BLT Discussion – Who blows your whistle?

We’re all good at blowing our own trumpet, but are we as proficient at blowing our own whistle?

Against the backdrop of the Rio 2016 Olympics, we witness athletes competing against the clock on a daily basis, giving it 100%.

Can we emulate these athletes in our daily working lives?

If only everything was that simple?

Fundamental time management

Since I had my first child earlier this year, I’ve had to become far more time efficient, otherwise there simply aren’t enough hours in the day

One of the BLT (*) members is a new mother, who now works a 5 day week in 4 days, leaving Friday free to spend at home.

By her own admission though, she hasn’t always been this organised – it’s amazing what an external referee can do (in this case, a baby) from a time management point of view!

Other time management thoughts from the group:

* Deadlines focus the mind – most of us work well to a time limit, but this dedication falters when we are less busy; e.g. updating a LinkedIn profile suddenly becomes non-essential
* Accountability matters – without a 3rd party, we are only accountable to ourselves….and hence are more forgiving (or too forgiving?) of lapses. What is our Emotional Intelligence in this respect?
* Urgence v importance  – vital to distinguish between the two
* Personality is important – are you a pleasure seeker or a pain avoider when it comes to completing tasks?

Olympian ideals

This set me thinking – which Olympic sports should we look to for inspiration in how to manage our day-to-day working lives?

1. UK cycling – key concept: Exploit marginal gains. Rather than having an unrealistically long ‘To Do’ list, just try to do one thing better each day [explore the concept of ‘Closed Lists’ from the development book in Related Articles]
2. Long jump – key concept: Set a qualifying distance. Having an immovable deadline or goal does focus the mind.
3. Sailing – key concept: Adapt to different circumstances. Some factors (such as a lack of wind) are out of your control, so you can’t always ‘give 100%’ – plan for this and react accordingly.

Or maybe, for the ‘pain avoiders’ amongst us, don’t be like the Russian diver who lost all sense of time and direction mid-air, and face-flopped from the 3m springboard in the diving competition.

Related Articles

(*) BLT is a free fortnightly networking group that meets from 7:15-8:45, every other Thursday at The George & Dragon, Marlow.

For more details, please leave me a message – new networkers are always welcome.