Let’s start with the facts:
I have eight speaking events in fourteen days.
This week: two virtual events and the closing keynote at NSA Ohio in Columbus.
Next week: two symposiums and two workshops in Boston — we’ll be talking about stress and AI (yes, you can use AI to lower your stress).
I wrap up the week with a Sunday message at Williamsburg United Methodist Church on the importance of humor.
Busy? Yes.
Excited? Definitely.
Prepared? Mostly.
I sat down yesterday to crank out the final touches on a few presentations.
I worked. And worked. And… nothing clicked.
The energy just wasn’t there.
So what did the chickens say?
“Keep working!”
“Push through!”
“You have to get this done!”
What did I do?
I shut the laptop.
Had dinner with my wife, my son, and my sister-in-law.
Talked with my mom on the phone.
And then — most important — I went to bed early.
Now, the puppy had other plans.
She woke me up at 3:30 a.m. to go outside.
I took her out, came back in, and tried to fall asleep.
This isn’t what Darcy looked like at 3:30am
But the chickens were wide awake.
Not just one.
Seven of them. All squawking.
Ideas. Worries. Story hooks. Slide edits. A random dad joke. Another story idea.
Did I get up?
Nope.
I grabbed the notebook and pen I keep next to my bed.
Jotted down two big ideas.
Then went back to sleep.
Total sleep that night? Over 8 hours.
I woke up refreshed.
And the next morning, I had a flood of new ideas.
Enough to drown the chickens.
The Takeaway
You don’t beat stress by pushing through.
You beat stress by knowing when to stop.
The idea that you can “just power through” when you’re drained?
That’s a chicken talking.
Sometimes the best productivity tool is sleep.
And sometimes the most creative moment happens after dinner, with people you love, doing absolutely nothing productive.