Selfie Offsite

The Selfie has taken the world by storm. According to the Time Magazine, Selfie was one of the top 10 buzz words  of the year. In fact, the usage of Selfie has become so popular that it has found its way into the Oxford Dictionary.

But today, I will be talking about a different kind of Selfie. It is  called a “Selfie Offsite” .  We all go on an offsite from our company. We go to a nice resort, conduct brainstorming sessions, have good food and come back rejuvenated. A Selfie Offsite is similarly an Offsite but the difference is you are the only one going to the Offsite. I recently did my personal goal setting for the year and went out on an offsite all by myself. I went to my favorite coffee shop, kept ordering unlimited cups of coffee to keep my grey cells going and cranked out my annual Goals by the end of the day.  I was looking for a dictionary word for such an event but could not  find one. So, I coined the phrase – “Selfie Offsite”.

But, why do you need an Selfie offsite ? Why do you need to go on an offsite all by yourself ?  The reason is that there are so many things that distract us that it is very difficult to get quality time for ourselves in the usual day-to-day setting. One minute, you get an email, the next minute a phone call, then you get pulled into an  urgent  meeting. In fact, for the last few days,  I have been trying to get myself one hour to sit and write a blog but before I could finish my first para, my wife screams at me saying we have run out of onions. So, if you want to do something really important, one of the most creative ways is to go on a “selfie offsite”.

Our life is like an empty jar. It is up to us what we want to fill it up with. We can fill it up  things that really matter – like our family’s well-being, plan for a venture close to the heart or fill it up with trivial thing things like watching TV. The big things are like big rocks. The small things are like sand. The important thing is to first fill the jar with the big rocks and in the remaining space that is left, the sand can be filled.

Now, to fill the big rocks, you need big chunks of time. Ask anyone who has done anything significant and they will tell it takes serious amount of undivided time and undistracted time. Gabriel Marquez the Latin American Nobel prize author who was in the news recently locked herself for 18 months to pen his most famous novel  “One Hundred years of Solitude” which won him the Nobel prize. The secret to high performers is that they carve out undivided blocks of get the important stuff done. Selfie Offsite is a great way to carve out an undivided chunk of an entire day to spend on something really meaningful.

One of the most meaningful things you can do in a year is to set the priorities for the year. This really calls for a big chunk of quality time. At least a 6 to 8 hours of  solid time . What better way to carve out the time than to take a day off on a Selfie Offsite. But wait a minute. Did you hear me saying – take a whole day off ! That sounds like a challenge, right ! So many things are always waiting on us. How can I afford to take a full day off. But, don’t worry. If you thought your office will come to a stand still, let me share a joke about a boss in the office . The Boss who never misses a day in the office had to take a day off to attend a personal emergency. When he was back, he came to know that everyone was looking for him. He felt really important and started bragging how indispensable he was. He later came to know that people were looking for him because he took the keys to the stationery cupboard along with him. So, don’t feel guilty about taking a day off. You owe it to yourself. After the selfie offsite, I felt that that it was a day well spent and I am sure, you too will.

For the last 3 months, I tried do my Goal setting by snatching 10 minutes here, 15 minutes there but did not make much progress. What I could not do in 3 months, I could do in 1 day by blocking a full day of my time. It was one of my most productive days ever. Some things need the an undivided block of time. A nine month delivery process cannot be shortened to one month  even if nine mothers simultaneously try.  

      An undivided block of a whole day cannot be replaced by dribs and drabs of 15 minute chunks. Give yourself a Selfie Offsite atleast once a year and see what difference it can make. You owe it to yourself !