Cleaning my daughter's room taught me this

Sometimes I need quiet time. This is nothing new. I just need this reminder. Often.

And I can’t get my quiet time by just sitting and relaxing. That is not how my brain works.

I stumbled across some quiet time while my husband was gone with my two children and I decided to clean the four-year-olds room. It desperately needed some adult attention.

My mind wondered to some issues at work and my own approach to leadership. (And, when I say “issues at work” let's not assume they are negative issues).

I related these eight lessons to my task for the day - and it felt good to think about these (and even better to write them down here).

That crap matters to someone else

No matter how much you want to get rid of the crap, sometimes the crap is important and valuable to someone else. Give and take, give and take ....

When things get out of control, doing feels really good

Sometimes things get out of control and you spend two hours cleaning a room (even when it's not 100% your responsibility) because you know it's cleanliness will seep into other rooms ( and life moments).

We all need to contribute –honor this

As a leader taking on a few extra things, you always have to leave something for others to contribute to as well. In this case, I left some toys and books to organize even though it would be easier to do myself. (This is REALLY hard for me).

Lead by example

You have to be willing to take the first step and lead by example. (This also means I have to clean my own room which is always the last place to get attention. Yes, there is symbolism there). And then you have to work to get buy-in and collaboration. Four year olds have their own agendas too.

Give yourself some space to think

Leaders need time to think and plan. Do your great ideas come in the midst of two kids pulling on your shirt to help them with their juice box straw and work calling with a question and your husband asking what’s for dinner and you suddenly realize you forgot to pick up your dry cleaning and you need that suit for tomorrow’s board meeting. Nope … my next great idea didn’t pop up!

Two hours cleaning and organizing – ALONE -- with some Mumford and Sons blaring in the background saved my Sunday attitude. Now I feel like making homemade apple cider (that rarely happens) because my daughter asked to do this and I worked through some issues taking up space in my head.

Fresh air can cure crazy brain

You know … when your brain just won’t shut off and you have to-do lists in three different notebooks and you add more to the list at 3 a.m. on your phone and then you can’t remember where one of those notebooks went … and you find it in your son’s backpack … and you are actually thanking God that you found it … and then you read the to-do list and you start to panic because you are not sure how you are going to get everything accomplished and then you start to realize you are acting a little crazy.

Yeah, it’s time to take a deep breath. Open a window, take in the air, clean a room or do some yoga.

Fresh, fall air is a must for proper thinking. Glad my office has a window (both home and away). Deep. Breaths.

A leader's job is never over

Many things need maintenance, love and attention. Sometimes you let the room be messy for months because it's not a priority. And when you take the time to clean this room because it became a priority (i.e. started to smell) … you instantly feel good and you are ready to tackle something else. For me, it offers energy and motivation for the next task.

We need to do things that bring us joy

I know, it's weird. But clean, organized rooms bring me joy. Rooms filled with the signs of happy, healthy children bring me joy too ... but the chaos has to be reigned in at some point and I enjoy this part of the story. Whenever things get crazy at work and/or home, I stop and clean things. I organize piles. I wipe all the dust. And then I dig into the big stuff. It feels SO much better. I am sure there is some kind analyzing that could happen here, but I know it helps me so I do it.

And write my thoughts down. I always have. So many journals over the years. And now I have this blog. And you.

That brings me joy.

#leadership #investinyourself