Most entrepreneurs and especially 9-5ers understand what it means to leave the house in a hurry. Their daily routine usually involves waking up and going through a flurry of events at high speed before flying out the door with or without breakfast.
This state of existence is usually followed closely by two things: a penchant for forgetting and a whole lot of stress. So many times, I have equally left the house having that gnawing feeling that I left something important behind, and I was usually right. If you can identify with the feeling, then this article is right for you.
Being a busy entrepreneur myself, I have put together a short list of what I consider very essential things that you should never leave your house without. This will help you to be more efficient, and also manage the stress better.
Here they are:
1. Never Leave Without a Pen and a Pad
Have you ever woken up with a sense of urgency, knowing that there was something you needed to do urgently, but you just couldn't lay your finger on it? It will amaze you how much the brain can retain when under serious amounts of stress. Sometimes it is as little as "nothing."
Our brains work in a weird way with information. Information is first received from the environment by a process called encoding. This happens in our short term memory, and then it finds its way to our long term memory through a process called consolidation. When information is consolidated, then we can retrieve or recall it from our long-term memory.
Stress blocks the consolidation process from happening. That is why we need a visual reminder.
The pen and pad also helps you relax a bit more during the day. It gives you the option of writing it all down and deciding which task to pursue.
By extension it makes you a less-dangerous driver, a saner boss and it makes you know when to delete or delegate and what to carry over. It helps you enter the day already having a fair picture of what it will look like.
2. Don't leave without a water bottle
Staying hydrated will mean a lot to you if your job requires a lot more physical input than if you do more of intellectual work. But in reality, you need to stay hydrated whether your job makes you sweat a lot or not.
Staying hydrated is very important if you want to deal with stress properly. For instance, one sure fire way of avoiding headaches especially when we have over-tasked our brains is to stay hydrated throughout the day.
It is not enough to come home exhausted at the end of the day and rush for a glass of cold water. It is wiser to get a water bottle and take the water with you. There are even some amazing water bottles that can keep water cold for the whole day! This way you can relax at those rare breaks with a sip or a gulp, whichever suits you best.
Generally water has a lot of benefits from helping fight fatigue to improving our moods and to helping our digestion.
3. Don't leave without some music
Fine, this point is relative, as it doesn't apply to most people. If you are like me, however, you will agree that music is one effective palliative to a busy day. Personally, I find that I can do a lot more with much more ease if I have some ear plugs on and some cool music playing in the background.
Productivity is increased when stress is reduced and that is one of the surest benefits of music. It transfers the sentiments and mood of the music to us thereby reducing stress hormones.
4. Don't leave without the right mindset
Waking up in the morning is a task all by itself for many people. And without the right attitude, these people will spend the whole day trying to make up for the fight they lost against the snooze button.
I have heard people say stuff like, "Today just wasn't for me, the day was just against me from start to finish." In reality, we attract what we expect. And our mindset has far more to do with our day than we realize.
To start your day with the right mindset you may have to do some morning workouts or exercise to improve your moods. You can also incorporate some prayers and meditation.
The aim is to walk into the day with an optimistic mindset, expecting good things from the day.
5. Don't leave without your wallet or purse
This might seem obvious... I mean "how can you leave the house without your purse or wallet?!" Well, obvious as it might seem a lot of busy folks repeatedly leave their houses without their wallets or purses.
By default we often turn our wallets to a repository of vital information. Apart from holding our cash, it holds our ID cards, phone caller cards, business cards even keys and other important notes and reminders.
There are few things more frustrating than rushing out early to meet up with an appointment and realizing that you forgot some information along with your wallet. In fact anything that makes you have to rush back home can have a devastating effect on you day. Usually, someone else will carry the brunt of your forgetfulness.
To every busy person out there, make this a note to self. I hope it helps.