One of my favourite short films is called Slomo. You can watch it on YouTube. I must have seen it 30 times in the last few years and even connected with the director on LinkedIn to tell him how much I love it.

It's a documentary about Dr John Kitchin who was a physician in the USA until he had an epiphany and changed his life completely.

I'd love you to watch it because I think it is full of wisdom. And one of the highlights is an old man saying the secret to a long life is to "do what you want to".

It's just one of around 10 quotes from the film I find myself coming back to over and over. In this case, that phrase is one that I remind myself of about once every 3-6 months when I find myself "lost in a rational world".

For many of us, with modern work, there is no off switch. Our jobs follow us on our phones through the evenings and weekends. Our inboxes are full of open loops of unfinished work.

Now, personally, I love this opportunity. I can make a living from anywhere, whenever I chose to. And I love what I do.

But, sometimes, I forget the opposite side of this equation. I can do what I want to, whenever I want to. And, if you think about it, at a small scale, you probably can too!

If you find that your mental energy isn't enabling you to work well, you can just do something fun, or enjoyable, or stimulating for a change. Like maybe watch Slomo and have a cup of tea. You can't actually be productive 7 hours straight, day after day, week after week, forever.

I've remembered this because I have drained my mental energy a lot in the last couple of weeks -- doing stuff that I have found really stimulating. Yesterday afternoon I stared at a laptop screen for hours in a stunningly unproductive attempt at getting stuff done. But this morning, a lightbulb went off in my head. What I need to do is enjoy myself now! Not after I have earned it by completing a arbitrary set of tasks.

Today I have a pretty quiet day on the client side (you should see tomorrow though 🤯) and so, I've been to the gym, I've sat having coffee chatting to the regulars at my favourite coffee shop, I bumped into my barber and thought, why not go and see him this morning, because I can. I might go for a walk later, then I'm taking my daughter to the dentist.

Rationally, I could use the day to plough through a marketing plan or something. But, spiritually, doing what I want will be much more productive. After all, as Slomo reminds us, "these are your good old days". So we might as well enjoy them.

Hope you enjoy yours, Stephen

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