4 approaches to help you stay committed to the work that matters most
I’m sure all of us have days when everything else feels more important than work, especially if you are your own boss and you are the only one deciding when to work. This can be particularly tricky when travelling and when there are lots of other commitments in your life which are competing for your attention.
I’m going to use my upcoming road trip to France as an example to demonstrate how I’m aiming to stay committed to my work while being on the road for a few weeks.
1. The stakes must be high
It’s easier to stick to something when you are accountable to something or someone. In my case, I made myself accountable by setting up co-working sessions that ask me to show up every week. I made a public commitment and, therefore, it makes it hard for me to not show up as I don’t want to look like I can’t deliver on my promise.
When it comes to stakes, a negative consequence (i.e. losing something, looking stupid, letting yourself and others down) seems to be more effective than a positive reward (i.e. gaining something).
Another example of creating effective stakes is by finding an accountability partner. This person is ideally someone who wants to also be held accountable which should make it easier as both of you are invested in this and want to keep your promise. You can also build in a financial implication if this helps you to stay more accountable — again, I would suggest a penalty if you don’t turn up to do the work rather than a bonus payment for completing the work.
2. Determine your Why
Whenever your commitment to your work seems to fade and your stakes don’t seem high enough anymore, then I invite you to determine your Why. In my case, I’m asking myself ‘Why do I want to make time for the co-working sessions while being on the road trip?’
In theory, the stakes of having publicly committed to running the co-working sessions should be sufficient for me as I don’t want to look like I can’t commit. But that might not be enough one or two weeks into the road trip and once I’m feeling tired of constantly changing locations, sleeping in a tent, and eating canned food. Then I will need to dig deeper. My Why needs to help me to carry me through the times when I just don’t feel like it. It needs to be meaningful, it needs to move me. The Why needs to be something bigger than myself. I’m aware of all the benefits that the co-working sessions are offering to me, but at the same time, it creates a powerful space for others to do the work that truly matters to them. Knowing that the sessions are inspiring and helping others to do meaningful work is bigger than me — it drives and motivates me to keep showing up.
3. Plan and prepare ahead
As boring as planning might sound, it’s essential if you want to stay committed to your work while travelling. Planning ahead helps you to ensure that you get the most important work done and still enjoy your travels.
My priority for this road trip was to find a space from which I would deliver the co-working sessions. We are staying at camping sites for the majority of the time. These sites don’t always have WiFi, let alone a quiet space. Therefore, I needed to make sure to find accommodation with WiFi and a dedicated workspace for the sessions. With a little bit of extra planning, it was relatively easy to find spaces that could accommodate my needs.
For me, it was also vital to work out how many hours do I want to spend working as I’m planning to stay offline for the majority of the trip and enjoy my time away without feeling guilty. The co-working sessions are such a gift as I can also get to do my work, such as writing a weekly article, and that might be enough for the week. I may also take or make a few phone calls (reception permitting) but otherwise, I’m going to limit my work time to the co-working sessions.
4. Just show up
You tried setting high stakes, you have a really strong why and you already prepared the work that you are going to do. But there will be times when none of this is going to encourage you — the times when you are tired, when you don’t feel good (physically, mentally, or spiritually), and when you just want to stay in bed all day.
In situations like this, I’m reminded of the words that I use during my co-working meditation: ‘You showed up and that’s the most important thing.’ I then try to be extra gentle and meet myself with as much compassion as I can. I say to myself that I have already done an amazing job by just showing up.
The beauty of showing up is that you often end up gaining new and interesting insights. Also, when working with others, their energies might help your current state of mind and this may result in you doing some great work that wouldn’t have otherwise been possible.
I hope these tips inspire you to keep working on the things that matter to you even when it seems impossible.
