Indigo Project - Key Ideas thus far...

-> Make time to work on meta-skills...

By 'meta-skills' I mean, those 'higher' level skills which allow us to improve our capacity to function and acquire further knowledge more efficiently. For instance, the meta-skill of breaking down my work period into short 'chunks' allows me to do more in less time.

-> Work in shorter bursts
Following on from above, research shows that after about 25-35 minutes the efficiency of our brains diminishes rapidly. However, it's not just that we work better in bursts, it's also that a lot of creative eureka moments occur during this break.

-> Find a place for things and file them
As you will see in posts to come, I have some way to go on this. Thus far, although my desk is now tidier than before, I still have a great deal of clutter to undo. Clearly, at some level I have not felt it sufficiently important to work on this, and yet the resulting efficiency gains will save me time and energy... it has just moved into my 'important, do urgently' category.

-> Take time to relax...
If one is to be creative and effective it is important to de-stress. In fact, one outcome of being more in control of work processes is that you tend to relax more anyway. However, for many people - myself included - relaxation is a skill which needs to be worked at and rehearsed. In other words, it's worth taking time to relax.

-> Establish firmer boundaries between work and leisure ...
I work a notional 18.5 hours a week for my main job (I also do freelance work). In the past, I have not monitored my hours and this has meant that work has spilled over time and encroached on my personal time. From now on, I'm ring-fencing Fridays, and trying to keep Mondays as free as possible. I'll monitor and review this, but as of now it seems like a good approach.

-> Use SMART objectives...
A big one for me! I have a pink fluffy cloud brain and often seem to about in a kind of 'trance state' (in other words, I'm a dreamer). In order to get things done, I need to, both, visualise the outcome and break the tasks into realisable steps. Also, as mentioned in my first post on this blog (about prevarication), I definately need to develop a more realistic sense of time.

-> Actively make work playful and creative...

T., my Indigo mentor has set me a challenge. Over the next couple of weeks I have to think about some ways I can transform a hitherto routine part of my job into a playful challenge. Children learn like wildfire through rampant curiosity, and somewhere along the line this is trained out of us.

-> Build-in the process of reflection...

Stepping away from the day-to-day details and reflecting critically and constructively on how you work is crucial. I am timetabling in time to reflect in this way, and it allows me to see 'blocks' and bad habits that otherwise remain obscured.

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