Snowed In or Snowed Under? By Lorette Pruden, Team Nimbus NJ
Two snowstorms in the Mid-Atlantic states in one February week. The first was on a weekend, and I was relieved that it wouldn’t interfere with all the work I had scheduled, like any given weekday. The next one (today as I write this) is even bigger, and smack dab in the middle of the week, with plenty of advance notice.
People have been canceling meetings left and right, from last night (pre-flake, but hey you never know) through tomorrow, when usually here in NJ we would have already plowed out. Getting ready for a snow day…
One of the things we entrepreneurial types say, with a certain amount of smugness, is “We never take a snow day or a sick day”, as though that’s a good thing. We must think it’s payback for the seduction of the “bunny-slipper business”. You can work at home, but you’re never off.
I’m glad there were two snow days so close together, because I’ve discovered something. I did take the snow days, and here’s what I learned.
There’s a big difference between snowed under and snowed in. Here, I’ll show you what I mean.
Snowed under: Too many irons in the fire, need to network more to meet more prospects, wait I haven’t followed up with all the prospects I met last week (or month, or in 2009 for that matter).
How many projects do I have to manage? Marketing (should I tweet?), sales (who were those people who emailed me for information about Team Nimbus—they’re calling me! Woohooo! Oh no, did I get back to them?), clients (they’re really important, I left one off the email reminder, she’s really mad, talk about word-of mouth marketing…), that Send-out Card campaign is half done—the undone half means they are Un-sent-out cards. Follow-up, follow-up, follow-up, fall down. I quit all the boards I was on a few years ago, and now I’m on another—and President-elect! Prestigious position, I’m honored to be asked, and ….snowed under.
Snowed in: Aaaaah. How beautiful, how quiet. That’s one of the best parts while it’s still snowing—it’s so quiet.
Saturday - No one is expecting to hear from me today anyway. They’re all snowed in too.
Look at the Sendout Card site—cool stuff. Oh, there’s where I left off. Find cards I like, futz around with customizing them, send some out! It was that easy.
The bread is rising downstairs, because when I’m snowed in, I have both the time and the psychic space to be with a long process like bread-baking.
Snowed in, an urgent request for an article turns from “one more thing to do” to “oh, I could write about today, while the bread rises.”
(And while my husband and son shovel …supporting my muse. But even for them, today is a snow day. They sit on the couch and rest, and watch a WWI documentary. They like that.)
Snowed in, I’m not rushed and I have long talks with a few special people. One is a client, a raving fan, who has brought me several prospects who turned into clients, and asks me good questions. The questions are thought-provoking, but the conversation is gentle—because we’re snowed in.
I realize too, there are more than one of her—it’s snowing my fans! Now there’s an image for you—clients, prospects, allies, friends, colleagues—snowing gently down, with no rush and no frenzy. An abundance of snow.
Let’s not carry this too far. 100 Days of Snow Abundance would be too much! Tomorrow we’ll dig out, meet with clients, get out the newsletter, organize the next event, pay the bills, try to keep up with emails and generally run our life and business.
Now it may not be snowing as you read this. I bet you can create a snow day for yourselves when you need one. Take a day, or a morning, or just a little block of unscheduled time, and ask yourself what you would really like to pay attention to, what hovers on the edge of your consciousness, who’s trying to be seen and heard? Sit with the quiet. Imagine the snow.
We can be snowed under any day. It’s being snowed in that’s precious.