Tag Archives: Discipline

Mindful eating

Posted on by
Reply

If you are like me, the New Year’s resolutions have come and gone. So now is the time for more sane and realistic goals to take center stage. Being effective in all realms of life requires a healthy mind and body, so I’m focusing on mindful eating.

It’s said you should treat your body as a temple. If so, mine’s a really over-stuffed temple on most days. A strategy I’m employing to keep my temple fed properly is mindful eating. It’s not difficult. I’m simply being more aware of the food I eat. How? By focusing on three baby steps:

Give thanks. Most of us in the Western world are disconnected from the sources of our food. Because food is easy to get, we don’t stop to consider the people (and animals) that were part of the process. Each meal, I give thanks for the nourishment that is available and the ways that food provides a means for connecting with others.

Enjoy. Before I start eating, I appreciate how the food looks and smells. As I take the first bite, I notice the texture and taste. It’s odd that really focusing on the yummy-ness of food helps you eat less, not more.

Slow down. If I don’t think about it, I go through whole meals shoveling food into my mouth, pausing only to minimally chew what I am consuming. To counteract that tendency, my goal is to intentionally pause three times during a meal or snack.

Launda Wheatley, Humanergy’s mindfulness expert, incorporates mindful eating in her wellness sessions. She says, “At its most basic level, eating is a pleasure that most people miss because they hurry through it. Simply slowing down turns this mundane routine into something special.”

More tips for mindful eating can be found in the New York Times article, “Mindful Eating as Food for Thought.”

What other simple joys are you missing because you’re rushing or trying to do three things at once? Even that staff meeting will be more pleasant if you tune into what you like about your team and the work you do together. Remember the words of Emily Dickinson: “Forever is composed of nows.”

Need to find ways to be more centered about focused? Contact Humanergy.

Photo from stockxchng.


One simple way to show you care

Posted on by
2

I am in a meeting with someone, talking about the status of projects, next steps and responsibilities. As usual, I bring along a notepad and pen to jot down important details that I know I won’t remember. (I have given up the illusion that I am capable of remembering anything.)

The other person actively engages in the conversation and writes down nothing.

Is it just me, or is that just…wrong? I have actually told our interns that they need to take notes. I don’t care if they use paper or their phone, or if they even write something on their bodies with a pen. Just care enough (or in my case, be humble enough) to write something down.

David Wheatley, one of Humanergy’s founders, refers to this as the latest in technological devices – the iCare. Regardless of the type of technology you use, writing things down shows you care enough to track conversations and commitments. It also acknowledges the reality that for most of us, memories really don’t last forever (and rarely even an hour).

Need help tracking your commitments? Contact Humanergy.

Photo from stockxchng.

 


Four strategies for expecting the unexpected

Posted on by
Reply

Stuff happens. You pull out of the garage on your way to work, already thinking of what you need to do once you arrive. Suddenly, WHAM! You’ve sideswiped the huge dumpster that the contractor left in the driveway in preparation for an upcoming roof replacement.

We are creatures of habit, and when we introduce an unfamiliar thing (the dumpster) in a habit-laden situation (backing out of garage), problems often happen. How can you be more prepared for unexpected occurrences in all aspects of life?

Build in time. Pretend that you have to leave home ten minutes earlier than you really do. That will give you time to breathe and focus. You’ll be more likely to see that dumpster (or child or bike) and react appropriately. Set project deadlines similarly; “finish” the product, step away for a day and then tweak it with fresh eyes. You’ll be astounded at the errors you’ll find and improvements you can make when you’re not under the gun.

Add steps to your habit. Examine your habits for shortcuts. Instead of opening the garage door, getting in the car, fastening your seat belt and backing out, add a step. Scan behind you. It may help to put a sign in your car for a couple of weeks, until that new step becomes routine.

Realize that stuff happens, even to you. As the saying goes, most people think that accidents aren’t their fault and yet take personal responsibility for their hole-in-one on the golf course. Recognize that accidents happen to everyone – and most often we bear some culpability. Taking shortcuts, losing focus or being overconfident are signs that you think it couldn’t happen to you.

Consider what might happen and act accordingly. Think through all possible outcomes, not just what you expect and for which you are prepared. You may have spent countless hours driving safely while talking on your phone. However, what if it becomes a particularly intense conversation or a deer dashes across the road? Is it worth your (and others’) safety to talk on your phone while driving?

Being prepared for the unexpected not only promotes safety. These same strategies help you become more present, nimble and resilient in the face of change. You are off autopilot and fully engaged in the present task. What better way to manage the expected and unexpected issues faced by leaders today?

 

Need help exploring your habits and making change? Contact Humanergy.

Photo from istockphoto

 


You get what you schedule

Posted on by
Reply

I am great at making to-do lists. Right now I have a paper list at my office, one in Outlook tasks, and two or three on scraps of paper at home, including one that’s buried in a pile of bills and paperwork that needs filing.

No surprise – my “system” is clearly not working. As my colleague David Wheatley says, you get what you schedule. He recommends that you eliminate to-do lists and just put it on the schedule.

Most people use some form of a web-based calendar, but this system works on a pencil-and-paper version too. Rather than collect multiple, independent lists that can go missing, assign tasks to time on your calendar. If you don’t do it during the allotted time, move it to a different slot.

David uses Google calendar creatively to make sure he focuses on his most important work. He starts each day with a number of calls and other work populated in the “wee hours” on his calendar. Each morning, he drags each task from it’s 2:00 a.m. holding spot into an available slot during the day. In this way, he knows what he wants to accomplish and when he will do it.

Scheduling your to-dos creates the expectation that things will get done at a certain time – a great improvement over the “do-this-maybe-sometime” lists I have been creating (and losing). Scheduling also has a built-in feedback mechanism. If you keep moving that task, is it something you’re really committed to do?

Need help with tackling the work that really needs to be done? Contact Humanergy.

Photo from microsoft.com


Miracle of mindfulness

Posted on by
1

You may be wondering why a leadership blog would focus so often on stress relief. We focus on stress because we live in a chaotic, fast-paced world that naturally creates stress. No one can be a great performer with a stomach in knots, a racing heart and little sleep. Even the most knowledgeable and well-intentioned person will falter under extreme stress.

You owe it to yourself and your people to take action.

Many companies recognize the impact of stress and are teaching techniques to manage it. A recent Wall Street Journal post profiles Dow Chemical and Union Pacific as two examples of organizations that are helping their people chill out:

“…meditation techniques like breathing and bringing thoughts back when they wander, says Diana Kamila, a senior teacher at the university’s Center for Mindfulness. Participants also learn stretching, yoga and “body scans”—noticing their responses to stress, softening their muscles through breathing and tuning in to the feelings and sensations of the moment.

Employees learn to practice periodic “check-ins” while working, walking, driving or eating. And they are encouraged to blend the techniques into their daily routines, at their desks, in meetings or during talks with colleagues.”

Forbes posted about the best workplace stress relievers, including:

  • Adjust work hours, if possible, to suit your personal body clock. Not a morning person? Try to adjust your hours so you can come in later and work when your brain is most ready.
  • Plan for delays when traveling. If your flight is delayed or cancelled, take a long walk around the airport or work out at the nearest gym.
  • Keep perspective by asking, “Will I care about this in ten years?”

How can you help your organization manage the stress that is part of the job? A disciplined focus on wellness, including managing stress productively, ensures that your people get a handle on stress and bring their best selves to the job at hand. Make it clear that you value people who take care of themselves on their off hours as well. “We must have a pie. Stress cannot exist in the presence of a pie (David Mamet).” 

 

Need to manage stress and remain productive? Contact Humanergy.

Photo from istockphoto.


Yes, you can manage interruptions

Posted on by
1

“Don’t be defeated by a self-fulfilling prophecy that your interruptions can’t be controlled.”

Jack D. Ferner

Interruptions can drain your available time to address vital priorities. So, not taking control of your time and managing interruptions is tantamount to giving up on getting your most important work done.

Recovery time, that is, the time it takes an individual to return to a task after being interrupted, can be as much as 10 to 20 times the length of the original interruption. This means a 30 second interruption can result in an average of five minutes of recovery time, and that is optimistically assuming that one returns to the original task and does not abandon it.

Tips for managing interruptions, from 175 Ways to Get More Done in Less Time (2000) by David Cottrell and Mark Layton:

  • Schedule “open” time to compensate for important interruptions
  • When people arrive unscheduled, meet them at the door and talk outside your office
  • Stand and remain standing
  • Have the conversation in the other person’s office. It’s often easier to leave than it is to get someone else to go!
  • Don’t check emails constantly (turn off alerts)
  • Stand while talking on the phone for shorter calls

MindTools recommends keeping a log of interruptions for at least a week. You then analyze which are valid and which you must create strategies to block in the future. Be assertive and calmly address interruptions which are not necessary. Ask people to accumulate items needing your attention and handle them during scheduled time blocks, rather than one-by-one.

You can’t blame others for all of your interruptions. “The average American worker has fifty interruptions a day, of which seventy percent have nothing to do with work” (W. Edward Deming). Many times we are our own worst enemies, disrupting our work flow by checking email, updating Facebook or other time-absorbers.

Yes, you need to take a break. Schedule small chunks of guilt-free time when you need it. Enjoy these pauses, knowing that you have taken control of the rest of your day.

 

 

Need help managing your time? Contact Humanergy.

Photo from microsoft.com.

 


Strategy and your brain

Posted on by
1

It might seem that when it comes to strategic thinking, the brain is your ally. Not always. Our brains aren’t always rational, and we are unaware of the extent to which the mind takes shortcuts and makes assumptions. Charles Roxburgh writes about the brain in Hidden Flaws in Strategy (McKinsey Quarterly):

“Over the millennia of its evolution, it has developed shortcuts, simplifications, biases, and basic bad habits. Some of them may have helped early humans survive on the savannas of Africa (“if it looks like a wildebeest and everyone else is chasing it, it must be lunch”), but they create problems for us today. Equally, some of the brain’s flaws may result from education and socialization rather than nature. But whatever the root cause, the brain can be a deceptive guide for rational decision making.”

Roxburgh points out eight flaws that every leader should be aware of as they solve problems and make decisions. For example, our brains are overconfident in our own abilities. We think we can estimate far more accurately than we can, and we believe that enterprises that we’re involved in are above average. Related to this overconfidence is being overly optimistic – skewing toward the most positive projections about factors that are uncertain.

You can compensate for your overconfident brain by:

  • Testing strategies over a wider range of scenarios, and giving people a choice between an even (2, 4, 6…) number of options. If given an odd number of choices (e.g., 3), most will choose the safer middle option.
  • Mitigating the risk of getting monetary projections wrong by reducing your most optimistic estimate by 20% to 25%. If you’re estimating revenues of $5 million, reduce that “best case” figure to around $4 million.

Read the full article on McKinsey’s website (registration required), so you can plan around your flawed brain. You’ll be way ahead of your competitors who think their brain is just fine the way it is!

 

Want to be more strategic and execute well? Contact Humanergy for helpful tools that will make your brain even bigger!

Photo from stock.xchng


The answer to how is yes

Posted on by
Reply

I just read a blog that refers to a book called “The Answer to How is Yes.” I don’t know anything about the book, but that title really got my brain churning.

Like many people, I have trouble making change stick. What I’ve realized is that it’s not a discipline problem. It’s a commitment problem. I get stuck thinking of the details – the how – even before I’ve fully committed to the end result. (How can I exercise every day when my daughter has to be at school so early…when I am sick….when she is sick….when work is busy?)

In fact, I get stuck in the details BECAUSE I am not committed. If I know I need to do something, I need to first answer all those how questions with a firm yes. If I can’t do that, I will not move forward.

Think of all the time I’ll save not working out those pesky details related to something I really wasn’t going to do anyway!

 

Need to say “yes” to something important? Contact Humanergy to get you started!

Photo from istockphoto.com

 


Are you a bully boss?

Posted on by
1

I saw these words on a t-shirt yesterday:

Humankind. Be both.

Full of warm feelings about the human family, this morning I read a Washington Post blog titled, Do jerks make better leaders? Geoffrey Nunberg concludes that jerky CEOs (he calls them A-holes) get more airtime from the media and attention in popular culture. “Every age seizes on one social miscreant to personify its deepest social anxieties,” and for the moment, it’s the bully boss.

New leaders can confuse the need for clear expectations or accountability with the need to be a jerk. I hope that everyone who reads Mr. Nunberg’s post will focus less on the Donald-Trump-like antics and more on these last two lines:

“True, every once in a while an A-word aspirant manages to percolate to the executive dining room on the strength of audacity alone. But the majority wind up seven job changes later, still in the company cafeteria, eating lunch alone.”

Bill Taylor sums up the importance of kindness (versus being smart) on Harvard Business Review’s blog:

“So by all means, encourage your people to embrace technology, get great at business analytics, and otherwise ramp up the efficiency of everything they do. But just make sure all their efficiency doesn’t come at the expense of their humanity. Small gestures can send big signals about who we are, what we care about, and why people should want to affiliate with us. It’s harder (and more important) to be kind than clever.”

Go forth and be an intelligent, demanding and nice leader!

 

Want to find better balance between kindness and accountability? Contact Humanergy

Photo courtesy of stock.xchng


The wrong time might be the perfect time

Posted on by
Reply

I was up to my eyeballs in alligators. Looming deadlines for crucial proposals were haunting me, and I was working in overdrive. Then I remembered the scheduled team retreat. Months earlier, we had decided to take half a day to unwind, de-stress and learn mindful practices from our resident expert, Launda Wheatley.

I can’t do this, I thought. As the date approached, my panic grew. I told a coworker that there was no way that I could attend. She wisely replied, “That’s exactly why you need to be there.” (She’s such a smarty pants sometimes.)

Fast forward to the afternoon after the retreat. Calm, focused and thinking clearly, I whipped through those proposals in record time. And they rocked. (No, they weren’t perfect, but they reflected a clarity that I had spent days trying to achieve pre-retreat.)

The moral is, sometimes you need to stop and do something GREAT for yourself, especially when you think you “can’t.”

One of the most profound things Launda shared that day was, “Stress is like living with garbage everywhere, but you don’t see it anymore. It has become your second skin.” The payoff for me for shedding that heavy, dead skin was:

Clarity. Before the retreat, my thinking was hazy. Post-retreat, it felt like the fog had lifted. I made connections more easily and zeroed in on what was important.

Renewed energy to tackle real problems. Pre-retreat my energy level was abysmal. I wasn’t sleeping well, and caffeine was my lifeline. (Sound familiar?) When I returned to the office after the morning of de-stressing, I was jazzed and ready to go. That night, I slept like a baby.

Remembering what calm is like. At one point during the session with Launda I thought, “Oh, I remember this feeling. It’s calm.” It was perhaps the most enduring lesson from the experience. If I start to think that frantic is normal, I need to stop and recharge.

Stress is a necessary part of life, and it can be a great motivator. As Willa Sibert Cather said, “There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm.” What I’ve discovered is that I am capable of driving through the storms that will surely pop up, but a state of calm is where I do my best work.

Want to find calm in the midst of your storm? Contact Humanergy.

Photo from istockphoto