Waiting For the Mail

What is it that gives mail such lure? I remember waiting for the postman (I'm English) with such excitement and anticipation now the snail mail has been replaced by e-mail. Now instead of one delivery a day we can have as many deliveries as we want simply by sending the send/receive button. Each time we sit watching it process, sometimes I even hit it twice one after the other, I cannot tell you why. It's almost as if I feel like it needs double the push to get through a really big piece of mail or something. I have noticed that Monday and Tuesday are prime e-mails days with Wednesday following behind. Thursday is slow and Friday, Saturday and Sunday are usually nothing more than e-zines and daily subscriptions. Now don't get me wrong I'm not talking about all the junk and requested for info etc, I'm talking about those pearls we are waiting for those e-mails gems in amongst the rocks.

What are we all waiting for?

Opportunities, clients or in my husbands case perhaps a job offer. Some people wait for new friends on face book or for someone to write on their wall or maybe even a new follower on Twitter. It seems there is a whole lot of waiting going on and now summer time has hit the e-mail machine has powered down even more; It is like watching paint dry.

I hate the power of waiting. It doesn't matter how much activity I do and as al lot of you know, I do a lot of activity (calling, emailing, responding, newsletters, events...) it never seems to balance out. The responses just come when they come there is no pattern or calculation to understand or anticipate them.

So how do we take away it's power?
By taking action, unrelated action, weeding the garden, going for a walk, a day at the beach, organizing clients files or writing a book. Action is the antidote for lots of things and it comes with lots of extra benefits like fulfilment and fun and relaxation.

We cannot and I suspect do not want to eliminate summertime or Thursday through Sunday but we can choose our reaction and instead respond.

5 Ways to Stop Waiting

1. Create a list of actions you can or would like to do and review it every time you catch yourself waiting.
2. If you are self-employed create summer hours. You will most likely find that you get just as much done in less time and don't have to feel guilty about having fun.
3. If everybody is at the beach maybe that is where the opportunities are too, get out there and meet people, mingle. It takes 3 - 4,000 people to know what you do for you to have a steady stream of opportunities.
4. Turn off your computer and go take action instead at certain times every day.
5. Work somewhere there is no reception of wireless for a few hours every week.

Bonus: Get ready for the end of summer and be ahead of the game. Set up email campaigns and newsletters for the rest of the year, write marketing for the holidays or organize your receipts and set up a system for you finances so tax season is a breeze.