Meeting planners too often lose themselves in their work, especially before a big event.
Shonda Rhimes, executive producer of shows such as “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How to Get Away with Murder,” is especially not good at playing. There’s not much time for it. But putting in 15-hour days and working through the weekend can inevitably lead to feeling overworked and overused. Rhimes eventually realized that this reality led to her losing what she calls her “hum,” the thing that keeps her going. When she inevitably lost that hum, she didn’t know who she was—that is until she started saying “yes” to everything.
Rhimes opted to say “yes” to the things she most feared in life. One specific “yes” to her child’s request for her to play changed her life. She quickly found out that 15 minutes with her children gives her all the joy she needs to refuel her overworked mind. In a 2016 TED Talk, Rhimes shared how 30-second dance parties and a dramatic reading from the book, “Everybody Poops,” made her realize that the more she played the more joy she felt. And if she made a rule to say “yes” to her children every time they asked her to play, it allowed her to break free from her workaholic guilt.
“I said yes to less work and more play, and somehow I still run my world,” says Rhimes in the TED Talk. “The more I play, the happier I am, and the happier my kids are. The more I play, the more I feel like a good mother. The more I play, the freer my mind becomes. The more I play, the better I work.”
If you find yourself stuck in a personal or planning rut, glean more tips for getting your “hum” back from Shonda’s TED Talk, “My Year of Saying Yes to Everything.“
