Juggling 368: Let the Train take the Strain
Claire writes: "I came back from a week working away to find 260 emails in my inbox - after the junk and the circulars had been fitered into other boxes. And it's hard to catch up when you also delivering other work. Yesterday, still struggling to catch up, I had to catch a train to York to run the Action Learning Facilitator Training. This time I took the laptop and a fancy cup of coffee.
Within two hours, I was arriving in York with 37 emails left, and they are all waiting for a response from other people. Diane talked the other week about making tme to read. It's also valuable to make time to catch up. The 6.34 train goes too early to make phone calls, and I couldn't get up and displace, so they got dealt with.Next time I get a backlog, I am tempted to book a return ticket to Edinburgh! Sometimes we have to come up with creative solutions to manage overflowing lists or piles or commitments.
Clearing your head can allow you to focus on work in a new way. This week's discovery which enabled that to happen more easily was a free software programme which allows you to put electronic postits on your screen. You can even attach them to documents and email them to other people! Take a look at http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/index.html if you want to know more.
Meanwhile, is there something simple you can do this week to tackle tasks which are stressing you? "
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Friday, February 08, 2008
Juggling in 3D 367: Say What You See
Welcome to all our new subscribers this week. And thanks to the youth mentors in Cambridgeshire who came up with this week's title!
If you're changing career and not sure what to do next, do come along to http://www.onelifelive.co.uk/ from Feb 29th-March 2nd. Advance tickets are at reduced price. And check the schedule on the One Life website to find out when we are speaking each day on the Main Stage at in the Woman and Home Theatre.
Claire writes: "The technical term is dissonance. The reality is that sometimes people will say one thing and their body language and whole demeanour will be saying something else. Sometimes there is just a mismatch, but usually something else is going on. The skill of the coach or, in fact, the good friend or colleague is to say what you see. No interpretation. No inference. Just to say what you notice. I have seen huge power in simple interventions like that in coaching which I have observed over the last couple of weeks.
It's the simplicity which carries the power. When a friend tells you how excited they are about all the extra work they've taken on, yet they look weighed down, the power is just to say what you notice. Quick reaction often forces us into: Are you sure you're not working too hard? I think you may have taken on too much. You must be careful. Those comments often produce defensiveness in their receivers. Simple is powerful: I hear you telling me how exciting the work is. And I see your body looking exhausted. What's that about?
It works with what you hear, as well!"
Welcome to all our new subscribers this week. And thanks to the youth mentors in Cambridgeshire who came up with this week's title!
If you're changing career and not sure what to do next, do come along to http://www.onelifelive.co.uk/ from Feb 29th-March 2nd. Advance tickets are at reduced price. And check the schedule on the One Life website to find out when we are speaking each day on the Main Stage at in the Woman and Home Theatre.
Claire writes: "The technical term is dissonance. The reality is that sometimes people will say one thing and their body language and whole demeanour will be saying something else. Sometimes there is just a mismatch, but usually something else is going on. The skill of the coach or, in fact, the good friend or colleague is to say what you see. No interpretation. No inference. Just to say what you notice. I have seen huge power in simple interventions like that in coaching which I have observed over the last couple of weeks.
It's the simplicity which carries the power. When a friend tells you how excited they are about all the extra work they've taken on, yet they look weighed down, the power is just to say what you notice. Quick reaction often forces us into: Are you sure you're not working too hard? I think you may have taken on too much. You must be careful. Those comments often produce defensiveness in their receivers. Simple is powerful: I hear you telling me how exciting the work is. And I see your body looking exhausted. What's that about?
It works with what you hear, as well!"
Juggling in 3D 366: The Jigsaw
It has been great to meet a number of you whilst we have been travelling over the last couple of weeks. A quick reminder that it's not too late to take the last place on the Action learning Facilitator Training course with Claire in York, on Thursday. Call TODAY for more details.
Jeremy writes: "It’s become my custom over 10 years to take a complete day out, a “Whatever Next…?” day for myself, on the first working Monday of the year. I do this partly to reflect on the year ahead and how I’m feeling about it, and also to become genuinely open to guidance, a realignment of thoughts and some inspiration.
The second-hardest part is to book such a day and get there, instead of busying myself with post-Christmas-holiday “catching up” jobs! The hardest part for me is not to use the day to think about all sorts of things and write notes and lists! I really want to listen and pay attention to the silence – it takes me about an hour to do that and then I start hearing what I need to hear!
This year was a special time. I started in quite a downbeat mood, feeling frustrated and sad that I had so many unfinished pieces of work on the go, including a half-written book. I remained quite negative for a while, chastising myself for not “getting on with things” and not focusing on fewer tasks and completing them. Once I quieted down, however, I started to see that this challenging network of 14 different, ongoing and unfinished aspects of my work was the real “Whatever Next…?” – in progress. I became calm and excited about all the opportunities that were now open for 2008, many of them because they had been opened up by varied activities in previous years.
And then a lovely picture came of me doing a very large jigsaw, a family activity which involves progressive stages and considerable patience. We do not do jigsaws to see the completed picture; we could just look at the lid of the box for that! We do jigsaws for the enjoyment and mental stimulation and fellowship of working together on building all sorts of different parts of a whole, and then linking them up. If it’s big jigsaw, that takes time…and it’s all the more satisfying as you eventually make the links and breakthroughs and see more of the whole scene. Sometimes, remember, we get bored or go cross-eyed and just need to walk away and take a break!
So this year I am continuing with the big jigsaw of growing a unique business (without the aid of a box lid!), and I’m now enjoying the process once again. Allowing our thoughts to be reframed is just one of the benefits of a purposeful away day."
Email info@3dcoaching.com or call Diane on 0845 458 0156 if you'd like to come on a Whatever Next Day or if a coaching conversation will help you to take this forward.
(c) 2008 3D Coaching Ltd
It has been great to meet a number of you whilst we have been travelling over the last couple of weeks. A quick reminder that it's not too late to take the last place on the Action learning Facilitator Training course with Claire in York, on Thursday. Call TODAY for more details.
Jeremy writes: "It’s become my custom over 10 years to take a complete day out, a “Whatever Next…?” day for myself, on the first working Monday of the year. I do this partly to reflect on the year ahead and how I’m feeling about it, and also to become genuinely open to guidance, a realignment of thoughts and some inspiration.
The second-hardest part is to book such a day and get there, instead of busying myself with post-Christmas-holiday “catching up” jobs! The hardest part for me is not to use the day to think about all sorts of things and write notes and lists! I really want to listen and pay attention to the silence – it takes me about an hour to do that and then I start hearing what I need to hear!
This year was a special time. I started in quite a downbeat mood, feeling frustrated and sad that I had so many unfinished pieces of work on the go, including a half-written book. I remained quite negative for a while, chastising myself for not “getting on with things” and not focusing on fewer tasks and completing them. Once I quieted down, however, I started to see that this challenging network of 14 different, ongoing and unfinished aspects of my work was the real “Whatever Next…?” – in progress. I became calm and excited about all the opportunities that were now open for 2008, many of them because they had been opened up by varied activities in previous years.
And then a lovely picture came of me doing a very large jigsaw, a family activity which involves progressive stages and considerable patience. We do not do jigsaws to see the completed picture; we could just look at the lid of the box for that! We do jigsaws for the enjoyment and mental stimulation and fellowship of working together on building all sorts of different parts of a whole, and then linking them up. If it’s big jigsaw, that takes time…and it’s all the more satisfying as you eventually make the links and breakthroughs and see more of the whole scene. Sometimes, remember, we get bored or go cross-eyed and just need to walk away and take a break!
So this year I am continuing with the big jigsaw of growing a unique business (without the aid of a box lid!), and I’m now enjoying the process once again. Allowing our thoughts to be reframed is just one of the benefits of a purposeful away day."
Email info@3dcoaching.com or call Diane on 0845 458 0156 if you'd like to come on a Whatever Next Day or if a coaching conversation will help you to take this forward.
(c) 2008 3D Coaching Ltd
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
