Making Work Work For You

by Chelsea Rosson

Every decision we make is because of a past experience, a physical feeling or an emotion. In fact, our emotions make the most of our decisions. If I’m feeling stressed or frustrated, I am less likely to be as engaging on a conference call or as aware at a meeting.  Those are two major places that I can’t afford to be at either of those activities. Especially since both of those activities affect other people, or can even affect my environment. That phone call could cause my client’s confidence to waiver in me or I could have missed a critical detail in the meeting that causes me to make a critical mistake.

Thinking about your physical, emotional, and mental health is equally important as focusing on the growth of your company. Especially as a freelancer or leader, your health is in almost direct correlation to your company’s health.

Don’t worry, I already know you wear 17 hats, I’m not about to make you put in another one, I’m just reminding you of the person that you’re putting all of these hats on. So what’s the solution?

Everyone is so different, I hate to say, there is no single solution. However, these are the top three complaints I hear from folks struggling with staying healthy and on schedule, and some ideas on how to cope

I’m a parent-preneur and trying to launch my third company. Where will I fit an hour yoga class into my day?

For those who are on a deadline, take 5. Spend 5 minutes every hour on stretching and one pose. By the end of the day (even a 12 hour one), you’ll have completed a 70 minutes of stretching, which you would have taken getting lost on Twitter anyways.

For those who may not feel comfortable stretching  in their environment, spend the time to take a mental break! Take 5 minutes working your deadline idea out on a piece of paper or a whiteboard. If youneed an even higher bird’s eye view of your working solution, think of another idea entirely and work on it off the screen. Giving your brain full immersion on a different task will help it reset.

I just need to get through this project as quickly as possible, I’ll do that sort of thing next month. 

This one I usually hear after this kind of habit has already gone on for two years. If time-efficiency and focus is your thing, I completely understand. So the question is, how can you make sure every single thing that you do, is the most time-efficient or intentional?

Every three hours, I encourage folks like this to move to a different location and write out what you just worked on for preceding time frame. By physically moving to a new location, you literally have a different perspective. You may realize how you’ve been on auto-pilot and didn’t pay attention to what you were doing,  or you could see ways you can be more efficient with your time during the next few hours.

I have too many meetings, I don’t have time to add a new daily habit.  

First off, learn what can truly be accomplished in a meeting versus a phone call, but that’s a conversation for another day. Try thinking about meeting location. I added 10,000 steps a week by booking my meetings in my neighborhood where I could walk or ride my bike. For those who don’t live as near a coffee shop, try booking a meeting at a location where you can park  blocks away and walk. Then use a notebook to catch your meeting notes, not only will it make you seem more engaged without a screen in front of you, the act of writing actually increases our memory’s retention and ability to recall details of the conversation.