If you want to be successful at work, then do this detox

On Christmas day, while the world sat down for Christmas lunch; tables full of crisp roasted turkey, succulent gleaming hams; I was in hospital. Ever since last years’ horror bedbug attack I haven’t been quite the same. I’ve developed severe allergic reactions to just about anything and everything.

Since then, I’ve been on a detox. It started out as doctor’s orders to eliminate certain foods from my diet. But then, I got to thinking how powerful a detox can be in our lives.

Stay with me on this.

We live in a cluttered world. We are busy with being busy. Stretched too thin, managing and juggling the multiple balls of our life.

I’ve been busy. Dedicated to changing the world. I tenaciously threw myself at every deadline, every opportunity, every meeting in fear that I would miss out.

Some had joked, that I should have been called The Flash because it was the pace I had set for myself. I don’t know about you, but I felt the overwhelming urge to answer every email, the minute I received it.

I was so busy being busy that I wasn’t doing the right thing for me. I had forgotten the things that really mattered and allowed busyness to consume me. I permitted it to overtake my life. I will never forget, lying on the hospital bed, frantically racing through emails, FOMO overtaking me.

And I know I’m not alone.

In our society, inbuilt into our organisations, we are conditioned to think that busyness is a badge of honour. We are slaves to our email, our mobiles, the never-ending assault of connectivity.

We never switch off. Just think about it, what do you do the minute you get up and what is the last thing you do before you go to sleep at night?

The question is how can I be my most effective, reach my full potential if I am busy satisfying everybody else’s agenda?

So I did it, I took the step and set up boundaries. Small things at first, I moved my emails, social media apps from my front screen. I switched off the automated email prompts. I started a “Potential Journal” exploring all the opportunities I could fathom.

I took a “Think Day.” A day just for me. I created space for myself to plan and set goals for the things that matter to me. I’ve set up three more think days in my calendar.

What started out as a food detox, has become a new way of life. I’m creating SPACE in my life to flourish. I’m allowing myself the capacity, to reach my full potential. And, I urge you to join me, detoxing from the busyness of life and gain clarity for the year ahead.

Curated just for you: Want to perform better?

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