The kitchen in the apartment we are renting in Costa Rica is hot. Earlier this afternoon, I was determined to create work at the table, with no air conditioning or fan, while my wife and son attend their Spanish class.
Sweat inhibits laptop productivity.
I valiantly (stubbornly) attempted, but after a miserable hour I decided to take my laptop to the Oasis Cafe, part of the Spanish language school where Bernice and Eric are studying.
As I walked to the school, I practiced what I learned on Google Translate: "Mi esposa y mi hijo son estudantes aqui, ?puedo trabarjar alli", pointing at the table, under the fan, in the shade. The pleasant young lady behind the counter smiled and said "Si!"
I do that a lot: fight too hard to make a process work. For months I have been defining a vision of working silently, creating my book, in our rented apartment. "I paid good money for this (nobody ever pays bad money)!"
But a much better option was available...with a cool breeze, and the ambiance of an outdoor cafe with people speaking a foreign language in the background (the perfect "white noise").
It cost me little...I had to give up my "ideal method", do a little research, walk a few blocks and risk rejection. I gave up little, the research was at my fingertips, the walk was easy and the risk of rejection was small, given my preparation and the association I had with the school.
So out of the hot kitchen comes a recipe for improving process:
- Let go of process expectations that don't matter to the result
- Do your homework
- Move!
- Risk Failure - the new process might not work, either.
Now I am in a much more conducive and comfortable environment, and I'm already learning some Spanish! (unexpected benefit of new process).
Jody@exhortadvisors.com