When Celebrating Feels Like a Chore
So it’s Friday at 5p and I’ve just wrapped up the finishing touches of my workweek.
I’ve gotten a lot of things ticked off my to-do list via the wonderful tool of calendaring, and I’ve made a lot of progress on my goals. But I’m not aware of any of that because I’ve already turned off my work brain and am headed out the door. This also means I’ve blown past my 5p “FHD” calendar appointment, as I have done pretty much every week this year.
FHD stands for “Friday Hour Done”, as it is known at the Life Coach School. The purpose is to celebrate yourself in all that you have accomplished, to be kind with yourself in what you did not, and to get curious about what you can learn from both. There are (at least) two benefits to FHD:
Acknowledging and congratulating yourself on your accomplishments gives your brain a little boost of dopamine. Dopamine is a reward chemical, and your brain will seek to recreate it with more accomplishments.
By getting curious about what got done and what did not, you can learn from and not judge yourself. This allows you to understand what works and what doesn’t, and how you can apply that to your upcoming week.
But as you can probably relate to, knowing the benefits of something doesn’t mean you’re going to want to do it. I routinely ignore my FHD appointment because it takes time and energy, and at 5p Friday I don’t want to expend any more time or energy.
When I find myself planning on doing something that I don’t actually want to do when it comes time, I can either work to change what I think and feel about doing something, so that I want to do it; or I can allow and observe my unpleasant feelings about not wanting to do something, and do it anyway.
I can also make FHD more likely to get done by playing with other variables. I could do Friday Hour Done on Saturday, when I have more time and energy for my well deserved “good job, me!”, or on Sunday evening or Monday morning when I am planning my week ahead.
Just as it doesn't have to be on Friday, FHD also doesn't have to be an hour. I can barely stay focused for an hour planning my week, let alone looking back at one. I believe I can achieve the benefits of FHD in 30 minutes, if I focus and stay organized.
And of course there’s social accountability, which is one of the reasons I signed up to work with a coach this summer. Even if it’s with a friend or a coworker, committing to do something with someone else is another helpful way to get it done.
I’ll be playing with all of these variables and will keep you posted on what works best for me. I’m curious to hear what works best for you! Please contact me and let me know how you get yourself to do something you don’t necessarily want to do!