Make Yourself Curve-Ball Proof With This Easy Strategy
How I build in resilience into my week.
If you want to play Snakes and Ladders with a 6 year old, you need to make sure you’re wearing armour.
The word ‘play’ is misleading.
I’m on the edge of my seat every time that dice rolls, preying to the dice Gods for Bean to get the number he needs for a ladder.
Because if he gets that snake head...
Oh boy, that’s the entire day thrown out of whack, and I spend the rest of my evening consoling him.
No matter how well you ‘plan’ or ask the Universe for the dice to show the number you need, Snakes and Ladders will only ever be a game of chance.
We often play this game of chance with our week.
If we plan our week out, we know where all the ladders are, and what we need to do to get a step up on certain activities or areas of our lives.
But then those big bad snakes come along.
These are the people that blind side you with unexpected work, or projects that blow up in your face and you spend the whole week fighting fires.
The key to managing this is to build in resilience into your week.
What do I mean by this?
Imagine an elastic band. If you pull it taut, it will snap. It has no give.
If you build no slack into your week, you have no give, and guess what happens?
You snap. You burnout. You break.
Resilience is the ability to bounce back from challenges, adapt to change, and keep moving forward despite difficulties.
When you build resilience into your week, you’re equipping yourself to manage setbacks more effectively, stay focused, and maintain productivity even when things don’t go as planned.
Building resilience into your weekly plan can make you stronger.
Here’s why -
You’ll stress less because you’re better equipped to handle the unexpected obstacles.
You’ll stay focused instead of paralyzed by problems by assessing situations calmly and finding solutions faster.
You’ll stay consistent by recognising when you need to take breaks, ask for help, or change strategies, preventing burnout. And you can keep your energy levels more consistent throughout the week.
Your motivation and confidence increase because you’ll see that you can manage whatever comes your way. This reduces procrastination, increases focus, and improves your overall performance.
How to do it
Here are seven ways that I plan resilience into my week.
Instead of creating rigid schedules, I build in buffer time for unexpected events (a la dreaded calls from childcare providers in the middle of my workday), and work in time blocks. This allows me to adjust when things go off course without completely derailing my progress.
Prioritize Self-Care
When on maternity leave and recovering from childbirth, I got easily lost into depression because the erratic sleep (what sleep?) schedules and constantly being needed were exhausting. I couldn’t keep myself awake long enough to meditate each morning.
Which is why sleep, nutrition, exercise and meditation are such an important part of my schedule now. I always schedule time for these activities as if they were work appointments.
I’m currently working through year 3 of a 5-year plan. But if I didn’t break it down into manageable tasks and goals for the week, I’d never be able to make progress. Setting goals that are too ambitious or vague can create pressure and lead to frustration when challenges arise. Whereas achievable goals give you a sense of progress and accomplishment, which fuels your resilience.
I used to really struggle with this one. My initial thought would be negative, and I’ve had to work hard over the years to be kinder to myself. These days I’m more mindful of how I respond to challenges. Instead of wallowing in despair I try to focus on solutions.
Reflect and Learn from Setbacks
As an introvert I’m big on self-reflection anyway, but I do like to take time at the end of the week to reflect on what went well and what didn’t. Rather than focusing on failures, I look for lessons that can make me more adaptable for the next week ahead. Asking myself: What could I do differently next time?
Create a Support Network
Since Covid and working from home 95% the time, it’s become harder to have a supportive network around me. But handling everything alone is a quick route to burnout. I don’t always succeed at this, but I do try to consciously build time into the week for connecting with supportive people—whether family, friends, colleagues, or mentors.
Celebrate any wins (no matter how small)
Recognizing and celebrating small achievements throughout the week always makes me feel better and reinforces that I’m on the right path towards my goal, even if setbacks occur. This past week I planned in a lovely lunchtime hike as a reward for a stressful period at work. It worked like magic for my motivation levels.
The other side of the dice
Losing at Snakes and Ladders is also important.
You can build resilience by appreciating the value of struggle. Struggle, after all, is how we build mastery skills and the confidence to tackle the next hurdle.
This is especially true if you’re teaching Snakes and Ladders to a 6-year-old.
For those parents interested: using advice from Dr Markham’s amazing book on parenting, I now often reframe the situation up front – “now Bean, this game is a game of chance, which means that you won’t have complete control of the outcome – some throws you’ll win, others you’ll lose.”
And I focus on being empathetic – being there for your child when they experience frustration at losing a game of chance, is a solid foundation for them knowing that you’ll always be in their corner.
This is what allows your child to risk disappointment and come out of the other side.
What about you, have you ever considered that you could build in resilience into your weekly plan? And more importantly, have you been playing any board games with your kids lately?
Enjoy the rest of your week.
-Selda
P.S. If you’d like to learn more about how to build a life you love, here are a few ways I can help you:
Personal guidance and coaching to find more hours each day:
Double your productivity and do more of what matters to you:
🚀Supercharge Your Productivity: Take the stress out of your week and juggle all of your jobs without working yourself to death
⚖️7 Proven Strategies to a Better Work Life Balance: Spend less time at work and more time on the things you really want to do
Hey Selda. My biggest takeaway is to plan with flexibility and breathing room.
Lately I've been pushing myself too hard, always being in grinding mode. And I've felt burnt out frequently. Only recently I dialed it down to give myself some room to breathe and just detach from the constant grinding mode.
Turns out, I was stretching myself too thin which is why I was on edge and anooyed and grumpy with my family.
Ever since I started putting in intentional downtime, I've felt much better energy wise, productivity wise and in terms of production quality.
Now the next step would be to identify that optimal line where I can stay sane and productive.
Sorry I can't help but optimize stuff 😅