I've been busy being ill... I'll be back soon though!

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Transmission Temporarily Interrupted due to illness

Unfortunately for me, I'm currently laid up with a nasty bout of flu. Not sure what particular variety of influenza this is, but I do find myself snorting involuntarily, and last night woke to find myself rooting through some bins...

I won't be updating here this side of next week, but, in between my aches and pains and sweats and shivers, I'm sure I'll come up with some ideas to post to this blog.

Colin
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SMART Steps Poem*

It takes twenty one days to change a habit;
to make a difference -
so go on, grab it!

In twenty one days a lot gets done
when our steps are SMART
and our work's made fun

It takes twenty one days to change a habit;
to make a difference -
so go on, grab it!

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*Dedicated to Trish - thanks for helping me help myself

And when it all seems to go wrong...

It is given to very few of us to enjoy a life as long as Richard Pottle's (buried in Reedham churchyard); the important thing, though, is to make the best use of the time we have...

Wouldn't it be hugely ironic if the reason for me not updating this blog for the past several days was because I had lost my log-in details...

Well, you guessed it correctly - that's exactly what happened. And when stuff like this occurs, I guess you've just got to laugh at yourself, and learn from your mistakes. Hence, I now have all my details stashed safely in my desk drawer.

Just as strict diets tend to be unsustainable, and are often followed by bingeing; so it is with new life regimes. All too often, I've promised to be organised and 'sorted', managing maybe a couple of weeks of discipline, only to completely let myself go, and revert to bad - yet comfortable (or rather, familiar) - old habits. That's why it's so important make our goals SMART :
Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Relevant
Timebound

It is also important to deal appropriately with our mistakes. I mean, don't let a set-back lead to a crash and burn. Acknowledge it, and learn from it, by all means, but don't let a small trip put you out of step as you walk on your 'journey of a thousand miles' (to the organised you; the 'you' which you have it in your power to find)...

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From forever endeavour to playful curiosity...

My daughters, playing with perspective...

T., my mentor, set me an interesting challenge. I have to take something routine and boring and approach it with playful curiousity. I have chosen to focus on the course set-up forms which are a necessary but hitherto uninspiring part of my work. Trust me, making a Norfolk County Council course set-up form interesting and fun is a tough gig!

Here's how I've done thus far. First of all, I did some head-scratching and a little bit of avoidance (funny how enticing the washing-up can become at such times!). Then I thought I'd break down the tasks and create a kind of visual 'learning ladder; ladder to learning', using an Excel spreadsheet with the stepped-up boxes coloured in. I'm not sure that this worked for me, so I stashed it away for another day and did some more head-scratching.

Next, I thought I'd try and transform the dry language of a course-set up form into a poem. What a smashing idea... until I tried to do it. I just got 'blank page syndrome' about this one... but I am determined that I'll transform this into play.

Moving on, I decided to copy each box I have to fill in on the course set-up form. I then imagined the steps as being part of a kind of Willy Wonker fantasy machine - except that, in this instance, we're making people-shaped learning. Thus, the category, 'Funding details', became translated as, "Giving it a funding code pulls a lever that pours water [cash] on acorns [learners] that makes mighty oaks/folks grow."

I'm not sure that this is going to be my final form of play, but what is interesting is the way that left-field approaches have already allowed me to imaginatively step outside the boxes and make it mine. I'm already seeing it differently; the routine has become strange - and if not yet wonderful, then definately better than before.

At the end of some particularly long and tedious acronym, jargon-ridden meetings I have been known to ask for the relevant form through which I can claim that part of my life back. Given that we have yet to conjure up such a miracle, I think it's much better to make the things we have to do interesting for ourselves, instead of going on, "forever endeavour" (as a mate of mine once put it!).

Finally, remember that what we're doing here is one of the Five Ways to Wellbeing, as described in my previous post. In this instance, it is the 'take notice' idea which I am experimenting with - actively extending one's curiosity. Remember, you are curious and extraordinary, so claim back your power and play.

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Wellbeing and Work

© Lifehack

Today, I attended a very interesting conference in Norwich called 'Five Ways to Wellbeing', which, in my opinion, links up with a lot of things I've learned during the Indigo Project. Here are the five 'ways' they suggest (and here I'm picking out excerpts):

1. Connect... with the people around you. Invest time in developing relationships with family, friends, colleagues and neighbours. Building these connections will support and enrich you every day


2. Be Active... exercising makes you feel good and is good for cognitive function. Discover a physical activity you enjoy and one that suits your level of mobility and fitness


3. Take notice... actively extend your curiosity. Catch site of the beautiful. Savour the moment. Be aware of the world around you and what you are feeling.


4. Keep learning... try something new. Learning new things will make you more confident as well as being fun and/or fulfilling


5. Give... indulge in random acts of kindness - share a smile, help someone. Do it because it helps you feel better about yourself. Seeing yourself, and your happiness, as being linked to the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and creates connections with the people around you

I suppose, really, it's about whole person development; the kind of development which encourages achievement and contentment. Ultimately, if more of us are to flourish - and we have some catching up to do with, say, Denmark! -, then we need to be active participants in changing our work culture. For instance, in 2003 I was gravely ill, and upon returning to work I decided to experiment a bit. Thus, I started to buy flowers and leave them in the communal space used by my work colleagues. When a colleague did something which impressed me, I told them there and then. I also made sure that I made time to step outside several times a day, and savoured some wide sky and 'the moment' I was in. For more ideas click on the live link ('Five Ways to Wellbeing') at the start of this post.

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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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