Transcript
[00:00:01]
You're listening to the Her Leadership Coach podcast for the quietly determined career woman who's looking to step up into a first or next level leadership role. If you're looking to make a bigger, more positive difference that's in your organization, you've come to the right place. Well, hello. Welcome in. It's Rochelle.
[00:00:23]
Thanks for joining me on today's episode, where we are finishing off the great work, if I do say so myself, that we started last week. Yeah, I'm talking about the last three pieces of the puzzle to getting things done without stress, also known as the Done Not Dusted course, which you will find a link to in the show notes. If this appeals to you, if the thought of being known as the productive one at work without feeling all of the stress, without working all of the hours, if that appeals to you, definitely take a look at the show notes. Depending on when you're listening to this, the course may be kicking off soon or later. And if it's later, there will be a waiting list for you to pop your name on.
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So let's get started. Last week, we went through the first three pieces of the puzzle, which were clarity, the scientist mindset, and being a person of integrity. So if you missed that episode, I'm going to recommend that you pause this one. Now head back, have a look at episode four. Listen to that one first before coming back here, because I pretty much believe that will make a bit more sense.
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However, I am not one to be authoritative, so certainly hang around. If you feel like it, then you can do it out of order. Jump back into episode four later. So, yes, this week we're looking at the remaining three areas that you need to embrace if you want your life back to feeling calm and under control. So quick recap.
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The six areas fall under the done not dusted framework, and the framework is who do I need to be, how do I work, and what do I do? So this week, we're going to be kicking off with energy, and that falls under the how do I work? Piece of the framework. And then we'll look at habits and systems which both map to the what do I do? Piece of the framework.
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All right, so energy. I've come to see energy as one of our most precious resources. I used to think it was time, but let's face it, we could have all the time in the world. And if we're too tired to do anything with it, what's the point of it? I'm the first one to admit that we cannot have energy all day every day.
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I do not. I definitely have flat days, flat hours, and occasionally flat weeks. It's not a decent expectation to believe that we can be on all the time. You might have met people that seem to be on all the time, but I guarantee you. They have some systems in place to help them come across like that.
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And at the end of the day, they probably do not a lot. So don't beat yourself up if you're not coming across like an Energizer bunny. I do believe though, that we need to do everything within our control to both protect our energy and to work with the natural rhythm of that energy. So what do I mean by that? Well, protecting your energy really comes back to the basics.
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And I'm not going to tell you anything you don't know here. Get the sleep, eat the foods that give you energy. And when I say that, I'm talking long term, not the short term sugar highs or caffeine hits. Not that I'm saying that I don't do that or they're not good. It's just not a long term strategy.
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And do the exercise. Like I said, all things you already know are good for you. They turn out to be the best things to protect energy as well. And I know it's boring, I get it. Again, I'm not saying I'm the best at that all of the time.
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I do know though, that they make a difference. And I can tell you I notice the difference when I'm not doing any one of those things. So I do prioritize them. It's a choice that I need to make every single day. Then there is working with our energy rather than against it.
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Now, I don't know about you, but I tend to have a slump at some time during the day, at least one, depending on how I'm doing it. The sleeping, eating and exercising for over 50% of us. Apparently that tends to be just after lunch and it lasts for at least a couple of hours before we start to pick up again. And during those couple of hours we might grab a coffee, some kind of sugar pick me up, or we kind of just yawn our way through. The last thing we want to do during that time though, regardless of how we try and combat it, is to do some kind of deep thinking, right?
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I have tried many times and all I do is end up feeling almost like drugged out. Like I'm just not with it. And my brain is foggy and the pieces of my brain don't come together to do any kind of deep thinking. So really I'm just marking time until I get some energy back. Kind of a waste, right?
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So I want you to check in with yourself. Think about when you are naturally most awake. Excuse me, most awake when you're feeling alert and your brain is most able to focus. What time is that for you? Maybe it's between 08:00 A.m.
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And 12:00 p.m.. Maybe 10:00 A.m. To 02:00 p.m.. Or for night hours it tends to be 12:00 p.m. To two or even later.
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In fact, night hours tend to have two gaps, two spaces where they're able to focus. If you're not sure, spend some time noticing over the next few days. Keep a journal. Write it down when you're feeling up, when you're feeling focused, and then when you have your little slump. Now, once you've done that, once you found that out, take a look at your calendar for the last few weeks and look at what you've been doing during those hours.
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Is your calendar filled with meetings at the time when your brain is ticking over the most? Are they meetings that need your brain to tick over the most? Or are they sitting there like way too many of them, I'm listening to someone else talk at you. Do you spend those hours checking emails or doing some other kind of busy work? Or do you have that time blocked out as often as possible with the tasks that need that deep focus?
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Now that you've had a look at that, how might you realign your day to work better for that natural rhythm in the dunk dust? Of course, we do have a way of working out when the best time is to do different types of work. So again, if that's of interest to you, take a look in the show notes. All right, so moving on now to habits. And we all have habits.
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We have good ones, we have bad ones, and we have downright ugly ones. I am no exception to this. Basically, we become the sum of our habits, and our productivity is no exception. What we get done, how our stress levels are going, all of this is shaped by our habits. So to say our habits are important is kind of an understatement, right?
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But because habits are automatic that you're doing them on auto mode, it can be easy to stop noticing them after a while, or at least not you don't notice the effect they're having on you anymore. So taking notice of your habits, getting back to being mindful about what you're doing, almost kind of cataloging them, is a really good place to start when it comes to habits. For example, how often do you pick up your phone while working simply through habit? Not because you go, oh right, I need to email this person, and my laptop's not working? Not that kind of pick up your phone, it's there, it's by your side, and you just reach over and pick it up.
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And all of a sudden, before you know it, you're scrolling on Facebook or making a doctor's appointment you didn't even know you needed. Maybe one habit for you is drinking too many coffees. I know people who drink eight cups a day. I don't know how they fit that in, but there you go. And maybe you have a habit of going for a run every morning at 06:00 a.m..
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So take the time to be mindful, for a start, and look at what are the habits that you're doing on a daily, hourly, weekly basis. Then thinking of your habits. Start with choosing one habit you know you would benefit from stopping. And I'm going to say that the phone picking up is one for many of us. Then decide, what new habit would you like to replace that one with?
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So then when you reach for your phone and you catch yourself instead, you can replace it with perhaps taking a sip of water from your water bottle. Okay, so that's a brief look at habits. There's so much to go into in that topic, but I would be here all day if we talked about all of it. So we are on the last piece of the done not dusted puzzle, and that is systems. And I know some of you have automatically shut down the minute I've said the word systems.
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There's so many people it sounds boring, particularly if you're a creative person or if, like some people I know you're in a rebel is strong. But bear with me here. Systems gives you freedom. It might sound contradictory, but if you think about it, we use systems every day. A system is defined as a set of practices and procedures that are applied to specific activities to achieve a specific result.
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So brushing your teeth is a system. You practice it twice a day. You use the procedure of a very similar amount of toothpaste each time. You brush them for a similar amount of time in a pretty similar way every single time to achieve teeth that are clean enough to keep the dentist at bay. At least that's the goal.
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Is it exactly the same every time? Probably not. But imagine if every time you went to pick up your toothbrush, it was in a different place. You had to consciously think about, where is the toothpaste? How much do I need to add to my toothbrush?
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How do I brush my teeth again? Because none of those steps were ever done in the same way. That would drive you nuts, wouldn't it? And imagine how long that would take if you look at some of our tech billionaires, Steve Jobs, who of course is no longer with us, however, still a great example, mark Zuckerberg, they have a system for their clothes, right? So rather than spending time each day on what they're going to wear, they have a practice of wearing the same clothing every day.
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That means they just get to pick it out of the closet and put it on. No thought required. Now, I'm definitely not saying you need a system for clothing, although if clothing doesn't really rate all that high in your values, if you're not using clothing, say, as an extension of your personality, then maybe a uniform would help make things easier for you as you start your day. So looking at where you're doing something on a regular basis, do you get, say, a similar question from different people every week or so? Are you running a team meeting every week.
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Maybe you're sending out an updated monthly report to the same people.
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Think about the systems that you could put in place that make sure you're not making decisions, you're not spending the time reinventing the wheel every single time when you put systems in place for the things that don't need to be different, every time, you give your brain more space for creativity. So, yeah, systems ultimately give you back your freedom. Hopefully, that's convinced you enough. But if not, we can chat. I'm happy to chat on that one.
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Okay. Lovely listener. If you've got through to the end with me today, know that I appreciate you. This is a new podcast. I get it.
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It takes a while for people to click in and have a listen, so if you've got to the end, thank you. If you got something out of today's episode, I really would love for you to share this with a friend who you know would make a great leader, because this is all about helping the quietly determined career woman get into a leadership role. And that's my mission. That's where I thrive. So if you have a couple of minutes to rate and review the podcast, I'd really love that as well.
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Until next week, lead the way. Her way.
