Attention - most scarce resource facing leaders today!

In a world of 24/7 activity where there appears to be very little, if any, time to switch off it’s no wonder that we feel overwhelmed and overloaded with information. We can find out almost anything at the press of a button.

I was recently reading an article from McKinsey claiming the scarce resource leaders have to manage today is their attention. The article goes on to lay out a set of capabilities about how to organise work to allow people to think. If you want to read more you can find the article here:

However, in this blog I’m hoping to provide you with some insight into what you can do to change this. What can you do to take control of your attention and help your team to do the same? 

Training your brain

Being overloaded with information leads to distractedness, confusion and poor decision making. We become paralysed by analysis and endless debate resulting in inefficient and sometimes ‘bad’ decisions and a feeling of standing still or worse being stuck!

Because your attention is fragmented you don’t quite know where to put your focus first. Your brain is flooded with data.

The thing is our brains are not designed to do more than one thing at once. As soon as it becomes overloaded it slows down and uses more of our energy (glucose and oxygen). Prioritising is actually one of the brains most energy hungry processes!

Your best quality thinking lasts for a limited amount of time, which is why at certain times it’s harder to concentrate, or even think straight.

So, how can you organise yourself so that you do your best quality thinking at the right time and deliver better results?

 Managing your attention

Here are my top 5 tips to help you manage your attention and as a consequence your energy.

•   Make a list

As one of my coaches used to say ‘Your brain is a thinking device not a storage device’. If you’re one of those people who prides themselves on being able to remember everything, bear in mind you are using a lot of your brains thinking capacity to do this. If you’ve things ‘to do’ write them down and get them out of your head so you can use your brain for it’s best work: planning, problem solving and communicating.

•   Breathe

Take a long deep breath (or two). Breathe from your diaphragm and loosen your jaw. You can do this as you are walking and if you do you may notice you slow down a little. This is OK! What this action initiates is a kick start for your parasympathetic nervous system. This calms you down and helps you think more clearly. There is a lot more science behind this but this will do for now.

•  Decide when your best thinking time is

I’m a morning person and I know this is when I do my best thinking, so if I have some important thinking to be done this is when I schedule it. Determine what works for you and allocate your meetings that require your best thinking, or attention rich tasks, to these times of the day. An example of this would be anything that requires new concepts or anything you haven’t experienced before - picturing something you haven’t seen before takes a lot more effort from your brain.

I know scheduling these things to your best thinking time isn’t always possible and if you know you’re out of sync you can prepare yourself in a different way.

•  Embed repetitive tasks where you can

Thinking about problems when it relates to things we have experienced before or seen is easy. So if there is anything that you can make a routine – do it! This helps it become ingrained in your brain (and your body) requiring less “thinking capacity”.

•      Remove distractions

Distractions simply add to the information and data in your brain that will send you into overload. You need to become really good at setting boundaries and saying no, or no not now. This may seem harsh, or selfish, and people will get used to it and it is about you operating at your best, so it will be a win/win on all sides in the long run.

Next steps

If you are feeling overwhelmed and know that you are not being as attentive as you know you can be try this out for two or three weeks and let me know how you get on.

If you know, like world class athletes, that additional support helps you become more aware, effective and impactful send me an email to set up a discovery call and we can explore your needs and how I may be able to help you.

"In every day, there are 1,440 minutes. That means we have 1,440 daily opportunities to make a positive impact." 

Les Brown 

How balanced are you?

Does your life feel out of balance right now?

Are you spending long hours at the office, or working from home and unhappy about it?

Do you feel overwhelmed by how much there is to do?

Do you often feel, no matter what you’re doing at the time, that you should be doing something else?

Do you feel guilty taking time out for yourself?

If you do, you are probably not alone.

I recently read this years Global Human CapitalTrends report from Deloitte and one of the opening paragraphs read ‘In this new world of work, the barriers between work and life have been all but eliminated. Employees are “always on” – hyper-connected to their jobs through pervasive technology.’

Whilst there are organisational challenges in this we also all have choices to make. After all the only person who really controls what you do and where you spend your time is you.

Too much, too little or just enough?

If you think you’re spending too much or too little time on certain areas of your life take some time out to consider how you will redress the balance.

Develop a list of where you do spend chunks of your time and decide whether you are spending too much, too little or just the right amount of time in each area.

Here are some ideas of what could be on the list:

Work

Family

Friends

Health and Fitness

Holidays

Hobbies

Personal Development

Home

Now, consider if there is anything missing from that list; an area of your life that is currently neglected, where you’d really love to allocate some time. Add this to the list.

Next, identify which is the most important area for you to address.

Now, identify one thing you can start to do to redress this balance. I’m suggesting one thing as it’s the first step and you want to succeed. If it’s relatively simple great! You can now move on to the next thing…

Don’t be surprised if you run up against some limiting beliefs you might have too. This could be the very thing that’s causing the imbalance and may take a little longer to resolve and adjust to.

Take one step at a time and review your progress regularly. Your needs may change over time so it’s always good to revisit this exercise and check you are spending your time and energy where you want too.

If you find you are struggling to create the future you want email me to set up a discovery call and we’ll explore together what action you can take.

‘A balanced work-life is primarily a mater of deciding when to hold on and when to let go.’

Jacques Limoges

4 misconceptions about saying no

I have had several conversations over recent weeks with colleagues and clients who are either tired, have expressed being close to burn out last year, or overwhelmed with the volume of work.

On one hand, I completely understand this as there is an ever increasing need for organisations to achieve more with less, adapt and change with the environment they are in, whether that’s driven by the competition, customers, technology, the economy or all four!!

On the other hand, this just feels so wrong. As humans we only have a certain capacity to cope with these stresses and strains before it begins to take it’s toll. Whilst there are techniques we can utilise to build our resilience over time, what can you do in the short term?

Say No

Say no to taking on this extra responsibility

Say no to attending a meeting you have no idea what it’s about

Say no to accepting under performance

Say no to answering your emails after 7.00 pm (or whatever time you put to put around this)

It never ceases to surprise me how many people struggle with this one little word and yet it can be a lifesaver.

As a leader it’s one of the things you have to get comfortable saying – to yourself and to others.

The Misconceptions

I hear many reasons why saying ‘no’ is not appropriate:

• I don’t want to upset anyone. Saying no isn’t personal. Few people I know take a ‘no’ response personally. If they do it’s usually because of the way the message has been delivered not the message itself.  In my experience it brings great clarity on what may be required or not and people actually know where you and they stand. People like boundaries and saying ‘no’ is putting a line in the sand. In fact saying yes and not meaning it is worse as people do tend to pick up on your incongruence. And a maybe is even worse – leaving things somewhat up in the air.

• They may not like me. Leadership is not about being liked. People may not like the decision and if they happen to react badly to what you are telling them it’s because of the content of what you are saying rather than you personally. The key here is to separate the decision from the people. Often explaining the reason for your ‘no’ can clear this up. They may still not like your decision and take some time to come to terms with it but it really isn’t about you.

• My boss might think I’m being obstructive or un-ambitious. As a successful leader you have got to where you are because you can get things done… The more senior you get the trick is to work smarter not harder, which often means saying ‘no’ to people and situations which are ineffective and not aligned to the corporate goals. When you are really clear about your priorities and what is important it becomes much easier to know what to say ‘yes’ to and what to say ‘no’ to. Saying ‘no’ and explaining the reason for your response and maybe suggesting an alternative can actually demonstrate your clarity of thinking around priorities and the impact of particular actions.

• I may miss an opportunity. Opportunities are all around us. The question is which is the one that is the most appropriate right now? You have limited resources. It’s about making the best of those. Saying ‘no’ to some of the opportunities presented often allows more to be achieved with the one(s) you choose. 

Successful leaders are really clear about their priorities and great at re-prioritising when necessary. Saying ‘no’ to things that don’t fit with your priorities is a great strength.

So, if you are one of those leaders who struggles with this word, where can you start to practice? How can you say no elegantly and with clarity?

And if you need help call me. I have some great techniques that will help you become more comfortable and confident in saying no.

"It’s only by saying no that you can concentrate on the things that are really important."

Steve Jobs

Five Leadership Benefits of Stopping and Reflecting

As a leader we are all busy and constantly bombarded with emails, meetings, requests, ideas, projects, change of plans, budget constraints…

I often hear my clients talk about how they seem to spend their day going from one meeting to the next with very little time to think. Any thinking that has to be done is either in the moment, or at either end of the day that may be on the way to and from work or at home. I know I’ve been there! 

As a coach a conversation I have with potential clients is how we do not give ourselves the space to think things through to either develop a way forward or solve or problem, or consider how we could do things differently. Having a coach actually allows you to create this space and have someone support you in your own process.

I recognise that not everyone is ready to have a coach so an alternative is to create some space for yourself on a regular basis to do your best thinking – even if it’s just fifteen minutes.

If you are wondering why here are the top 5 benefits you will gain:

Five Leadership Benefits of Reflecting:

Clarity about where you are: Taking some time out either at the end of the day, week or month gives you the opportunity to see the big picture and where you are against your goals. You can’t do this when your head is down in the ‘thick of things’.

Increased likelihood of revised action: If you are off track, taking regular reflective periods will allow you to spot this earlier and potentially save time by taking corrective actions early. Even if you are on track it allows you to spot opportunities that may save time in the future and increase your opportunities for success.

New ideas have the chance to emerge: If you a struggling with a particular situation or feel as though you are ‘stuck’ giving yourself some time to think about it will allow some space for new options and ideas to emerge.

Develop a higher level of thinking and problem solving: Think of this as a way to train your brain. By making a habit of having some reflective time your brain will get used to thinking differently – see my points later on possible questions to ask your self in this space.

You can be more effective: You can be more on the front foot and by reflecting on your own practice you can identify where you could be more effective through either adapting your approach or your style in a given situation.

Possible Reflective Questions to ask Yourself:

• What have been my successes over the last week/month?
• What are my current challenges?
• What will help me move this forward?
• What is my job in this team/company really about?
• What s getting in the way of me making progress?
• What is my most important goal right now?
• What assumptions am I making on this topic?
• What patterns do I see emerging?

These are only suggestions to get you started – feel free to come up with and share your own.

Some tips to get started

1. Find a time that works best for you. Is it daily or weekly? Is it morning, afternoon or evening? Be prepared to play with this until you find when you can commit and do your best thinking.
2. Stop any interruptions, including those you may create for yourself such as grabbing a coffee, doing this one email…
3. Find a place where you can do your best thinking. Get out of the office if necessary.
4. Identify clear actions you will take as a result, bearing in mind this may mean you stop doing something. 

If you are a leader who recognises that having a coach for a period of time will help you be even more effective email me to set up a discovery call so we can discuss your needs further: dawn@aurora4success.co.uk

“Be a Columbus to whole new continents and worlds within you, opening new channels, not of trade, but of thought.”

Henry David Thoreau

Time Management for the 21st Century

We’re mortal, our time is limited and there are endless distractions from our true purpose, this is as true now as ever before. On top of this the 21st century offers some new challenges to people interested in what has become known as time management. Distraction is now technologically enhanced, the pace of life has speeded up and more choice than ever does not set us free.

First, let’s clear something up - “time management” is not time management. You, me and the Queen all have 24 hours a day and this can’t be changed, so what then is “managed”?

Energy Management and Perspective

The limited resource is not so much time but how much energy we have to do what we need to do. This is not some magic and abstract notion of “energy” but one dictated by our physical, social and spiritual health. Physically we need to  exercise and rest, eat well and not take-on too many toxins (including caffeine and alcohol), socially we need play, touch and support and spiritually we need to stay connected to the bigger purpose of what we are doing and who we are serving. If this last one sounds irrelevant think of the Mandela or Gandhi’s of this world - they did not have a problem getting up early for their work. Breaking projects down into small enough actionable items to avoid procrastination is also vital. To “feel like” doing things we have to know what the concrete next steps are.

Attention Management

We live in attention and intention deficit times and having trained these things - though meditation for example - is a huge help. The environment we are in, and create online is also responsible for the amount of distraction we have. Is the internet always on? Does every new e-mail “pop-up” and make a sound? Where are you icons placed? This is how we set-up our “choice architecture” making some decisions - e.g. to go on Facebook or not - easier or harder. Addiction and self-honesty is an issue here too as people fool themselves they need to check their e-nail 50 times a day for example, but really they are just “scratching an itch”.

Forgetting and Reminders

One of the great benefits of the modern age is that we can set intrusive electronic inputs (e.g. I phone alarms or Outlook) to remind us to do something. Assume you will forget everything and outsource your memory into trusted systems.

Commitment Management

You are as busy as what you have said yes to. When I work with people with “time management” issues and get to know them I inevitably find the problem is that they have a embodied and socially conditioned tendency to undermine themselves and this is the route of the problem. Commonly they find it hard to say no or ask for help for example so they are overwhelmed and all the lists and cool apps won’t help. Time management is really the art of self leadership and impeccable coordination with others.

On Systems, Flow and Personality

A lot of time management in the past has focused on rigid systems and planning and can not respond to either the ever changing nature of modern work of the reality of the organic, spontaneous human being. Whatever system you use - and I recommend having some kind of system - it must take these two factors into account. If you are able to work with what is most alive in you a lot can be accomplished in a short space of time. There are also personality differences here (e.g. “J” and “P” on MBTI) and half the population need more structure and the other half sometimes need less. It’s all about balance.

Tips for 21st Century “Time Management”

So given the above what can we do?

-  Take care of the basics of well-being - you can’t cheat this fundamental system

-  Stay inspired by keeping the big picture of what you are doing to mind and heart and break things down to make them easily doable

-  Manage your “choice architecture” on your computer - e.g. removing the “red blob of doom” on Outlook which says how many e-nail you have (and invites you to keep checking them rather than doing this in more efficient batches).

-  Meditate to train your attention

-  Set electronic reminder nudges

-  Watch what commitments you make and be impeccable with your word

-  Have a system AND go with the flow

  

Mark Walsh leads business training providers Integration Training - based in Brighton, London and Birmingham UK. Specialising in working with emotions, the body and spirituality at work they help organisations get more done without going insane (stress and time management), coordinate action more effectively (team building and communication training) and help leaders build impact, influence and presence (leadership training). Clients include Unilever, The Sierra Leonian Army and the University of Sussex. He is the most followed trainer on Twitter and Youtube and has the Google no.2 ranked management training blog. Offline, Mark dances, meditates and practices martial arts. His ambition is to help make it OK to be a human being at work.