National Work Life Week: Improving personal effectiveness forever

This week is National Work Life Week so I wanted to share a few insights that have cropped up recently during our Managing Pressure & Building Personal Resilience Workshops.

The workshops have resulted in some dramatic changes in working practices, freeing up valuable hours previously eaten up by inefficient planning, travel time, ineffectual meetings, low energy and lack of engagement.

'This is the best training course I’ve ever attended.  The changes I’ve made since the workshop have helped me restructure my working month and create a more efficient routine for how I manage my time.  This has in turn made the work schedule of my entire team more efficient.  I also learnt to make lifestyle changes that boosted my energy and efficiency which means that not only do I have more time, I can also stay focused and make better use of this time.'

These comments were made more than two years after the workshop which goes to show that a little time spent planning how we work can pay huge dividends in the long term.

The changes made by this participant were very simple:

1) Set a finish time for the day
If you know you have to be out of the office by 5.30pm to get home to eat dinner with the family, you'll run your day very differently than if you'd like to finish work on time but don't treat this objective as a high priority.  On busy days you may find that work creeps just a little beyond 5.30pm but without a firm finish time to aim for, working until 7.00pm and beyond can become the norm.  Do this too often it can be a tricky habit to break.

2) Eat a healthy breakfast
Fuelling yourself properly at the beginning of the day, and topping up your energy levels throughout the day, will improve your clarity of thought, your decision making abilities and your effectiveness.  You'll get more done, more efficiently and you'll maintain a more positive outlook no matter how busy you are.  You'll then have more energy for enjoying life beyond the office in the evenings and at weekends.

3) Protect your regular planning time
A proactive work schedule prioritises quality over quantity.  Getting strategic about who you meet, when you meet, how you communicate, and how you delegate tasks can save you and your team an enormous amount of time and effort.  Regularly review your working practices and make quick changes where appropriate.  This will ensure bad habits don't creep in and will help you focus on why it's important to protect success strategies.  Short cuts are all very well but they often lead to compromised efficiency if left unchallenged.  

Ultimately, the key to a healthy balance in your life is simple:

1. Take responsibility for what you want your routine to look like
2. Plan the necessary actions to lead you towards what good looks like
3. Be clear on the benefits to you and those around you of why it's worth making the effort to maintain your desired balance.  If the upside is exciting enough, you'll always protect your boundaries
4. Take regular action to protect your desired balance

Regular action includes immediate action so why not highlight one or two things you can do differently today that will help you towards achieving the balance in life that's right for you?