Frenzy is part of the trap against leading engaged, happy, and fulfilled lives. Between increased workloads and constant access, we’re too busy to really connect, talk, take care of ourselves, reach out to others in meaningful ways, listen intently, pay attention to our peers, smile to our customers (and mean it), or find the right kind of support. As a result, time becomes junk food.
How much time gets used up in the frenzy of today’s workplace?
In Inspired Work’s leadership and engagement programs, we give our participants a customized series of questions to answer at the beginning of every day. It takes less than five minutes to use them. Answer these basic questions and you will find a greater sense of mission, vision, and purpose as your day progresses. The value of using Socratic, open-ended questions within the day ahead is the process leaves room for our own creativity and truth to step forward. This is far more powerful than using a black and white checklist, one of the frenzy traps for mid-managers.
Here are a few examples:
What is today’s ideal blend of strategic and tactical work?
Who needs my attention, support, and praise?
How can I best market my ideas? Initiatives? Agenda?
How can I best take care of myself?
What is the biggest problem I am ready to solve?
How can I best expand my support system, inside and outside of the organization?
When we take breaks like this before the “opening bell,” we become more clear in what’s important and valuable. We become less inclined to get caught up in the minutiae that infiltrate so many workplaces. We are more ready to articulate boundaries.
Every workplace brings its own unique needs to the self-inquiry process. But, if you find yourself regularly overwhelmed, try this. It is one of the simplest ways to develop a stronger discipline in how we use that precious and finite resource called time.
