Time Management Archives - Page 2 of 2 - BrightBird Coaching and Training

Workload – Is this the next Emperor’s new clothes?

By Karen Amos

Exhausted. Overwhelmed. Inundated. This is what I’m hearing and seeing around me, from clients, associates and on social media.

There’s too much work to do and too little time to do it in. And yes, there are so many things going on right now, resulting in endless firefighting and over which we have very little control. Vast swathes of staff teams going off sick with various illnesses, of which covid is only one, as an easy example.

I get the feeling of helplessness that goes with this, but can’t help but think there are also many things we CAN do something about, but often don’t.

As we come up to the festive season, this is never more needed. What should for many be a time of holiday and celebration, becomes a source of stress, anxiety and overwhelm.

This is where our mindset comes in.

Working out what we can control or influence and not expending mental and emotional energy on the things we can’t, will ensure we expend our energy in the right way. The good old Stoics and latterly Stephen Covey hit this on the nail.

That’s only part of the story though and I’m on a mission to call this out. I’m going to be the little boy to the Emperor’s New Clothes of workload…

Here are the basic facts of the modern work-life as I see it:

1. We will NEVER complete all of our workload

2. We only have a finite amount of time and energy available to us

So let’s unpick this:

1. We will never complete all of our workload.

We don’t want to think we’re failing, so we try to fool ourselves that one day… one day… we will have ticked all the tasks off on our to-do lists. The fact is that there will always be more that could or should be done. We can always do more, make things better, build on the last job… on it goes.

2. We only have a finite amount of time and energy available to us.

Despite our best efforts there are only 24 hours in a day and you will never have the energy to consistently work huge proportions of this – not if you want to stay well that is! Even if you had 36 hour days, you’d only have a certain amount of energy you could expend.

So this is why I liken workload to the Emperor’s New Clothes. No-one is calling this out. So I am.

If we accept these 2 facts as accurate, we’re left with 2 choices:

1. Accept the inevitable frustration, despair, meltdown and ill health

2. Make a mindshift in how we think about and approach our work

Doesn’t seem possible? Then check out this example:

It’s the Monday, a week before your much needed holidays. All you can think of is getting away and forgetting about work for a week or so. So you have great intentions and have made a list of all the things you’re going to achieve from your to-do list before you go.

By the end of day one, you’ve made very little inroad. In fact, you’ve actually added to your list.

By mid-week, you’re feeling the pressure. You’re nowhere near getting those big chunky pieces of work out of the way and it really doesn’t look like you’ve time to do them before Friday.

By Thursday, you’re starting to cross off some things that ‘can wait’.

By Friday, you’re crossing off most things, deciding they’re probably not that vital and guess what? For many of them, you’ll never even add them back onto your list when you return!

Which just goes to prove that much of the issue isn’t about WHAT we’ve got to do, it’s WHAT OUR ATTITUDE IS to what we’ve got to do.

Of course, there are many tools and techniques we can effectively use to manage our time and workload. I teach many of these in my training programmes, but the fact is, these alone will not solve your workload issues.

For example, I’d always advocate that people use lists to help lighten your cognitive load amongst other things. The problem is that if we don’t approach what we put on our lists with the right mindset, we’ll find ourselves writing them on kitchen rolls they’ll be that long.

Let’s face it, none of us are going to be on our death bed saying, ‘At least I got to the end of my to-do list!’

The solution to this I believe, lies in having better quality conversations – with ourselves, our managers and our teams. A conversation that says, ‘OK, this work has just landed and I’m already at or over capacity with my workload.’

What do I need to do myself?
What do I need to be saying to others?

Here are some coaching questions to get you started:

If I accept it’s impossible to get to the bottom of my to-do list – what needs to happen to ensure I can still do a good job and stay well?
What if my wellbeing was as important as getting my jobs done?
How can I work more collaboratively with others in a way that helps everyone?
How can I work more efficiently?
What happens when I prioritise my work better?
What should my response be if someone comes to me with more work?

One of the things we can say could be to our managers, at what ever level. Easier said than done in some cases I admit, but what if we were to say, ‘I’m already at capacity. Can you help me work out what I can do and when?’

I’m not saying this is always the case, but I confess that on occasions in the past, I have been that manager. The one who was so overwhelmed that when another tranche of work came in, I did a ‘dump and run’ on my team.

The result? An over-worked and disgruntled team and myself, feeling like I’d sold my values down the river.

The thing is that the solution doesn’t necessarily mean appointing more staff – although how can we ever present a valid business case if we don’t acknowledge what’s there? Often though, more staff aren’t needed, just the right support, training and advice and some better communication.

In order to truly change things for the better we need to own up. To shout out if our workload isn’t possible, as there will never be a positive change if we don’t.

If you would like to find out more about how you and your teams can improve their time management and productivity, whilst minimising stress and overwhelm, check out our new Positive and Productive online programme.

For schools

For Business and VCSE organisations

For an informal, no-obligation chat about how we can help you, call us on 07714 855757, or email [email protected].

Karen Amos is an executive coach and founder of BrightBird Coaching & Training. She supports business owners and managers who are feeling the pressure, to get the best out of themselves and their teams. She brings a practical, down-to-earth approach to improving working lives through better leadership, communication and working relationships.

by karena

Feeling Overwhelmed? Try Chunking...

By Karen Amos

I recently returned from holiday feeling very rested. I was raring to get stuck back into work – I’ve loads of exciting work, opportunities and projects going on right now. The thing is I didn’t – get stuck into work I mean. I just couldn’t find the concentration required to knuckle down to the work, with the inevitable self-recrimination that brings. That just brought me more stress.

The thing was I couldn’t understand why. I love my work and all the jobs I had lined up were things I enjoy (well, apart from my book-keeping, but let’s not talk about that right now!).

So what was going on?

I’ve finally realised after a few days it was good old overwhelm. I was simply trying to hold too much in my head at once. Now those of you that already know me will know I’m a huge fan of lists, so I don’t have to hold loads of info in my head, so why didn’t they work? The answer was that the tasks felt too diverse – they were like confetti being scattered all over the place and I was spending way too much mental energy keeping it all swept into a pile.

So here’s when I decided to chunk my work.

Chunking is simply the art of pulling together similar pieces of work or information to allow our brain some space to actually work on things. There’s no right or wrong way to do this, but here’s how it worked for me…

Step 1 – I wrote down the main functions of my business – e.g. financial, marketing, clients, etc.

Step 2 – Under each of these I listed the main things I need to achieve over the next month – e.g. follow up clients, arrange meetings with contacts, write blogs…

Step 3 – I created a ‘Drop List’ on my One Note app where I can check in with these mini ‘chunks’ and ‘drop’ any new items in there as they arise, or that I may have missed.

Step 4 – Check in at the beginning of each week to plan in time to address each of these issues.

But isn’t this just adding another layer to an already significant workload?

In fact, this is just the opposite. Now I’ve captured everything I need to do and organised it into meaningful ‘chunks’, I have freed up brain space to actually work on the tasks. This also gives me opportunity to schedule work into my planner, helping me to estimate how much time I’ll actually need to complete the things I’ve identified.

Along with this, as a person with strong visual preferences, I've colour coded each chunk too. This helps my brain to separate these out.

The result? A clear focus, less anxiety and more productivity. Give it a try if you’re feeling that you’re just not making a dent into your tasks.

If you would like to find out more about how you and your teams can improve their time management and productivity, whilst minimising stress and overwhelm, check out our new Positive and Productive online programme.

For schools

For Business and VCSE organisations

For an informal, no-obligation chat about how we can help you, call us on 07714 855757, or email [email protected].

by karena

Professional Fatigue – Taking steps to recovery…

By Karen Amos

‘Fatigue’ and 'Exhaustion' seem to be the word of the moment for many, with an inevitable impact on productivity and mental wellbeing. Of course, some sectors are suffering more than others, education and health care to name but two, but there are increasing signs of strain everywhere.

Whilst there's no magic wand (I wish!), here are some tips and coaching questions to help you on the road to recovery...

Prioritise:

I’m not going to suggest you just down tools. OK, if that’s possible with no consequence, go ahead, but for most people that just isn’t the case. There will definitely be some activities that are ‘must do’s’ at the moment however, and some that will have lesser consequences if not done immediately.

'Where am I feeling the pressure right now?'

Ask yourself, ‘Where am I most feeling the pressure right now?’, then list all the things you can do to minimise or eliminate this, however improbable these may seem. Talking this over with a colleague or someone else you trust can help you out of the ‘stuck-ness’. It may, for example, feel impossible that you can hand some tasks over or re-schedule, but an outside perspective often helps bring a new reality. Many more things are possible than we first perceive.

Another useful question to help challenge is, ‘What will happen if I don’t do this activity right now?’ and if it’s unavoidable, ‘How long can I postpone it for to give me more space and time to restore my energy levels?’

Rest:

This is so obvious to be insulting right? But, even in the best of times, most people don't get enough proper rest. Again, it’s easier said than done, but many of us are experiencing a state of underlying anxiety and in some cases, possibly hypervigilance. This leads us to constantly scan our horizon for threats and reassurance that all’s ok. Signs of this include sleeplessness and constant checking in, or compulsion to check in on the latest news and social media updates.

The paradox is that the more we check and strive to stay on top of things, the more tired and less productive/more anxious we become.

Here are some ways you can give yourself permission to rest:

Take time off work – This is the obvious one, but many of us haven't had a 'proper' break for months now and have nothing booked in for the near future. It seemed a bit pointless to take time off when we couldn’t really go anywhere during lockdown and for many people a 'proper holiday' means abroad. No matter what your plans, it can help to plan some activities in beforehand though, so you feel your time has been well spent – even if that means catching up on some reading or taking a day-trip from home. Taking time off means a complete break however – no checking in on calls, or emails. Just a couple of days can make all the difference. To do this consistently, engage and discuss this with your team beforehand to ensure you’re not disturbed. Remember to plan ahead and book the time off in your diary. It's unlikely to happen if you don't.

Cut out the media – Give yourself a social media break. You can do this by:
- Allocating a specific window of time you’ll check in each day
- Blocking or unfollowing accounts that you find stressful or negative
- Asking yourself, ‘Will reading this help me right now?’ if you’re tempted to click on something contentious that’d send your blood pressure soaring
- Having a social media ‘holiday’. Switch off or even uninstall the apps on your phone
- Make social media unavailable. If you find yourself getting caught in a ‘scroll hole’, put your phone out of reach. I charge my phone on the landing each night, so I don’t take it into the bedroom

Ration the news – Things are changing fast at the moment, so it’s natural to want to be on top of developments, but again, this can feed anxiety. One way to solve this can be to set a daily check in on the news. Choose your preferred news ‘channel’, be that on TV, the radio, or the internet and set a time each day where you’ll have a proper catch up.

Set manageable working hours – Even in the best of times, there’s always more to do than there is time to do it in. Accepting that is the first step to taking back control. Remember that the longer we work, the less productive we become, so long working weeks quickly become counterproductive.
- Planning a start and finish time for your day in advance.
- Set out what you wish to achieve that day – remembering to keep this realistic and finish as soon as you've completed your tasks.
- Plan in what you will do when you finish work. That way you’ve something to aim for.
- Packing away your laptop/work equipment when you’ve reached your finish time. This is particularly important when working from home.
- Asking someone to give you a nudge when you reach your prearranged finishing time.
- Telling work colleagues when you will/won’t be available and asking them to help you with this by not contacting you outside these times.

Looking at the tips above, try this coaching question:

Remember to enlist others to help you to succeed. Your colleagues, friends and family can make great accountability buddies. Good luck with your next steps...

For further support for you or your team, check out our training page HERE.

For an informal, no-obligation chat about how we can help you, call us on 07714 855757, or email [email protected].

by karena

Positive & Productive - News about our NEW beta programme!

BREAKING NEWS!

We're delighted to announce our new Positive & Productive online programme - due to commence January 2021!

This programme will bring you all the aspects and content from our existing popular training workshops, including:

Time Management & Work-Life Balance
Managing Stress & Building Personal Resilience
Building Confidence

The programme will consist of a combination of:

Short recorded webinars
Workbooks and training resources for each session
Live, online Q&A's on a variety of subjects
An online community to share ideas, progress and support

Check out our course leaflet for more information:

SCHOOLS

BUSINESS & ORGANISATIONS

We're bringing this at a special discounted price of £49 per person, so grab your place whilst they're still available.

We are able to offer significant discounts for group bookings - get in touch for a no-obligation quote!

If you'd like to find out more via a no-obligation chat, you can contact us on 07714 855757 or email [email protected]

To make a booking, complete our booking form HERE

by karena

Don't be an ostrich - Dare to ask!

By Karen Amos

The change continues inexorably onwards, although thankfully not always at this pace. It’s clear however, that the current challenges and uncertainties are going to be with us for a significant time to come.

There are an overwhelming amount of challenges facing managers and business owners as we leave lockdown, whether that's in business, schools, or organisations, including:

Bringing staff back into the workplace from home working or furlough
Managing geographically dispersed teams
Managing redundancy and re-structures
Managing the health and safety needs of staff and the public

Whilst home-working has introduced increased effectiveness in many areas, there are difficulties too. If you’re used to asking a question from the person sat at the next desk for example, there’s an inevitable time lag if you’re homeworking.

Additionally, whilst there was a huge novelty factor for many at the start of homeworking, there’s now a marked division in those who want to remain working from home and those who are desperate to return to the workplace. Failure to address this will cost many businesses enormously.

Socially distanced working and constant change also means managers have to work extra hard at employee engagement, particularly when there are tough business and strategic decisions that need to be taken.

Of course, with challenges also come opportunities.

For managers and business owners to review their role and what this means in relation to the team and productivity
To forge a new, stronger relationship with the team
To re-generate a more positive culture
To harness new ideas and ways of working to strengthen the organisation for the future

The challenge of course, is how to maximise those opportunities in the face of what are complex business and organisational landscapes. How do you balance the need for honesty, whilst giving your teams the support they need?

The answer lies in questions. This will be no surprise to many of you that by this, I mean taking a coaching approach.

I know from personal experience that this can be scary. After all, we may not get the answer we would like! I’ve certainly worked with some people in my remote past whom I would have quailed to ask for fear of opening the inevitable humongous can of worms that would follow. With that comes the ostrich approach to management. You know the one – asking the cheery, ‘How is everyone today? All well? Oh, good!’, whilst departing the room at a rate of knots. But at least you asked didn’t you?

Nowadays thankfully, I know better. Asking meaningful questions doesn't mean throwing yourself to the lions, then being left in a position where you can’t possibly deliver on the answer. Instead this involves employee engagement in its truest sense, where everyone is supported to take appropriate responsibility for seeking solutions.

Often our first response is to jump in and ‘do the right thing’ like some managerial Tigger, who is inevitably left wondering, ‘What happened there?’ Instead, we’re talking about a more consultative approach. Coaching isn’t about giving everyone what they ask for – the needs of the business must come first, after all, that’s why you’re all there.

Ask yourself and your team the following coaching questions to help understand what’s really needed:

What is and isn’t working for you right now?
How would you prefer things to be in an ideal world?
What do you need to be productive and well at work?
What are your main challenges right now?
What do you foresee your challenges to be in the short/medium and long term?

Then follow up with:

What would help right now?
What can you change in your practice or way you’re approaching things that would help?
What practical measures can you, the team, or the organisation put in place?
What support do you need, from whom and how often?
How can you provide support to others?
How will you recognise that things are not working in future?

The obvious approach is for managers to schedule dedicated one-to-one time with employees on a regular basis. The solution for one employee, may not be right for another, but again this is something you can agree on individually.

Another way to embed a solution-focused attitude within the team is through implementing Team Coaching. This is an extremely effective tool in times of change and uncertainty. The team can work out the above issues, supporting each other and taking responsibility for finding and implementing the solutions. It’s also a powerful way to build accountability.

Either way, taking a coaching approach does involve an amount of courage for any business owner or manager, but the positive benefits for the team and business or organisation will be considerable and will far outweigh the costs and anxiety of being an ostrich.

If you'd like to find out more about Team Coaching, get in touch.

For an informal, no-obligation chat about how we can help you, call us on 07714 855757, or email [email protected].

by karena

Stop the Bus! How to Deal with Overwhelm...

Stop the Bus! How to deal with overwhelm…

By Karen Amos

I was working with someone this week who confided in me that she was feeling completely overwhelmed with work. My response? ‘Stop the bus!’ Well, this gained her attention if only to wonder what on earth I was talking about (particularly seeing as there was no bus in sight) - which was compounded by my next instruction, ‘Turn off the ignition. Now get off the bus!’

Feelings of overwhelm are no stranger to most of us – I include myself in this. Issues and tasks mount up and we become less and less effective, whilst proportionately becoming more and more anxious. It frequently leads us to a complete standstill, or at best, with us tinkering around the edges with minor activities, whilst the important stuff is left unattended.

To be honest, I’ve found myself in just that situation this week, so thought I’d share a few thoughts and strategies on how I’ve dealt with this.

Stop the bus!

In order to deal with overwhelm, we need to stop the endless cycle of panic, fear and urgency that’s gripping us. We need to recognise these are just feelings – our feelings. They don’t accurately reflect what’s going on in the world around us.

One way to do this is to ‘Stop the ‘overwhelm’ bus’ by literally doing just that – stopping and taking time out to evaluate your situation. ‘Are you joking?’ I hear you exclaim! ‘That’s the point, I can’t take time out and that’s why I’m feeling overwhelmed!’

As I alluded to earlier, we need to check out the reality of this situation. Chances are if we’re feeling overwhelmed, we’re being completely, or at least relatively, inefficient. We aren’t working at our best, or most effective, so looking at it that way, wouldn’t it be a good investment to take at least a couple of hours out to fix the situation, knowing you’ll be back to full capacity when you’ve done so?

However you visualise it, stop your bus, turn it off and get off. Plot out a couple of hours for yourself where you won’t be disturbed, take a change of scenery if that helps, but lift yourself out of that head-down, flat-panic world.

Work out what’s important

It’s so easy when feeling overwhelmed, to get caught up in tasks and minor activities. This just leads to a vicious cycle of firefighting, where you haven’t a second to look up and take control. As a result, your first task needs to be to identify what are the important, significant issues and goals you should be dealing with.

I’ve just re-visited my 12-week-year planner, to re-focus and remember what I’m actually working towards. Seeing things in a ‘broader-brush’ context is often immediately comforting. If you don’t already have a plan or strategy, just ask yourself, ‘What would I like to see that would make the most difference in 6/12 months’ time?’ and start from there.

Prioritise

This is a word that’s thrown around like confetti, but let’s face it, if it was that easy we’d already be doing it, right? The problem with overwhelm is that often everything feels like a priority. You feel leaned on and obligated to other people too.

I’ve found there are some great coaching questions to help weed out what’s really a priority. Try a few of these:

- Does this help me achieve my bigger plan/strategy/aims?

- Do I actually need to do this? What will happen if I don’t? (If you’re not sure, try a very informal risk assessment in your head – i.e. What’s the probability and severity or not doing this).

- Is this my priority/issue, or is this really someone else’s?

- If it’s someone else’s, how do I hand this back to them, or help them with this?

- What one thing could I do right now that would make the most difference?

- When do these things actually need doing by? Set some new timescales according to your capacity.

- Is there someone else who can help with this?

Facing your demons

Just one final thought – I often work with clients who feel overloaded with minor activities and tasks at all levels in organisations. There’s a common theme when we start to drill down though, which is that we often focus on small tasks and activities, as they’re easier and less daunting than tackling the bigger issues.

Again, useful coaching questions would be:

- Being honest myself, is there anything I’m avoiding right now?

- What would I advise someone to do in my position?

Hopefully, you’ve found something useful in there, for you, or a member of your team and can stop your runaway bus or train and embark on a more enjoyable and productive journey.

If you would like to book one-to-one or Team Coaching for your business, organisation or school, or would like an informal, no-obligation chat about how this can work for you, call us on 07714 855757, or email [email protected].

You can book a FREE Discovery Coaching session to experience the benefits of coaching yourself. Find out more HERE.

You can find out more and book using the links below:

Check out our latest training FREE Introduction to Coaching and Essential Coaching Skills Webinars at: https://brightbird.wordifysites.com/book-a-course/

Karen Amos is an executive coach and founder of BrightBird Coaching & Training. She supports business owners and managers to get the best out of themselves and their teams. She brings a practical, down-to-earth approach to improving working lives through better leadership, communication and working relationships.

by karena

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