By Mike Pnematicatos, CEO and Chief Architect, Merlin Software for Vacation Ownership

It should not all be about work.

The days just roll one into another. You wake up, let the dogs out, brew the coffee and grab your phone to see if there is still a world outside. Then shower and dress and go into your home office where you spend the rest of the day, probably breaking only for comfort.

You eat and drink at your desk until finally, it’s time for dinner and a chat with the spouse before a book and bed, and you’re asleep again after what seemed like a very long and busy day. Only to repeat this tomorrow. Working from home can be a drag unless you take steps to make it not so.

Stephen R. Covey, in The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, gives us the recipe and solution when he tells us about the 7th Habit. It is the one about how to “sharpen the saw”.

Without wishing to classify myself as a highly effective person, I do try to imitate some of their habits from time to time. I believe the 7th Habit is probably the most pertinent and important of them all at this time. It’s all about Work-Life Balance – and yes, I am trying 😊

Here are some things that can help you sharpen the saw.

Let’s start with the M’s.

Music.

I find listening to and indeed playing a musical instrument (badly in my case) to be highly relaxing. I have also found that my creative side is enhanced after playing music. The solutions to problems that I found difficult seem to come easily to me after playing or listening to music.

So get out your flute or cello or go and sit down at the piano and give it a go. Or just turn to Spotify or whatever music streaming service you use and turn up the volume. There is nothing like Led Zeppelin to blow the cobwebs away!

Meditation.

I am unsure if the younger generations are into meditation, but we all learned to meditate being a child of the sixties. I can still get into a meditative state instantly just by closing my eyes and repeating my mantra.

How about you guys? Were you a hippy too? You certainly will remember Scott McKenzie and San Francisco if you were.

Medication.

Well, this could be contentious. Some might find that a puff or two of the devil’s lettuce puts them into a zone of calmness that allows for the replenishment of the inner you. I am not advocating for this option, but it is legal now in some places. Even Elon alludes to its use, I am told. Do you have a favourite tipple?

Moving on from the M’s.

Sport.

Not only is sport good for the soul, but it’s also good for the body. Exercise certainly stimulates those happy hormones and keeps the blues at bay.

Of course, spending all day at your desk, staring at a screen (or three) and living a sedentary life means we need to get up and out and exercise more. Does anyone play golf anymore? I must say it’s a sport I never really got into. Now soccer, on the other hand… But for a bad knee, I might still be playing 😊.

Hobbies.

This is an easy catch-all. Hobbies range from simple things like reading and gardening to complex and expensive hobbies such as model train sets and stamp collecting with baking and babysitting (children and grandchildren) in between, although many parents may argue that babysitting is definitely not a hobby.

You will probably find that scrolling through Facebook and watching YouTube videos are not considered hobbies.

My favourites are baking bread (I am a master at this) and flying drones. Yep. I fly a drone.

Amazing little monsters. There is something exciting about controlling a gadget you cannot see from your tablet or phone and seeing how far you can fly before you lose contact.

Then wait to see if the “Return Home” feature was activated or not. Those are the worst few nerve-wracking minutes until a connection is established again. It is pretty much like when the Apollo capsule circled behind the moon, and all contact was lost until it reappeared.

Travel and Touring.

Regular holidays, where you get out and about and away from day to day tedium of your everyday life, are always huge pick me ups. However, we use these as family time to get together with close family and spend that quality time with each other.

And yes, I know, the laptop is always there, always connected, but the stress of being disconnected is not worth it.

There you have it. Some of the habits that you can cultivate to sharpen the saw. And why is it called sharpening the saw? Well, the story goes like this:

There once was a lumberjack who was the first to go out early each morning to cut his allocation of trees and was always the last to return, having finally met his quota. Then, one day, his fellow lumberjacks turned to him and asked why he took so long to cut his quota.

 “Blunt saw,” he said.

 “Why don’t you stop and sharpen it?” was their question.

 “No time” was his quick reply.

 Until next time.

We’d love to hear your examples of introducing new habits and how you and your team sharpen the saw. Send us an email and share your experiences at info@quickmerlin.com or use our contact form.