How to Prioritise: Tools, tricks and tips for busy professionals (Part 2)

Since posting part 1 of the “How to Prioritise” blog a couple of months ago, I have enjoyed hearing from people who took the time to tell me that they found the tips useful in reference to helping them balance their responsibilities / tasks. This series of posts is designed to help you feel more control, get past ‘overwhelm’ and ultimately - give you the tools to help you answer the question “what did I achieve this year” with your head held high.

You can check out “How to Prioritise: Tools, tricks and tips for busy professionals” (Part 1)  here… and check out a few more suggestions below:

Embrace Mind Maps – Part 1 of this blog mentions making a written task list, however it’s worth bearing in mind that sometimes thinking in a linear fashion doesn’t necessarily channel the information you need for that list you are looking to create. By (literally) spreading out your thinking through creating a mind map – your thoughts sometimes flow more freely. Once you’ve done this, you can then categorise or order the varying things on your list – to help you prioritise.

Set deadlines - In the same way that you had deadlines at school, set deadlines against the items on your to do list. This works on a variety of levels. On a straightforward level, it gives you the opportunity to think through the range of tasks in your life and means that you have clear dates to work towards. Do you have a big project deadline at work? Do you have a birthday or anniversary card to send? Are you applying for business funding? All of these things will have pre-set deadlines so you can stick to those dates or impose your own date in advance - allowing you to make these tasks as seamless as possible.

For anything else that may not be as clear cut - set deadlines anyway. If you stick to them as per the above that's the ideal situation but if you don't you can show some flexibility and provide a new deadline when necessary. Yes, I know what you're thinking. Sometimes there are things on your list that get moved and moved and moved. That's still helpful believe it or not... let me tell you why. Tasks which have endlessly moving deadlines generally eventually result in one of two responses:

1. You get so sick of seeing this same task pop on on your to do list that you either just do it as the fact that it's still there is really ******** you off [insert appropriate term of frustration here].

OR

2. You have a hard long think about this task and what it will really take to do it. At that stage, either you'll give it a much more realistic, considered deadline OR you will just take it off your list full stop. Maybe it just isn't that important to you anyway.

You now have 5 tools, tricks and tips for prioritisation between these two posts and I hope you'll take the time to give them a try if you would like to improve your ability to prioritise. Maximising productivity sounds good to me. You too?

I've also recently recorded video blogs with even more "How to Prioritise" content so sign up here to keep up to date about when you can access those (and other useful content).

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Gina Visram is a career coach, speaker, mentor and author who works with ambitious, multi-tasking women (and men!) who are ready to work hard at being successful in their careers and personal lives - on their own terms. She has recently published Happily Ever After for Grown Ups: A Post-Wedding, Blues-Busting Guide for Newlyweds" and is committed to helping people get over overwhelm and achieve the career success/life balance they seek. For more information and to sign up to her free newsletter visit www.limitlesscoaching.com. 

 

How to Prioritise: Tools, tricks and tips for busy professionals (Part 1)

As we rapidly approach the second half of 2013 (yup… the time is nigh) – conversations I have recently had with colleagues, clients and friends led me to the conclusion that it was time to write a short, thought provoking, action-orientated post on “How to Prioritise”... so here goes:

Why?

Well 2013 seems to have the potential to turn into another one of those ‘blink and you’ll miss it’ years. You know the ones. The ones where January comes and the year feels like it’s full of promise. You take a deep breath and exhale when you think of the promise of the blank slate ahead of you. This will be the year that X, Y and Z happens. This will be the no-nonsense ‘I can do it’ year. 

Suddenly – before you know it, it’s July and although you hopefully have some of your main goals ticked off your list, you realise that unless you get your skates on- you’ll have less to celebrate by the end of than you would have envisaged. 

With that in mind, read the points below (and those in the rest of this series of posts) – designed to give you the tools to help you answer the question “what did I achieve this year” with your head held high. Have a look and adopt, remember and/or repeat anything which takes your fancy. Remember, when it comes to achieving your goals, the adage “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” applies if all is going as you’d like it to… but if you feel like you can stretch yourself even further – try something from the list below that you have not yet explored this year.

·         Make a (written) task list – This is a back to basics approach to prioritising, but SUCH an important one. Remember, your brain is crammed with the goings on of your day job; the funny YouTube video you watched recently; the conversation you had the other day which upset you; your exciting plans with your other half/friends for the weekend and more. A MENTAL CHECKLIST IS NOT ENOUGH. Whether you (like me) take the old school approach of a pen and paper list, use a time management app or anything in between – make sure you write down your to do list to give yourself the best possible chance of actually getting some things done.

·         Get to know your A, B, Cs – Once you have your written list – prioritise the tasks on your daily list using an ABC approach:

-          As are the tasks that are must do today – these are the TOP PRIORITIES and if you have more than one of these – prioritise them further using A-1, A-2, A-3;

-         Bs are important but less time critical – if not done, someone may be inconvenienced, but it is nowhere as important as an “A” task. Returning an unimportant telephone message would be a “B” task and to keep your head above water, you should aim to get all “A” tasks complete before moving onto these; and…

-        Cs reflect something that would be nice to do but really have no bearing on anything work critical. These tasks include phoning a friend or completing some personal business during work hours. Activity in the ‘C’ category has no real impact on your work life.

[Please note – this may not be mentioned by the ‘time management gurus’ out there but it’s something that has worked for me.  Sometimes, I reward myself with tackling a ‘C’ task when I have gotten through a number of As. For example – if an item on my list is to contact a friend to book a time to catch up – that would fall into the ‘C’ category – and although it’s not important on a work / professional priority level – it is a priority when it comes to feeding my soul! With that in mind – when I work my way through a number of A tasks – I’d take 5 minutes to focus on one of these tasks before getting back on track.

·         Real life doesn’t always fit on a daily task list – When it comes to prioritising and being ‘on task’ – remember that not everything can go according to plan or will be on your initial list. Sometimes life happens external to our priority lists and swoops in presenting you with something that becomes more important than anything you have written down. This may be dealing with a health issue; grieving a loss; going on an important trip; dropping everything to see a parent or friend due to an emergency and many others.

What do you do then? Be flexible, change your plans and go with this new priority.  9 times out of 10 – these sort of emergency priorities require our full attention so when they occur – try to tackle them head on and with your full attention. Your ‘to do list’ will still be there when you get back and  you will be in a much better position to keep working through it when you feel confident that you have wholeheartedly handled any other (albeit unexpected) priorities. 

So, here are three things to explore / remember when it comes to prioritising. If any of these speak to you – do implement. Give it a go and see if anything increases your productivity. 

There are many many more “how to prioritise” tips so this is the first in a series of posts addressing this topic. Stay tuned for more.

In the meanwhile, do share your comments, own experiences/tips and any questions in the section below. I’d love to hear from you… 

*****

Want to use this article on your blog or ezine? No problem... you just need to include the below:

Gina Visram is a career coach, speaker, mentor and author who works with ambitious, multi-tasking women (and men!) who are ready to work hard at being successful in their careers and personal lives - on their own terms. She has recently published Happily Ever After for Grown Ups: A Post-Wedding, Blues-Busting Guide for Newlyweds" and is committed to  helping people get over overwhelm and achieve the career success/life balance they seek. For more information and to sign up to her free newsletter visit www.limitlesscoaching.com. 

Getting Unstuck: 3 Tips to breaking free

Stuck in the mud was a fun concept as a kid. Do you remember this primary school playground
favourite? For those of you who need a reminder - the concept of stuck in the mud (as we played it) was that you had one person who was "It" and the rest of the participants aimed to escape being caught. Once caught however, the player was stuck in the mud and was unable to move. Stuck. No movement. No going forward. No falling backwards. Stuck. They needed to stay put - legs slightly apart (second position distance for the childhood ballerinas among you) and you stayed there - stuck in the mud - until another player rescued you by tagging you and crawling through the gap between your feet. This game gave us hours of fun through my young childhood and it may have been the same for you.

Fast forward to adult hood and the concept of being stuck isn't so much fun. It certainly doesn't feel like a game... And unfortunately, especially for mid career professionals and even sometimes for those quite early in their career but a few years into a job - this feeling of being stuck (and too still for comfort) is quite common.

So what do you do? Are you content to stay stuck or do you crave movement of some kind?

For those of you ready to move, here are 3 tips for becoming "unstuck":

1. Do something different
Often feeling stuck can relate to monotony. Your routine may look like any of these. You go to work, you go home. You go to work, you go to a fitness class, you go home. You wake up the kids, make breakfast, rush out the door and do the school run, go into work, come home and make dinner, go to bed. These are all different scenarios and whether you are following one which looks like this or one which doesn't - if you can describe the vast majority of your day to day and week to week process as a 'routine', you may need to do something different in order to get getting unstuck. Go to a (different) dance class, start training for a charity run, meet up with your university buddies, babysit for a friend, have lunch with a mentor, do something touristy in your city... It really doesn't matter exactly what you do but you just need to commit to doing something different to avoid monotony.

2. Take a break
Related to the first tip -taking a break is one of the best ways to do work towards becoming unstuck. This doesn't have to be a 2 week vacation on a beach (though that would be great if you could swing it!) but it can be a one night spa break with some friends or even just a one-day out of town trip. Get out of town, take in some different air, and enjoy the break in routine. Sit on a pier and watch the world go by. Have a picnic in a park. Whatever you do... Do also make sure this is a break from technology too where you're fully enjoying your own company or the company of the people you're with. No emails. No facebook and twitter. Just you and the break you deserve. With the break will come some clarity and with clarity - informed, more intuitive decision making can follow.

3. Enlist support

First, a disclaimer:  Enlisting support is not a free pass to moan and complain to whoever will listen (i.e. Just bi***ing to your friends does it count)... But a well thought out, constructive support system is often a crucial step in becoming unstuck. Why? Well... Have you ever had an experience where a someone has shared a challenge and you felt confident to share useful insight? I bet you have... And you may even have received a response like "I never thought of that." Adversely, ever noticed though that if you had a similar challenge you were less likely to have the same useful insight about yourself? It's true (and common).

With that in mind, if you need to get unstuck, get support. Do not keep banging your head against a brick wall. Meet up with supportive girlfriends, talk to a parent or sibling, tap into the experience of a mentor (I did that years ago when I asked an ex-boss of mine to review my CV as I truly felt like I couldn't improve it further / didn't know where to go with it - and he was instrumental in helping me get unstuck)  hire a coach to stretch and challenge you - and more.

I hope these three tips connect with you... And even if they feel scary - that's quite a good sign as to get unstuck and move forward you need to stretch out of your comfort zone.

To sum up, a notion that one of my mentors, Lisa Sasevich, shared is great encouragement to do something to get unstuck. She quoted:

"A step in the wrong direction is better than staying on the spot all of our life. Once you're moving forward you can correct your course as you go. Your automatic guidance system cannot guide you when you are standing still... action is the secret sauce."

So - remembering that imperfect action is better than no action at all, I wish you luck in getting unstuck. Try some of the above... you'll be amazed how far you'll go!

*****

Want to use this article on your blog or ezine? No problem... you just need to include the below:

Gina Visram is a career coach, speaker, mentor and author who works with ambitious, multi-tasking women (and men!) who are ready to work hard at being successful in their careers and personal lives - on their own terms. She has recently published Happily Ever After for Grown Ups: A Post-Wedding, Blues-Busting Guide for Newlyweds" and is committed to  helping people get over overwhelm and achieve the career success/life balance they seek. For more information and to sign up to her free newsletter visit www.limitlesscoaching.com. 

5 inspiration activators for you

I don’t know about you, but at the moment – I am happily accepting ‘inspiration’ from wherever it comes. It is mid-April (we’re in the second quarter of 2013 already!) and for those of us in the UK and Europe and even much of the US – it has been a long winter with sun and warmth being but a distant dream. The season of spring – the season that represents new beginnings is only now beginning to grace us with its presence. Not sure whether this is the case for you, but sunshine has always been a source of energy and inspiration for me and with so many conversations focused around meteorological matters at the moment, I thought you may appreciate a quick run-down of 5 things which may inspire you, rain or shine.

Inspiration for the purpose of this blog post is anything which makes you smile, energise you, motivate you, generate new ideas or confidence in yourself and more. Have a read, let me know what you think of these inspiration activators and please share some of your own.

#1: Connect with loved ones

Stepping away from social media for a while to have a face to face or even a phone connection with a loved one can be really energising. Don’t get me wrong – I am a HUGE fan of social media for forming and maintaining connections but it is the face to face time, phone conversations, Skype calls etc. that are at the heart of true connection. This week, take 10 minutes to make a phone call to someone you’ve been meaning to catch up with. You may find it leaves you with a spring in your step. 

#2: Take a break

Our daily and weekly routines can become overwhelming when working in the way we do, so pay attention to what your body and mind are telling you and have a break. R recently celebrated a birthday and we had an amazing break in Abu Dhabi (SUCH fun) – but it doesn’t need to be an overseas excursion to be inspirational. A day or two away from the daily grind can work wonders and you are likely to return inspired and ready to work towards your most pressing goals

#3 Listen to music you love

Music is so powerful! Whatever music moves you is what you should listen to (and if applicable, dance to) as often as you can. My personal taste ranges from Bon Jovi (mainly the stuff from the 90s) to soca music from the Caribbean – and when I hear music that I want to sing along to or jump and wave to – it’s a real inspiration. What track / type of music rejuvenates you? (Below is a track from Trinidad Carnival 2013 that puts a smile on my face and motivates me)...

 #4 Start your day doing something for you

In my experience, when you start your  day doing something for you (as opposed to your employer or anyone else) – you set yourself up for a more positive day, having had a flash of early morning inspiration. This ‘something for you’ can be doing some exercise, writing a blog, texting some friends and / or anything else that you will be proud to have done at the end of the day. Ticking something off your list at the beginning of the day, that you have been keen to get done can be energising. 

#5 Seek inspiration in others

Whether it’s your pre-school aged child who made yet another hilarious comment or your favourite author doing a TED talk (see an example below) – real people in their own moments can sometimes inspire you to keep on pushing those boundaries which enable you to do your very best, whatever the circumstances. 

The above are some of my inspiration activators. Now it's your turn. I'd love to hear whether these work for you and to know about some of yours. Don't be shy... use the comment box below.


Want to use this article on your blog or ezine? No problem... you just need to include the below:

Gina Visram is a career coach, speaker, mentor and author who works with ambitious, multi-tasking women (and men!) who are ready to work hard at being successful in their careers and personal lives - on their own terms. She has recently published Happily Ever After for Grown Ups: A Post-Wedding, Blues-Busting Guide for Newlyweds" and is committed to  helping people get over overwhelm and achieve the career success/life balance they seek. For more information and to sign up to her free newsletter visit www.limitlesscoaching.com.  

 

Happy dances and holidays

On the Saturday of the Easter weekend, I raced to the door when I heard the mail drop through the letter box. Ignoring the other 3 items, I picked up a padded envelope and when I saw the identification stamp on the back, I felt my shoulders drop immediately. I exhaled, it was here… Just in time. I could relax as its arrival meant that I’d stay on track with my deadline.

As those of you who are part of the “Happily Ever After forGrown-Ups” community on Facebook will know – it was my final proof copy of my book that I received in the post. I ripped open the envelope and a wide smile immediately took residence on my face.

This moment inspired today’s post (and hopefully reading to the end will make you think and allow you to reward yourself with a fun video). 

Before I continue, I just want to emphasise that when patting yourself on the back isn’t a regular occurrence, it can feel strange to stop and – date I say – congratulate yourself, but that’s exactly what I did on Saturday morning. As I ran my fingers over the lettering of the title and looked at the book from every angle again and again – I could not quite believe that I had reached that point. After over a year of blood, sweat, tears and one helluva balancing act – I was nearing the finish line in the writing/publishing process. 

Alone at home, I found myself doing a little happy dance and as it felt so great, it got me thinking about why and how we should celebrate our successes – big and small – so check out these ‘happy dance’ worthy occasions

1. The obvious: Do a little jig to celebrate something you are proud of. This can be for something as big as completing a major project you’ve been working on to as (seemingly) little as choosing salad over chips for lunch if you’re trying to be healthy.
2. Feeling like you are making progress at work: You may be working towards your next promotion or pay rise… or may be determined to start feeling like you are doing your job at a standard you can be really proud of. Determination to do well is a fantastic quality and when you can help your employer recognise your good work (let’s face it – sometimes it’s necessary to point out what’s in front of their face!) – It’s a great moment. Celebrate it!
3. Getting together with a group of friends and / or family: You don’t have to be Carrie Bradshaw and the SATC (Sex and the City) girls to get together for a long leisurely lunch and drinks with your nearest and dearest. Try it. Book in a Saturday or Sunday lunch with some friends you want to catch up with – enjoy some awesome food and ignore your watches, phones, social media channels and more. Instead, focus on this group of friends and enjoy the quality time together. Certainly happy dance worthy.

I could continue (and include an example about how an upcoming surprise holiday for my husband is likely to be another happy dance moment), but I am much more interested in what your happy dance moments have been recently.  Go on… Share some of these moments via the comments box below. 

Remember, life can sometimes feel like it’s passing by at a speed due to our many responsibilities, commitments and sometimes even due to our incessant focus on our goals – but the journey becomes much more enjoyable when you take a moment to celebrate. Dance baby… dance (like Chandler and our favourite Friends in the video here) and remember to share your moments below)!

Happy Easter. Enjoy the rest of your Easter holiday. 

Want to use this article on your blog or ezine? No problem... you just need to include the below:

Gina Visram is a career coach, speaker, mentor and author who works with ambitious, multi-tasking women (and men!) who are ready to work hard at being successful in their careers and personal lives - on their own terms. She has recently published Happily Ever After for Grown Ups: A Post-Wedding, Blues-Busting Guide for Newlyweds" and is committed to  helping people get over overwhelm and achieve the career success/life balance they seek. For more information and to sign up to her free newsletter visit www.limitlesscoaching.com. 

Let's hear it for the girls!

Being 2013, it would be good to feel like we recognise the achievements of women every day, but this still isn’t necessarily the case. Luckily, in the past few weeks, we’ve had a few built in occasions such as “International Women’s Day” and “Mothers’ Day” which encourage us to think about the amazing contribution women make… and hopefully these dates serve as triggers to remind us why we should celebrate the achievements of women all year round.

Amidst these very worthy celebrations of the achievements of women, there were a couple of moments in the past week that made me pivot between pausing proudly to ponder how far we've come and stopping firmly in my tracks… in realisation of how far we still have to go. These included:

1. An e-mail from a childhood friend
Last week, I received a beautiful email from a childhood friend of mine. She sent this email to a small group of her friendship circle, featuring women currently based in Europe, Africa, Asia, North America and beyond - all of whom she'd gone to school / university with at some point during her journey. In this email, she eloquently shared her news on a city move and an update about her job situation intertwined with mention of her evolving relationship. I had opened this message when on the go between appointments and found myself stopping in the rain to read and re-read this message. I smiled. Not just due to the fact that I'd received what felt like the equivalent of a personal letter in the post (like back in the day before postal content was more or less exclusive to bills, bank statements and takeaway menus!) but also because she seemed to be living the dream. Not in a million dollar mansion "baller" kind of way but in the modern, 21st century way of balancing your personal / relationship life with your career plans. Adventure, uncertainty, goal setting and more… it was all there. This didn't sound like the life of a girl who would be burdened with a series of what ifs. Instead, she was out there, living, loving and ensuring that she was making enough proactive decisions to ensure that life wasn't happening to her... She was actively living it. For that reason, I wanted to share that story today- just as a mini nudge if needed, to make sure you're living yours too!

2. A knee-jerk Facebook status
This encounter was also prompted by correspondence with a childhood acquaintance, but admittedly with the opposite, less heart-warming effect to what I have described above. On International Women's Day, this FB friend made a comment along the lines of "If I ever have a daughter, she won’t be posting quotes from ‘blank slates’ like Marilyn Monroe and Audrey Hepburn”. Instead, this Facebook contact of mine insisted that his future daughter wouldn’t cite inspiration as women “whose sole talent was in being pretty” and he instead suggested citing “Pankhurst or Marie Curie?”

What? I thought. WHAAAAT? I baulked at his objection, disagreeing on so many levels and here's the main one...

The idea that someone, be it a dad, brother or other (male) acquaintance may feel that he is in a position to be instructional regarding who inspires his (hypothetical) daughter scares me! The fact that Audrey Hepburn was actually a multi-lingual humanitarian is almost insignificant – it is the dictating of who should and who should be deemed inspirational that doesn’t feel acceptable to me. As current / future parents, we can ensure that we give our girls a wide range of role models, from mothers to politicians and more – but we belittle any progress we are making for women by restricting their thoughts. 

So… whether or not you were involved and tweeting about #IWD2013, celebrating Mothers’ day or whether these dates passed you by entirely earlier this month – I have a challenge for you. In the spirit of being true to who and what inspires you, tell three women in your life (these can be colleagues, friends, family etc.) why you admire them.  Do it before the end of March. Up for it? Do come back and share your story of how you got on…

3 reasons to LOVE your job

As much as some of us try to resist succumbing to a commercially driven day of 'love', it can sometimes be hard to resist getting swept up in the hype. A few years before meeting my gorgeous husband, I had one of my most enjoyable Valentines evenings ever. Sounds harsh but this wasn't with another man (not one I was romantically interested in anyway) but was with a group of - at the time - single work colleagues and we had a great rebellious, 'anti-Valentine’s day' dinner. It was much fun - but admittedly, still a nod (in our own way) to what is a commercially driven occasion.

The way I see it though is that taking a moment to think about something you love isn't a bad thing (unless V day is the one and only day that love is recognised... Then that is bad) - so, whether in a loved up relationship or not, why not recognise other things you love. Like your job for example. Tenuous? Maybe... But work with me here: 

3 reasons to love your job this Valentine’s week: 

1. It is aligned with your values and beliefs 
This is a biggie. If the job you are doing/career path you are pursuing doesn't align with your values and beliefs, it is likely that you'll never love what you do. Values represent what is important to you - they reflect your authentic self. Do you value kindness? Helping the community? Fun? Adventure? If you are in a role that resonates with your values, that’s a great reason to love your job. If you’re not…then do something about it!

2. It helps you live your life
Does your salary contribute to the lifestyle you are currently living? Yes… well good – that is yet another reason to love your job this Valentine’s week! Don’t get me wrong – if the only thing you value about your job is your salary and you’d want to change everything else then it may be time to see if you can find a more fulfilling role, but for now, take a brief moment to love what you currently have.

3. You get satisfaction from achieving your tasks
Through the work you do on a daily basis, you have the opportunity to do yourself proud. By working to the best of your abilities, every day you can pat yourself on the back and recognise that you are doing good work. Again, there is a chance that your role doesn’t challenge you as much as you would like – but nothing is stopping you from finding something that will stretch you to use your skills in a way that you can be especially proud of but for today… show yourself some love for what you do… currently do.

Valentine’s Day has been and gone and as a focus on ‘love’ is somewhat forced on us, why not take the opportunity to explore the elements of your career that you love. If in this analysis, you establish that you are truly grateful for the career you have – then congrats! If you have realised that you are some distance from where you want to be, I want to congratulate you too… if you take some deliberate steps to achieve the greater thing you know you are destined to do.

As ever, you are welcome to be in touch if you’d like some help to make it happen. I’d be happy to be part of your journey towards true (career) love!