My husband and I were preparing for our upcoming “SAFEguarding your Marriage” talks this weekend, so we sequestered ourselves in his office last Saturday. He happens to have a very large whiteboard on his wall, which often becomes canvas for various artwork by my daughters, but also doubles as a brainstorming space. We seem to do our best work with a clean slate, so I duly erased the last meeting’s content and grabbed the dry erase marker.
I want to share what I learned from the whiteboard that day, because I think it can benefit all of us:
Here’s my doodles for the marriage talk, and my blog idea!
1. Sometimes we gotta get up to get something done. I can sit at my desk all day with every intention or idea of greatness floating around in my head, but sometimes you just have to get up! If you work anywhere at a desk for any period of time, you know what I mean. The ACTION of getting up to write on the Whiteboard got my brain working differently. So get up, go somewhere different and start fresh!
2. There’s something to be said for limited space. Maybe you’re not like me, and you are able to edit your thoughts down with ease. However, I can’t always get to the point if I have lots of room to keep rambling. For example, I LOVE a clean notebook, with no writing on the pages, or a gorgeous to-do list with nothing on it just waiting for my tasks to be etched on the page. But if I have endless capacity – I have endless capacity. Get my drift? I’m sure you do, if you know me at all.
But a Whiteboard causes me to consolidate my thoughts and think in outline form. Not novel. This pleases my husband, since he’s the one usually listening to the novel…
3. Make the mundane more FUN! Preparing talks (or whatever your “work” is) can often be tedious or challenging. That day we were re-writing a talk…well that’s even more painful than writing it the first time! Especially when there’s 2 of you weighing in. Perhaps you’ve created a Powerpoint presentation for work, school or a committee with a group and you understand. Maybe you do mundane tasks every day that weigh you down. So why not break out the “whiteboard” (or the cranked up music while house cleaning, or doing laundry) and turn something you don’t love into pleasure? I cranked out that outline (and a whole blog concept) in 5 minutes while my hubby was cutting and pasting a handout. All because I love a blank “page” and filling it up!
Whatever your “thing” is…just embrace the Whiteboard, and give it a whole new LOOK.