Introducing the Micro Adventure

Rejuvenating your mind and relationships through frequent, short duration adventures
How often have you heard frequent time-crunched complaints from your fellow Social Sector workers? I hear them often. Complaints often follow a similar pattern where work demands snowball into a rolling monolith that consistently destroys our ability to do other things. Some of my Social Sector friends will use recurrent themes in explaining why they do not have enough time for this consistent investment in themselves. 

“I’m too busy. I’m too tired, I’m focusing on work right now. This is a heavy time on my project, I’ll take time to get away later”.  These are all unconscious scripts that I hear too, and that I’ve run through my own head when I’m feeling low on motivation and high on work focus.

---

These non-work currencies in life (time, relationships, energy, unique memories) are not simply an after workday desert-style bonus. These are essential parts of the Social Sector Titan’s life package that directly make you better at work and help you step toward the best you.   The treasured moments with family, friends and extracurricular pursuits, are the things that make life memorable and worth living. These rejuvenating activities sharpen your mental saw, one of Stephen Covey’s essential habits. Energy and motivation that you mix in with your skills and knowledge bring out the best work and achievement on the job. Replenishing this energy and motivation takes awareness of a few key techniques and the willingness to invest in your own wellbeing to be better for yourself and others.

How to add  the rejuvenation with a micro adventure
Consider the Social Sector Titan microadventure as a part of your schedule. Alastair Humphreys coined this short, simple and cheap getaway from your standard routine, that still brings excitement, refreshment and connection with your environment and whoever else you take along for the ride. 

I’ve written before on how to analyze your time and schedule to create focus on the things that matter, and delegate and delete the things that are less important. Even without this analysis process, there will still be
gaps in your schedule (such as from Friday at 6pm to the next morning at 8am) which are ripe for a microadventure. 

Find a map and look for the closest public land for a quick evening walk, campout and return the next morning. In an urban environment take a bike ride at a new location that ends with a midnight toast to the weekend. Other Social Sector Titans I know use compressed overnight camping, bike trips, or an evening session, then sleep in the truck surf outing if you are near the ocean. 

My Latest Micro Adventure
My last microadventure was a 2 hour road trip to attend a bluegrass concert followed by a late night campout in the Shenandoah mountains. The entire adventure took 12 hours. A good friend and I drove 2 hours to the concert, enjoying the type of conversation that usually happens only on a road trip. After the inspiring music we parked and enjoyed a Miller Lite on the tailgate before camping out at a nearby trail crossing. We rolled out early and two bacon biscuits later we were back at the home place. We were gone and back before significant others and kids noticed our absence.  

In another recent example, the picture at the top is a three hour getaway to a local river paddling a kayak. 
This type of active recovery was a much needed break from total work focus. I connected with a friend road-trip style, while making memories of the concert and subsequent campout. The episode helped calibrate my mind and increase my energy for better work output and enthusiasm with my kids. 
​
I’m scheduling a microadventure once per quarter this year. Challenge yourself to a microadventure test.  Then make it a regular Social Sector Titan habit. It will make you better at your cause and fresher on the home front.