Controlling your workload

Do you know how you make decisions?

On my NLP Practitioner course (thanks Mavis Kerrigan at SmallSteps Giant Leaps) I learned my consideration steps, based on our ’senses’ - e.g what do I think about them, are they value for money, how do they feel, how do they look, what will others think?
And the consideration is wider than that - I probably need a deadline to go buy a pair of shoes!

Considering we make many decisions in any day (eg 221 about food! ) is it any wonder our brains use a ‘process’ for decision-making. Apparently there is a distinguishable sequence of checks when a decision is called for. Can you discern this in yourself?

It’s a great process to have - the faster we decide, the faster we get on and do! One of my clients recently highlighted a newly-realised weakness - spending too much time wondering how to cope with so many things to do, rather than doing them!

How many decisions will you make today?

Shirley Thompson - The Desk Coach
Time Management and Motivation Specialist
Tel:  01425 480631

How frustrating do you find it when people focus in on detail, when the point of your current conversation is to discuss the bigger picture?

Despite understanding people have different preferences, (and normally being a very considerate person,)I can start to tense when the person I’m talking to is so clever in their (detail) field but fails to get above that to purpose, value and direction. Will they play in their sandbox for ever? Does anyone else exist in their world? (And my criticism of others probably highlights I exhibit these traits when those around me talk about even bigger picture ideas!)

Do you find big picture people tend more to know what they want in their career, seem confident about what want they want out of life, have a vision and direction? (And detailed people are more self-reliant, happy to play, passionate about their focus?)

Do you want to

1. ‘play in a sandbox’ in life, so rarely alter the bigger picture?

2. influence the community you’re in?

Does it depend on how high you want to ‘helicopter’ and the breadth of your picture (and influence)?

Shirley Thompson - The Desk Coach
Time Management and Motivation Specialist
Tel:  01425 480631

For many in small business, time management seems to be a case of balancing a list of ‘active’ projects with a list of ‘potential’ projects so that the rate of work, and income, is at least constant!  And often projects are all deliberately different in terms of the work one has to do, to help the cashflow situation.

One challenge is the blurring of ‘active’ and ‘potential’: once a client expectation is given, the project is ‘active’ even if nothing is going to happen immediately.

Another is the ‘juggling’ that can occur, based on issues arising on different projects when ‘waiting for’ action from someone else or even changes in project requirements. Sometimes, keeping projects ‘woolly’ has apparent advantages to both sides.

What can you measure when in this situation, to ensure you’ve got some kind of control in number and extent of projects? One suggestion: work out the height of the “active project mountain”: in other words your total work to do: there’s generally a ceiling for this that suits you (eg to feel unpressured) and you know the lowest point, where you want to add something to the active pile and top it up again eg if 6 weeks is about right for your type of work, then you might top it up if it got down to 4 weeks.  Another suggestion, which is better if things have got slightly out of hand: keep your active project list to those things you have to work on in the next month (or other time period) and relegate everything else to ‘potential’ (and keep all your stakeholders informed of course) !

Shirley Thompson - The Desk Coach
Time Management and Motivation Specialist
Tel:  01425 480631

According to Time Line Therapy by Tad James and Wyatt Woodsmall, some people don’t like deadlines. When faced with a deadline they can set ultra early deadlines to ensure they meet a schedule. Perhaps packing your suitcase a week before you leave before your holiday?

Maybe they just refuse to be pressured by others?
I think everything needs a deadline, otherwise it’s unlikely to get done. So, I’d advise everyone to get a date on every goal or task they want to do.

Take a look at your task list; which ones have you got dates for (in your mind even if not written down)? Which are more likely to be completed?

Look at the short-term dated ones. Are they more likely to happen (and get completed on time) than the longer-term dated ones?

Can I say ‘yes’, we all need pressure to get things done?
Shirley Thompson - The Desk Coach
Time Management and Motivation Specialist
Tel: 01425 480631 Email: info@desk-coach.co.uk

I was treated today by a Chinese lady using a mixture of massage, and acupuncture. I’ve been suffering a ‘dead’ leg, for about 6 months, ‘probably caused by trapped nerve’, and wanted to take some action.

What I heard today about “balance” and “energy” and “knowing your body” made a lot of sense.  A lot more sense than any doctor, osteopath and chiropractor conversations .   And my whole body has felt quite strange, not to mention needing to sleep this afternoon.

I’ve recently started a meditation class, for the very first time, too.

It’s like I’ve joined  another world, and yet it seems a much more helpful one.

Anyone got any advice or experience to impart, to build my confidence I’ve not completely lost my ‘rational’ marbles!

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

Ah, now that is a very good question. One that has blocked my writing recently.
Blogwessex blogmaster has asked it.

I read it on a coaching (yahoo) group post today. , with a comment you need to ‘….make it sticky. Useful, relevant, attractive, quick, accessible,  involving ……’

My style is to be open and honest, so should I say it started as a means to getting my ideas flowing? That doesn’t sound very business-like, does it? And I really want to offer something of value!

So, my public, what keeps you coming back to a blog? What has been useful, relevant, attractive, quick, accessible, involving, so far?

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

Several posts have shown my frustration in people not telling me what they want. I’ve learned from a great coach, that we often criticise what we recognise in ourselves!

I’m sure then my frustration is a reflection of me not saying what I want!

Here’s a tip I’ve decided to go for myself - does it apply to you? Make a list of what you need, no matter how crazy, and practice telling yourself what/why in the mirror, then tell at least one other person about at least 2 of them. (The top 2?)

(By the way, my collage is still a little thin…..I believe I think more than I need visuals! How is your collage?)

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

Do you ever meet people who you can ‘feel’ are definitely too busy? They scurry about, speak quickly, say “I’ve no time to..” a lot? Every time I do, it reminds me of crisis-oriented working.

Within a short space of time yesterday, I met one person who I felt might easily get into the position of rarely lifting their head up (to smell the roses as many have said to me in the past!) and another who’d been working 12 hour days for weeks on a project, but was now taking time out to relax.

Stress is defined as being stretched for an extended period of time, so crises are ‘OK’ if there is a lull to catch-up. I’m sure we all have a different view of how long ‘extended’ is; and certainly it depends on knowing when the stretching started!

If you’re extending yourself at the moment, have you promised yourself a time when it can stop? Are you clear of the value in you being busy right now?

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

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

If we’re focussed on day-to-day operations too much, we can get stuck just looking at those, rather than what is important for the longer term.

It’s rather akin to doing too much day-to-day on email, or spending too much time with employees, or wallowing in the success of of current activities!

Of course cash-flow is important and you need to keep on top of that, particularly in small business, but how sure are you that you’re using your time wisely from an investment perspective? Who else could/should be monitoring (or gathering) day-to-day results for you, so that you can think at a higher level about your business?

Business coaches would probably prompt you by asking you about your exit strategy! What other longer term projects do you have?
When doing my initial client assessment, I investigate what their diary looks like. The client knows what is right or wrong, and will suddenly see a problem, if they see a diary full of meetings, checking up on employees and operations. When will they take time out to think?

It’s common to assess you’ll take that issue home with you and spend time over the weekend, but are you sure you’re fresh enough to give it serious consideration? It may well be you need to get away from the office environment, during the week, to look at the issue, but when exactly will you do it? And can you do it all on your own?
Shirley Thompson - The Desk Coach
Time Management and Motivation Specialist
Tel: 01425 480631 Email: info@desk-coach.co.uk