How to keep calm when chaos reigns

Calm down, calm down ...

I knew this week would be difficult after a two week break, but wow!  I went from complete relaxation without a care in the world to feeling like I'd been dropped into the middle of a tornado.  Now don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, I love my job and busy home life and it's more a case of being frustrated and annoyed with myself for not trusting in my routines and systems.  

I don't pretend to be the epitome of calmness all the time, but I am usually pretty grounded.  However, I allowed myself to become completely disorganised this week, simply because I got caught up in the chaos of trying to catch up with everything and not relying on my tried and trusted systems.  I didn't put into practice what I preach and take enough time out to think logically.  

At work, I was trying to do things directly from my emails instead of sorting them out into tasks, read later, delete etc and at home, I skipped some of my yoga and study sessions because "I didn't have time".  Aarrghhh!!  Rubbish, rubbish, rubbish excuse.  I don't like it when other people use that excuse and I certainly don't like it when I use it myself.  We put systems in place for this very reason, when you start feeling out of control you can go back to them and get yourself back on track.  

The systems and processes you put in place at work and at home serve as building blocks to support you in what you do.  

So how exactly do you build a robust system?  Here's a few tips to help you:

1. Have a backup buddy.  You don't need to do absolutely everything yourself.  When things get slightly chaotic, ensure you have a backup buddy to help you out, even if it's just to sit and talk things through with them.
2. Automate wherever possible.  This applies whether you're at work or at home.  Set up processes that do things automatically.  For example, at work I have set up my emails so that some of them are colour coded and categorised so I know who they're from and what I need to do, some of them go directly into a 'read later' folder, some of them go directly into a 'rooms booked' folder etc.  At home, I've done the same kind of thing so that order confirmations go directly into a folder, emails from my running club go directly into a folder, emails from my French teacher go directly into another folder etc.
3. Create checklists to build your system.  What is it that you need to do?  Whether you're booking a meeting or a holiday, start by writing a checklist of all the steps needed.
4. Track and review the efficiency of your system.  Is there something that you're always forgetting to do / something that's not working as well as it should?  Then you need to go back to your checklist and adjust it.  The more you refine your system, the more robust it will become.
5. Allow for error and expect the unexpected.  Following on from the above, things will go wrong with your system / change as it evolves.  Don't dwell too much on the errors, find a solution, fix the problem and move on.  It could be as simple as an error in your automation process whereby an email has gone into the wrong folder and you've not seen it.

Things have not quite gone to plan this week because I thought I could deal with issues as and when they happened and remember everything along the way - I couldn't!!  I needed the systems I had already put in place to help me keep organised - lesson learnt.    I'm now feeling back on track and looking forward to next week.

Have a great week everyone, trust in yourself, trust in your systems and I'll speak to you next week when we'll be reviewing Q3 and looking ahead to the last quarter of the year!!  

I'm now going to turn off my computer for a few hours and find some peace and tranquility like the scene in this holiday photo.  Aw, was that only a week ago?!

#simplyseptember