Lessons from High Rock Bay
I recently spent a week camping in the upper peninsula of Michigan this week getting some well-earned R&R. I read exactly 2.5 novels, survived a thunderstorm in a tent on High Rock Bay, and thought about work zero times.
Okay, the last part is a bit of a lie. Disconnecting from work is always my downfall. For years I’ve said that marketing is my hobby and it generally was. I threw myself into my work and spread myself too thin, and was forever surprised when I drop kicked the ball into the sun instead of bringing it home. I used to promise a lot in those days. I’m better now in some ways, and worse in others. (Give me a team and I’ll never stop trying to help my people.)
Here’s what I’m bringing with me from my time in the UP.
Time to do nothing. When I managed a small agency, we used to have a bucket of trackable time for creative thinking which was really just code for scaring off into space. Brains need time to reset and I did a lot of staring into space this week: I stared at Lake Superior, I stared at the campfire, I stared at stars. I let myself wander and in the process of wandering, I’ve got some new campaign ideas bubbling in the background.
Space for deep focusing. I spent hours reading this week. That’s something I haven’t done in years. Reading was always my first passion but it’s so easy to get lost in social media or reading my 17th article that day on WaPo. Getting lost in a novel is one of my favorite things to do and I had lost the ability to be so intentional with my time.
A heathy separation from work. This week I wasn’t a marketing leader or a data nerd or a storyteller. I was too busy having adventures with my husband to think about my next learning opportunity or how I was presenting myself. I was running around in hiking pants with messy hair and a belly full of camp tacos. And it was heaven. I’m proud to say that I didn’t check my email once, and I didn’t even peek at my Slack notifications. In order for me to be fully present at work, I have to be fully present for myself outside of work.
I’ll always love marketing, but that week was a good reminder that I’ve got an entire closet full of hats to wear, and they’re all equally deserving of my time and attention.