<\/p>\n
Since the pandemic began, I have been sheltering in place at my home on the Jersey Shore.<\/p>\n
And since then, I have been a total workaholic. I suspect I\u2019m not alone.<\/p>\n
Now, I totally get that given everything going on in the world, I\u2019m privileged just to be able to work. So many don\u2019t have that opportunity right now. But still.<\/p>\n
I live inside my house in front of my laptop. Up with the birds, coaching, consulting, writing a second edition of my book (coming out in December \u2013 be on the lookout), and lots of virtual keynotes and webinars. Literally obsessed with helping leaders during this unprecedented time of pandemic and social unrest.<\/p>\n
But after months of working long hours, right through weekend after weekend, I definitely needed a break.<\/p>\n
There was a thought we might travel to Acadia National Park and find a pristine AirBnB but we got nervous about the risk. So we decided to stay right here.<\/p>\n
A two week staycation.<\/p>\n
It didn\u2019t start off great. After a whole two days, I was convinced the entire thing was a bust.<\/p>\n
Spoiler alert. It wasn\u2019t the weather. In fact, it basically rained the entire time.<\/p>\n
But then something changed. Something really important.<\/p>\n
And so as someone who preaches about self-care<\/a> to nonprofit leaders, I thought I\u2019d share the lessons I learned during my staycation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1. Manage your expectations.<\/strong><\/p>\n We have a sign on our front lawn. OMG Please Make it Stop: 2020<\/strong>.<\/p>\n It\u2019s been a year where so much has gone wrong. Where you start to think it can\u2019t get worse. And then it does.<\/p>\n So let\u2019s say there\u2019s a tropical storm and you lose electricity. That\u2019s not a hypothetical. There was<\/em> a tropical storm and we did<\/em> lose power.<\/p>\n Rather than hope we\u2019d be back on track that same day, we just assumed it would be longer. We assumed 2 days. Then we doubled it.<\/p>\n Right now, at this moment in our world, you just have to know there aren\u2019t going to be any \u201cgrand slam home run\u201d vacations. And that\u2019s OK.<\/p>\n For the record, the power came back on after 4 days.<\/p>\n 2. One rough day does not spoil the whole \u201cthrilling\u201d staycation.<\/strong><\/p>\n Part way through my staycation, I had a toothache. Oh boy.<\/p>\n Now, I hate going to the dentist, but I just did it.<\/p>\n But I couldn\u2019t just go to any dentist. I have to drive an hour to \u201cmy\u201d dentist – the one who embraces my phobia and gives me nitrous oxide to clean my teeth. Looking back, the nitrous was a highlight.<\/p>\n On the one-hour car ride, our vet called to tell us that it was time for our beloved family cat Lou to \u201cget his things in order.\u201d His cancer had returned. A couple of months, she said.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not sure if the word is comatose or morose but I was both of those things for 24 hours as I confronted the news about Louie (with no nitrous oxide available for relief). As I sat there, I thought, \u201cOk, I should just go back to work and cancel my staycation.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n But I didn\u2019t. I emerged from the darkness and kept working at this staycation thing. I am a nonprofit leader in my DNA so I\u2019m pretty resilient.<\/p>\n 3. Reframe from \u201cstaycation\u201d to \u201cwork slowdown\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n A lot of the work I do with clients involves a change in mindset. You know, like shifting from \u201cmy board is MIA<\/em>\u201d to \u201chow do we get your board fired up about something and then<\/strong> maybe the board will do something.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n So I thought I\u2019d take a lesson from my own playbook. I think this was during the blackout, in the pouring rain, as I was helping Lou get his \u201cthings in order\u201d.<\/p>\n I slowed down. And you know what? Once I stopped thinking that 2020 had stolen my vacation from me, it worked. A new mindset.<\/p>\n Now, I did try to create boundaries so that my wife could count on my good company (after I stopped being morose).<\/p>\n I also made choices about the kind of work to do. I reorganized my office. I worked on bigger projects \u2013 the ones best done without interruption. Like a new webinar I\u2019m excited to share with you in September. Like, REALLY excited. I\u2019ve got some \u201ctough love\u201d to share with my nonprofit superheroes (you) and you\u2019d better listen!<\/p>\n 4. Figure out a way to get away.<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, I know. By definition, a staycation means you didn\u2019t go anywhere<\/em>. But that doesn\u2019t mean you can\u2019t go anywhere, at least in your mind.<\/p>\n For me, it\u2019s always been a good book. I read two of them. Of course I wanted to read three and feel a bit bad I only got through two (being an overachiever can be such a burden).<\/p>\n I highly recommend them both. Erik Larson\u2019s The Splendid and the Vile<\/a><\/em>. Yes it\u2019s about Churchill\u2019s first year and how Britain survived a year of relentless bombing. But it\u2019s about leadership and the power of words. So I was fascinated.<\/p>\n