Sometimes You Need a Little Purple Snow

by Joan Friedlander

Snow: The 15 minute increments you put in your schedule throughout the day that allow you to handle the unexpected without becoming overwhelmed.

Purple Snow: the unscheduled time in your day that allows you to do what seems most important at the time, even if it's nothing.

When you work for a company there is not much room for "snow" or "purple snow" in your day. Legally, you're entitled to 15 minute breaks every 4 hours you work, and to at least 30 minutes for a meal break if you work 6 hours or more. But, other than that, you're on the clock and expected to be a producing machine. There's little accounting, in this business model, for the ebb and flow of human energy. There's no siesta, nada!

It can be hard to find your focus when you run a service business and there's no one around to hold you to a workable level of productivity. In response, you may go in one of several directions.

• Feel a bit lazy and work only when you're moved to (not good for business)

• Do all sorts of things to keep busy, whether they're good for business, or not (dart board approach)

• Take some time to understand what it takes to run your business, and implement an organization system that makes the best use of your skills, talents, etc. (ideal)

I've learned that people love the thought of structure and focus, and fear it at the same time. They crave order, but fear they'll lose their creative edge. Not so. As a matter of fact, the opposite it true. With the certainty created by a schedule and a plan comes security and confidence. Security and confidence are breeding grounds for creativity. It gives you more freedom, not less. Consider this new business owner's discovery.

I am not a planner by nature nor do I enjoy creating or somethings using a process. However, both are absolutely necessary to growing my business in the manner I ... desire...now I understand this on a deeper level." Lisa M., Family Coach

My Master Calendar Solution offers a method by which you can actually determine and map out what's required to produce the results you seek, and to allot the appropriate amount of time to those activities that not only get the job done, but do so in greater alignment with your personal biology or biorhythms (think morning person vs. night owl). So, rather than wondering what to do when, you know what to do when. Because your personal biology is factored into the plan, it's actually easier to follow it.

The Origin of Purple Snow

The idea of snow was first coined by a mother of a 6-month old son. She used her master calendar to allot specific times in the week to work on her business and serve her clients. She let me know she needed "snow" to allow for variations in her son's needs. Good idea! Another client, in completely different circumstances, asked for "purple snow" in his calendar. He was starting a new business enterprise and needed to make sure that 10 hours of his week were billable hours, thus giving him the freedom to work on this other business. Purple snow represented time that could go either way, depending on what else was needed that week. It held his commitment, and made room for variables.

I now use the term "purple snow" to account for the unexpected. Why might this be important? Think about those times when you've made promises and scheduled clients and projects without any room for error, or changes. Doesn't that only serve to increase your levels of stress and anxiety? What happens in the face of stress and anxiety?

It goes against the grain to build in allowances for contingencies and errors. It takes courage to respond to requests without creating urgency at every turn. It's not necessarily comfortable to say, "I'll need a week to get this to you," or "I'm booked right now. I can schedule time for your project next month." But people do, and prospects and clients wait. Do you really need to work yourself to the bone to deliver good work and run a successful, thriving business? I don't think so. Do you?

Note: I've had the opportunity to coach a few people in salaried positions, and it is possible to create a master activity schedule that serves as a template for personal productivity. It works best in a cooperative environment where results are valued over time, and where there's enough autonomy to make some independent decisions about the way you work. I imagine a corporate paradigm of the future where results become more valued - and trusted - than time on the clock.

 

 

by Joan Friedlander, © 2008. All rights reserved.