4 Tips for Maintaining Momentum in Challenging Times
Do you ever feel like just when you're gaining momentum, something comes in and throws you off track?
For the past 24 hours, my website has looked like this. 😱
LaFemina & Co. website blacked out due to an issue on the hosting company’s end.
I realized the problem about 2 minutes before sending out a newsletter to my entire email list linking to lots of timely, helpful content on my site - which they definitely wouldn’t be able to read.
When something throws a wrench in our plans, it can be easy to fret, obsess, or spiral about it. That's a human response to a frustrating situation.
But, unfortunately, it also steals your time and energy - which could be well spent on other things!
Here's what I've been focusing on since yesterday as the host company engineering team continues to work through this issue (for mine and tons of other sites):
Communicate Proactively & Positively: I checked in with my entrepreneur networks to see if others were experiencing the same issue (they were). I also reached out to the support chat twice and subscribed to status updates on the outage. When I talked to customer care folks through the chat, I asked questions and expressed my concerns and challenges, but I kept it positive and didn't blame them for something they couldn't control.
Maintain Important Routines: My dog still needed walking. My kids still needed to be picked up from aftercare and dropped off today at school. My brain still needed meditation. Keeping these rhythms going was a great reminder that this seemingly BIG issue is just one of the many important things going on in my day. It put things in perspective.
Prepare for What's Next: Just because my site was down, it didn't mean I couldn't finish writing the newsletter I was working on. I wanted to be ready as soon as it was back up and running! And today, when the site had been down for 24 hours, I started writing this post to capture some of these micro lessons learned.
Tackle Other Important Projects: If you're like me, you have a long list of "to-dos" on any given week. Instead of getting stuck on the one thing I couldn't fix, I shifted gears and tackled things I could control within the current limitations. Having that list of projects ready to go enabled my brain to shift gears quickly and capitalize on the time available.
All of these practices enabled me to maintain my momentum instead of getting completely swept off course.
I'd love to hear - when you're confronted with an unexpected challenge, what works for you to stay on track? Join the conversation over on LinkedIn to share what works for you.