Controlling your workload

I loaned ‘Design Your Life’ book to a client recently, and it reminded me that people find ‘the wheel’ a great exercise. The ‘design your life’ wheel is the best variation on a theme, in my opinion, so get that if you’re serious about designing your life. (Or ask me about workshop availability for peer pressure/inspiration to do it!).

The basics, to review and score what’s important to you, are very easy to do, yet how often do we take time out to do it, rather than go with the flow of life?

Is it your style to regularly review what’s important to you? Let’s go for it! What are the eight most important things in your life right now? Health, wealth, happiness? What?

List 8: it’s ideal to go with your initial thoughts. Don’t worry, once you’ve done the whole exercise it’s so simple to redo, so trust your initial choice is how you feel right now. We could each do it every day it’s so quick!

Score each of the 8 items out of 10, according to how satisfied are you with them. (10 is ‘how I want it’, 0 is not on the radar!) Do you have ‘balance’ (similar scores) across all the items?

Which item has the least score? What do you want to do about it?

- decide an action and go for improvement

- do nothing and keep things the same

Be careful if you think you’ve got no time to address this; what you’re really saying is that the other items are more important right now. Are they ?

Of course, you can do the wheel for anything in life. What is important for my desk? (My business? My family? My holiday? etc)

Shirley Thompson - The Desk Coach
Time Management and Motivation Specialist
Tel: 01425 480631 Email: info@desk-coach.co.uk

Thanks to my tip of the week on Friday, my brain easily thought of an issue for mentoring at a business networking event this morning!
I thought I’d mention my personal branding exercise and the fact that I can be seen as more boring than inspiring. How could I turn that around in ’selling’ situations? (I had to be careful, I was sitting with accountants! Oops, sorry accountants, though I have heard more than one make that boring accountant joke on themselves!)

The feedback was surprisingly promising: from being more creative, to make boring inspiring (some people might want boring!) …..to some really specific suggestions on great, cost-effective, sales courses and particular trainers! Now I’m seriously thinking I’ll put myself on a sales (or image) course. 2 years ago, I would not, in a million years, have thought it possible!

Now, I have had a fantastic day, today, for my self-confidence, so let’s hope my action promise lasts the test of time! Ah, must set a goal, I’ll look up all the contacts by end May!

Shirley Thompson - The Desk Coach
Time Management and Motivation Specialist
Tel: 01425 480631 Email: info@desk-coach.co.uk

A long-standing friend, who lives abroad, popped into my life again this week, via email, and out of the blue , as is usual for us. His challenge for my blog: adopt a more technology based approach. Wow that’s a great idea!

Two years ago, I could see every diary for those in my team (and for those who allowed my id to read theirs). Of course they could see mine also. It was a great advantage when anyone wanted to arrange a special meeting or phone-call. You just found a time, to maximise attendance, whether for urgent issue or social catch-up. It was imperative for cooperative international team-working and worked wherever you were in the world! And, you learned to manage your diary e.g. blocking our your own time and saying ‘no’ responsibly, otherwise you’d get none of your own work done!

Today, I’m back to a paper and pen and a cooperative family! I don’t even use an online calendar! My mobility is certainly hindered and I look forward to the day when my technology catches up with the capabilities I had in 2005!

How many of the entries in your diary are decided by someone other than yourself? How are they entered? What calendaring tools to you use?

It’s Monday, and what have you decided you need to achieve this week?

Old school productivity thinking for housekeepers suggested that ‘those that wash on Monday have all the week to dry’, compared with Tuesday and every day of the week until the last when the severest slur on their reputation, for a children’s rhyme, would be incurred!

The point is that planning ahead, assessing all the risks, gives you a better chance of weathering any setbacks.

Who or what might steer you off course this week? That’s all part of your risk planning!

Is your diary the framework for your week? Do you like to see one day at a time, a week, a month or a year? How many views (or calendars) do you have?

I think you can tell a lot about a person by how they diarise their time. Organised types (process-driven?) tend to have a time for everything and know what regular times need to be booked out. Creative types (project driven?) tend to want space in their schedule and freedom to work when they want.

I personally like one hardcopy diary, as full as possible of business and pleasure items, which can be scattered at different times of the day on different days of the week . I’ll fill each day (one per page) at the start of each day - if not already- so I know what I’m working on! Ideally, a half-full day is already booked by the time I get to my daily planning!

Who controls your diary?

How efficiently do you pack your suitcase? I recognise in myself that well known trait of taking clothes that one never wears on holiday! Yet, when I was travelling regularly, it was easy to last a week out of a small case and pack it in 15 minutes! I was used to recognising what I needed: often as a result of writing down what I’d used throughout one trip, as checklist for next time.

I’ve recently been in the company of several people who’ve been travelling (very) light; it’s very impressive, and often results from previous practical experience! As I sat listening to Alex Phillips, a skipper on 2000 BT Global Challenge race, at Business Xchange meeting on Monday, I was in awe of the planning that must go into getting everything one needs one of the ‘leg’s. For example, you might need to plan 36 days away at a time (perhaps more if you get into the doldrums), and that could include Christmas! For any of you with tiny desks, or cupboards, a sailing boat might be a good metaphor to think ‘essentials’. I’m also sincerely impressed with those adventurous types who sell homes and pack all their belongings into a caravan to set off on their travels in retirement. That’s serious ‘essentials’ planning that usually happens without the benefit of experience.

What has all this holidaying got to do with work style? Well, I hope thinking of your holiday packing gives you some idea of your style. Do you typically have more than you need, feel frustrated away from the flexibility of your a base or frequently forget things?

I ran a ladies evening last night, with a friend from Southampton. We both did so well planning what we needed, then I forgot to bring one of the most important items to make our raffle run smoothly! So, my system for checking was rather remiss; something to improve for next time! Fortunately I had a successful backup plan and the papers arrived - just in time!

What about you? Can you see a consistent style in your packing, your briefcase, your desk? Perhaps a kitchen or bathroom cupboard? Would you like to make a change to improve things?