My Ideal Day: A Day in the Life Sunday

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Have you ever spent time thinking about what your ideal day would look like? Well, I had not until Becky Robinson asked me that very question. As part of a campaign with Jason Womack, author of Your Best Just Got Better, Becky is asking people to describe their ideal day.

I'm in. Are you?

My ideal day is a day without a plan. It begins with me waking up on my own. It's quiet inside the house and even quieter inside my head. Moleskine is hand, I write, capturing free-flowing unedited thoughts while observing how easily they connect if I stay out of their way.

I exercise. It could be a bike, run or hike but it is outside and my thoughts are on nothing other than the movement, the sounds and my strength.

By the time I finish, the family is awake and humming along. Breakfast is a must and an ideal weekend breakfast is brunch-like with oatmeal or French toast complete with nuts and fruit and coffee with Baileys. Oh, bread pudding! The fall in the air today has me remembering a Vermont maple farm brunch I read about but I could be just as happy at a local coffee shop with indie music and a great artisan bakery.

We eat, talk, read, watch TV, walk the dog - whatever. The activity, or lack of activity, is not important. What's important is that we are together, in the moment, with a quiet understanding and total acceptance of each other as individuals and as a family unit. 

My ideal day is not only about what I am doing, it is also about whom I am doing it with. My ideal day is about the state of my relationships and  being present for them by quieting my inner noise. Now . . . a day at the spa, a new look and a great dinner wouldn't ruin an ideal day either.

Photo credit: iStockphoto

My New Rules for Professional Travel

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HR professionals must invest in learning to be relevant.

An investment in learning means "learning how HR professionals in other organizations address problems similar to yours, how they are innovating on behalf of the organization . . . " HR From the Outside In

And that involves an investment in travel.

I love to travel. The almost-four years I was stationed in Germany, I utilized my 4-day passes, Federal holidays and 30 days of leave a year to see the highs and lows of Europe. Save my salary for future? Not me. I returned to the states with very little in the bank but a ton of memories. My husband and I share a love of travel with the kid as we embark on trips that have included the continental United States, Alaska and the Caribbean. Personal travel rocks!

Then, there's professional travel.

I don't travel for business often, but when I do, it seems to come in rushes. The next 4 weeks or so have me in Des Moines, Minneapolis, Chicago and Rochester, MN. I'll be away from home more than I am at home.

Driving to the airport early one morning after leaving a sleeping family behind, I've come up with a few rules for my travel from this day forth:

  • No back-to-back trips for me and the husband. At least a full 24 hours together is required.
  • Combine professional and family travel together when we can. What's a missed school day here or there when Washington D.C. is the destination?
  • Leave in the light of day vs. stealing away in the dark. (Having a private jet would eliminate the 2 hour drive to the airport. Just saying)
  • Upgrade the home technology to support FaceTime, Skype or something more than a quick text or hurried call in the midst of group dinners.

Above all, always tell each other you were missed. I enjoy being with my family. Our time together is already absorbed with the what not's of the day and, when you add in travel away from home, our time is reduced even more.

What rules do you have for your professional travel?

Photo credit: iStockphoto