Our current car is a diesel VW Jetta. We almost always fill it with biodiesel. B99 (99% biodiesel/1% petroleum) in the summer and B50 (50% biodiesel/50% petroleum) in the winter. The transition to autumn is always a little tricky. On warm days, the car works just fine. On cooler days, the biodisel can get a bit gummy, so the car can be a little challenging to start. Once we get it started, the car can feel underpowered until the engine warms up the diesel.
Some mornings I feel like my car in the Fall. It can take a while for my brain to get into gear. Usually, after I have read drunk my coffee and drunk read my news feeds, I am ready to take on the day, full speed ahead. Other days (like today) not so much. First I try some creative procrastination, AKA doing something that needs doing and fits my mood, but that is not the highest priority.
Usually that works. But sometimes, I get stuck on next steps. So, I switch tasks again to give my brain some time to work out the problem on its own. That is all well and good until the phone starts ringing. This morning brought some excellent news, which made me very happy. Closely followed by an email letting me know that I didn’t get a gig I had applied for. Disappointing, but certainly not tragic.
However, I used the disappointment as an excuse for a treat. In this case, taking a break from work to write this blog post. But writing this post brought me back full circle to trying to actively resolve this morning’s problem. That left me both too distracted to write or switch tasks. I do have a meeting in an hour, so I saved a draft of this post to go review materials for that. After reviewing the meeting materials, I took another sidestep to go register for a networking event before I forgot and the slots filled up.
At long last, I am finally ready to start working on the top of today’s to-do list. I pull up the site and,,,the phone rings. It is a client who wants to make some changes on his website. I make the quick changes while we are on the phone and make note of the ones that will take a little more time.
A quick look at the time tells me I have less than 20 minutes before I have to leave for my meeting. That is too little time to start on my top item for the day. So, I scan my list to see if there are any quick items I can work on. I get through as many as I can and I head out to my meeting.
With any luck, I will return to my office with my brain fully warmed up and ready to tackle my list. Worst case scenario, I will have to start with the warming up process all over again. Ah, the glamorous life.