Making the Best of Business Downtime

It’s funny when I sit down to work on our weekly article; I start by reviewing my notes from calls with clients and prospective clients. I always try to think about what information they really are looking for, and focus the article on that topic (hint: I’m open for suggestions!).
Today however, my plans went a bit awry.
I had a planned flight, nice short one, and hour from here to there. Arrived to the airport in record time, security was beautiful – just a breeze. I figured I’d hop on the plan, spend the time in the air writing this article, and be done well before we land. I am a master planner! The rest of my paperwork was safely in my luggage, why lug it around the airport!
My flight however, was delayed indefinitely. Thanks to the proactive flight staff, I was quickly rebooked for the next available flight. Honestly couldn’t ask for better. But now I’m left with checked luggage, and unplanned downtime. What to do?
So, here’s the question, what do you do for your business when downtime sneaks up to you?
My best guess, it’s the universe’s reminder to refocus, that not everything you plan, goes as planned. Life happens, roll with it.
And it happens all the time, take for an example that you plan a product launch, you practice your content, and your power goes out. How do you recover? I’ve hosted webinars where my presenter is connected from his car because the power is out and the only charger he had was his car battery.
Our recommendation? Start by accepting the obvious, that it happens to best of us. Smile, and embrace the unpredictability of life. Everything happens for a reason, and perhaps that reason is a second chance to do something differently.
Secondly, plan for the worst, hope you never need it. It’s actually the very reason we plan our launches far in advance, build in the time for the unexpected, don’t get caught scrambling.
What did I do? Went for a walk, got another coffee, found a power outlet, and caught up on a ton of paperwork, including this article! What will you do the next time the universe reminds you to refocus?
Just as a side note, its great to have a team for this reason. Within minutes of my delay, I had texts out to those who could jump in and help now that I was going to be two hours late. I had a team to spring into action and keep me in the loop.
Here’s to the unpredictability of life, to the reminder that we need to always be flexible, and to embrace the change!
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