Since we’re all going to be fluctuating wildly on the good/in-between/bad spectrum for the foreseeable future, we might as well plan around it, according to Justin Pot for Zapier.
His advice: Use your good days to plan for the bad ones.
After all, one good day isn’t a sign that the bad days are over, but one good day is an opportunity. So we should all try to use the good days to set ourselves up to function better on the bad ones.
What does that look like? Here are a few rough categories:
- Planning. Nothing is worse on a bad day than having to decide what to do — decision fatigue is real. Using your good days to plan your upcoming week gives you a better chance of getting something done on the bad days because it means you don’t have to make a decision when you’re not feeling up to it.
- Outlining and brainstorming. For some, standard business writing can be done on autopilot, but thinking of innovative ideas can be tough. If that’s the case for you, consider using your good days to brainstorm or outline your projects so you can focus on the execution on the bad days.
- Writing snippets. Typically, a good percentage of the emails and messages you write every day are more or less identical. If you set up a snippet manager and spend some time writing snippets ahead of time, you can respond to routine messages with less thought. It’s a small thing, but being able to easily respond to a few routine messages on a bad day can really help build momentum for other tasks.