Go With The Flow -And Find Surprises Round Every Corner

A few years ago I was in Alice Springs with an unexpected opportunity to practise what I teach!

I’d just completed a tour for the Northern Territory Government with their October Business Month: it took me not only to Darwin, but also to places that I’d yearned to visit for years – Katherine, Tennant Creek, and Alice Springs.

In the early years of my speaking career, like many speakers, I was driven by the dollars. If I had a booking in one area I’d look to see what other bookings I could squeeze in around it. Frequently I’d find myself dashing from plane to hotel, and back to airport – always rushing and often not taking the time to experience the different environments I found myself in.

However, a few years ago I woke up to myself, as much as possible stopped the over-commitment and began to add extra ‘exploring’ days after work engagements in exotic destinations.  In the week this story is about I’d just been gifted a further opportunity. I’d already planned four extra days at Alice – but suddenly it got better!

That morning I’d greeted the sunrise from a hot-air balloon, looking over the Stuart Highway, the red plains of Alice Springs, and the McDonnell Ranges. Below us, the new Ghan train slid invitingly past and huge groups of kangaroos skipped through the mulga scrub. Above us the full moon set as the sun slid up into the bright blue sky.

Then that afternoon I rang to confirm a three-day safari, not just to Uluru but a whole bunch of other exotic destinations, capped off by sleeping in a swag under the stars and driving off-road in a long wheel-based Toyota.

To my surprise the tour operator suddenly said, ‘Would you like an upgrade to a 5-day safari? It would help us out quite a lot if you could.’

My first reply was, ‘I’d love to, but I have to fly back to New Zealand before you’d be back from the bush.’ (I’d looked longingly at the 5-day schedule earlier in the week.)

I got off the phone, and the thought came: ‘You’re dead a long time, Robyn. Why not?’ So, with a bit of juggling, it happened! If I’d still been working in my old way there was absolutely no way that I could have accepted this wonderful opportunity.

The message?

Beware of over-complexity and too-tight planning. Be as organised as you can but leave some gaps.

It’s one of the four key elements to effective use of our time.  Cramming every minute with ceaseless activity isn’t good time management, no matter how efficient we are.

As you go about your daily business, don’t forget to allow a little bit of time to ‘go with the flow’.