Meeting bloat

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Joe Allen, co-author of Suddenly Hybrid: Managing the Modern Meeting, says that “meeting bloat” means managers spend about three-quarters of their time in, or preparing, for meetings. 

“Managers need to say, ‘Do I really need this meeting?’ And then cancel it.”

Empathy

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We have a two week study break now until John Lennon's birthday rolls around. So until then you'll be getting some stop gap favourite quotes.

Here's today's quote that I'm pondering:

When things don’t work, it’s not helpful to try to minimize the impact. In fact, you’re far more likely to make progress if you remind the customer just how much it mattered to you to get it right, and how you feel about letting them down.

Empathy is a first step toward connection.

Seth Godin

For long you live and high you fly, and smiles you'll give and tears you'll cry, and all you touch and all you see Is all your life will ever be (Pink Floyd)

 

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My three tips for when something comes at you from left field:

1. Who knows what's good or bad. Roll with it, go with the flow.
2. Smile. Worse things happen at sea! Sometimes plan b works out better than plan a.
3. Get some perspective - go for a walk. Breathe.

One good day does not mean you can coast tomorrow (James Clear)

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Thomas Oppong has created 100 habits for a great life.

One hundred. That's a lot to take on. So I'll pick a few that I think are worth passing on (my responses in itallics). More in the next post.

Email is the biggest time suck. If you don’t plan to deal with incoming emails, you will spend all your time reacting to what others want. Set aside time to deal with it. Period 1 in the LC works for me - the students are generally quietly getting into their day, and so am I.

For better energy and strong concentration, choose a healthy breakfast (whole grains, protein and healthy fats). With that in mind I've recently changed my habit away from sugary cereals to Weetbix - 97% wholegrain wheat. I have the cholesterol lowering version.

When you start work, remove all distractions from your work environment before starting actual work –noise, notifications, email tabs, etc. Assume focus or productive mode with calming music. This jazz piano playlist usually gets a workout from me in the hour I have at work before anyone else arrives. This Mozart meditation album is good too.

Schedule time for nature walks — even just 10 minutes outside and close to more trees can do wonders for your mood. I aim for 22 minutes at lunchtime each day (the time it takes for me to walk around the sports park next to the campus). It does wonders!

End your day with a tidy desk ready for the next day, so you don’t have to spend your morning getting ready for work. I don't have an office - wherever my device and diary are is where I work so it's easy to pack away each day.

When you're a charmer people respond; they can't see the hidden agenda you got going on (Aimee Mann)

 

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James Clear on daily routines:

"Many people view their habits and routines as obstacles or, at the very least, obligations to get through. Making the morning coffee, driving your kids to the next activity, preparing the next meal—we often see our routines as chores to be completed.

But these are not moments to be dismissed. They are life. Making coffee can be a peaceful ritual—perhaps even a fulfilling one—if done with care rather than rushed to completion. It’s about the amount of attention you devote to these simple moments, and whether you choose to appreciate them or bulldoze through them on the way to the next task.

Find the beauty and joy in your daily rituals and you will find beauty and joy in your daily life. To love your habits is to love your days, and to love your days is to love your life."

I'm very much a routine guy and part of my routines at work involve loading and unloading the dishwasher, topping up the hot water urn, emptying the staff room rubbish bin, and putting chairs up for the cleaners on Friday afternoons.

Yes, I'm also the Campus Principal but I have no problem following these routines.

As I explained to my wife when she visited the campus on Friday afternoon - I'm always the first to arrive at school in the morning. Why would I not unload the dishwasher? I'm often the last to leave so topping up the water and putting the dishwasher on are just sensible routines.

But I also enjoy the routine.

I like being mindful while I'm doing them - I have set places where certain plates and cups go, and I put up the chairs in a certain order each time.

I certainly find beauty and joy in those routines.

Being larger than the situation

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James Clear: 

A valuable skill in life is to be larger than the situation.

When you're feeling stressed or rattled, the situation is consuming you. It feels bigger and more important than it needs to be. This is when your emotions are likely to get the best of you.

But when you are larger than the situation, you can mentally "step outside and above it." Yes, there are problems to be solved. Yes, you need to take action. But the chaos is happening externally and you are still in the driver's seat internally. You're in control of the moment, the moment is not in control of you."

James is onto something here.

The idea that the chaos is happening externally, and you are still in the driver's seat internally is a very powerful one.

Worth passing on in fact.