and customers on a deeper level. It will tap into their appetite for good things happening to them (it's on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, folks!).

Thinking positively also helps to bring potential problems and challenges into perspective. Your boss may not really have it in for you - they may simply be passing on some of the ridiculous pressures they themselves are feeling. That workload isn't actually a mountain ... it is in fact a pile of work, some of which could be done by someone else and some of which doesn't probably need to be done at all.

So you're surrounded by all this white ... and there's also a hush that accompanies snow ... ever noticed that? Take some time to consider the whiteness. Seriously. It's a blank canvas, whose purity can actually cover a whole lot of things. It simplifies. How about using that simplicity in your thinking? Focus on the simple things. What is going on for you now? What do you want out of life right now? How can you achieve what you want? What's the first step or two towards getting what you want? When will you take those steps? Answer these questions in a considered and thoughtful way, being "present" (ie no distractions, no phone, no kids ... just the still white quiet of a snowbound day). When you have spent this time in your thinking space, you will find that you actually have a plan. That plan is worth writing down - you might forget it if you don't. Write it down, keep it safe ... and then think about how you implement it ... how you actually take those steps.

It may not be magical, but using snow-time to get into your thinking space can have truly remarkable results. Try it, and let me know in the comments how you get on.

And if, having done a bit of this thinking and planning, you find yourself thinking that getting more of this into your life would be a good thing, please get in touch to find out how a few purposeful conversations with me could really get you a long way along the road to what you want from life. I can't always guarantee snow, though!

Photo by Ben Weber on Unsplash