What is downtime?
For our purposes today, we’ll take downtimes as moments when things – your business or relationship – are not going the expected way. So there’s nothing happening – not for the moment.
Let me make it a bit clearer.
You spent weeks, months even, working on this next start-up plan. You’ve crossed your T’s and dotted your I’s – nothing can go wrong.
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Nothing should go wrong.
But then, you approach all the investors you had lined up – they all say no. You stick to your guns and launch the app/product, but nobody shows up. They all think you’re getting carried away with your own genius.
You go home and lick your wounds. Serious downtime.
Now imagine yourself just after a breakup with someone you once considered the one. As far as you were concerned, this was it for you. There couldn’t be anything better than this unless it was heaven. But a few weeks/months later, you find yourself wondering whatever it was you were smoking. You wonder how you didn’t see the signs; the very obvious signs your friends and neighbors had been pointing out to you before then.
So you decide to slow down, take some time away from everything and just chill.
Downtime.
It can be a really tough thing to go through – that place where all the dreams and imaginations and ideas seem to have a shade of grey and taste like dust or ash. What makes it worse sometimes is when you have no one to talk to, your phone stops ringing and somehow it seems as though your friends are nowhere available. You basically have to work through whatever it is you’re working through on your own.
This could be a curse or a blessing – it’s just a matter of perspective. As far as relationships go, I consider the downtimes as the perfect time to fix whatever was or is wrong on a personal level. Or just to become a better person. There’s not one of us who is so perfect they cannot use some personal work and development. Now that might be difficult while still in a relationship, with the partner constantly interrupting or and demanding for attention. It is a time to look at oneself, to reflect, if you will, over life and goals, dreams and purpose.
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I hope I’m not starting to sound like a preacher at six o’clock, but you get the picture.
Similar to that too, is downtime experienced as an entrepreneur.
There’s no better time to make time out for self. Though it might be tempting to want to wallow in self-pity and blame everyone else for whatever was wrong with the plan, it is also the best time to look over the mistakes and missteps and learn from them.
It is also a good time to detox, mentally and physically. We take ourselves and our health for granted, we sacrifice personal lives for the pursuit of goals and success that many a times we make it to the top of the mountain and look around only to find that we’re on our own.
Awareness of oneself is necessary, if downtime is going to be helpful and positive. Some people are afraid to spend time on their own because of the kind of thoughts their minds can conjure up. Some get depressed, others get suicidal and morose and focus on regretting every action of the past that didn’t pan out like they imagined it would.
We have to also address the negatives in dealing with downtimes. There is stress, regret, and harmful coping mechanisms. People have different ways of dealing with stress, but I know drinking or substance abuse and reality escape methods are not the way to go.
There’s not one person walking the earth who is without mistakes, but the best of people acknowledge their mistakes, learn from them and move on.
Regret does nothing but cripple the individual.
In the next downtime, be watchful. Don’t let the moment pass; it’s an opportunity for real growth. Don’t spend the time regretting what you did or didn’t do. Regret is similar to worry which in turn is similar to sitting in a rocking chair. It give you something to do, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.
Enjoy your downtime – whether off work or off relationships.
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