The power of doing something

Month one

I started a new consulting project.

Week one was nice & steady.
On week two, however, I worked until late once, just once.
On week three, I worked until late thrice. Thrice!

I knew I needed to do something. I knew this could grow into something unhealthy. 

That's why, on week four, I managed to stay up late for one day only. Not a perfect week, but a better week nonetheless. 

At the end of the first month, I totaled a 24% rate of unhealthy working days (5 days working late out of 21 days). 

Month two

On Month two things got worse. Apart from working until late, I started to skip meals, and had back-to-back meetings. 9 days out 23 were unhealthy, a 39% rate that Month. 

Awareness wasn't enough (and my resolve was injured). 

Month three

I started Month three with a different plan. My top priority became reducing that 39%.

I came up with a healthy day definition:

My healthy day is a day with...
- no skipping meals,
- no back-to-back meetings, and
- no working until late.

I put my discerning hat, canceled meetings, postponed conversations, focus on the most important things only. All that effort, all that drive, allowed me to rescue five precious days. 

Month three closed at 19% (4 spoiled days out of 21), my personal best at that point.

Now

I'm in the middle of Month four. So far, I have zero unhealthy days marked. Zero. Niente. Nada. 

I'm happy, because I managed to change things for the better. I'm proud, because I'm convinced being overwhelmed is not a prerequisite to wow clients and create remarkable work. I'm humbled, because change doesn't happen overnight, but it can happen, if you do something about it. 

Have a healthy day,

Alberto

On the cover:

People at the beach during a splendid summer day. Taken by Alberto.