Celebrate Yesterday is a productivity strategy designed to have you honestly look at what you do well and what could be improved. Often, your daily demands make this kind of review challenging. I think you’ll find the investment in time worthwhile.
Recently, we discussed my concept of Get to Tomorrow, which can be very useful during challenging times on the job. Celebrate Yesterday is in a similar theme.
At the beginning of the day, take five minutes and review the previous workday. Make this a calendar item or an alarm on your phone, so you won’t skip it. During this time, you should think about these points:
Celebrate Yesterday: The Best/Worst
What did you do that went really well? Also consider if there was something you learned or surprised you.
Without spiraling into frustration, as you relive the day, think about the things that didn’t go so well. Were they random problems, over which you had no control? Or are they lessons you learned and can apply in the future.
Celebrate Yesterday: Commitment
Now that you’ve identified some of your positive activities, think if you can do more of them. Maybe you can take that feeling and apply it to other tasks.
The same can apply to those negative moments. Is there something you can do to improve them?
For instance, you may have felt unprepared for a meeting. Are there things you can do ahead of the next meeting to make you feel more prepared? This is better than dreading the next meeting.
Sometimes a challenging situation can’t be improved but you can have the confidence you can make the best of it. In customer service, the job can involve receiving a lot of negative feedback but it’s important to listen. You can’t get to a possible solution without hearing the problem.
Celebrate Yesterday: Your One Thing
Looking back, what is one thing that made you proud? Some days, you may struggle to think of something. It can be a simple as you took a moment to clean your desk or held the elevator door open for someone.
Find something to celebrate. Most of the time, we only remember the things that went wrong during the workday. You might be missing out on some good stuff.
One of the best tips I ever received when I worked as a TV news anchor was to watch myself after the broadcast. While it wasn’t fun to see my stumbles or other things I didn’t like, I’d also notice good things that I wasn’t aware of in the moment.
Both observations put me on a road to improvement. There was no way I’d get there if I didn’t take the time to look back at my newscasts.
Does your next meeting need something special?
