I don’t know about you, but I tend to treat business as quite serious stuff. I love my job and I really enjoy my tasks, and I go about it rather seriously; having goals (daily, weekly, monthly, yearly, long term plan…), delivering on time (preferably before time) and delivering high quality training/consulting/coaching for my clients. Always busy; not necessarily always on a project, but because there is always something more I could do! I don’t think I’m alone in having a daily life like this; as self-employed or employee in a company.
Well, things can be different and “serious” isn’t always the most productive approach, e.g. on “delivering high quality”. I have just finished a 12-week programme called “The Artist’s Way” by Julia Cameron. There is a book and a workbook, I have the workbook only. It has sneaked up on me that as a result of working through this programme all of a sudden I am more light-hearted in my work day! What happened?! It wasn’t my goal..
When following the workbook of Artist’s Way one needs to do exercises and reflections every week. Actually every day, because you start the day with writing 3 pages of whatever is on your mind (yep, you are right; not easy). Every week you take yourself on an “Artist’s Date”, and I think this is such a good idea that I wanted to share it with you.
An Artist Date can be anything you like, but it should be something playful, something you enjoy doing like visiting a photo exhibition or going to a movie/ theater/ musical, drawing, painting, cooking, working with clay, fixing your motorbike or car, meditating, yoga, swimming, teaching your dog some new tricks, visiting a church, go horseback riding, dancing, reading/writing poetry, playing the piano, singing, etc etc etc. Point is that you should do it alone. Why? Because when we are with other people we tune in to their wishes and needs. The Artist Date is all about you, focusing inward.
What if you have forgotten what you like doing outside your regular routine? You can start listing up 20 things you enjoy in life; you might get some ideas there. Or think back to your childhood; what did you do, what was fun? Do you do any of that stuff today? What are your dreams? What kind of job/life/assignment/voluntary work would you do if there were no limits?
My experience is that these Artist’s Dates have heightened my awareness of what makes me happy; I have tuned more into 
mindfulness and being aware of the daily joys I already had and that I have newly introduced. And allowing myself some more space, as a result of some Artist’s Dates, I make better use of the energy available. According to the writer of the Artist’s Way programme, people report back that they get a feeling of accomplishment, there is added richness to their lives and some make old dreams come true. And, think I have written about this before, actually; when you are having fun you are more productive.
Why am I saying “work place” in this heading, wouldn’t this be applicable for “life” in general? Yes, indeed, AND, I don’t hear people complaining so much about lack of fun in their private lives, they usually mention work life. If you add the below questions to the ones already mentioned above…;
- What are the things you enjoy that you do at work?
- What elements of these imaginary jobs do you have in your life/work today? Or are there elements you could add?
… you might feel some added joy in your daily work life. (And if not, maybe it’s time to make some choices and implement some changes?)
