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Showing posts from September, 2020

Day 7 and summary of 'Reset, Relax, Revitalise' Week

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Breaking news - the world does not stop spinning because you decide to step off for a while and take a break!! How can I possibly take some time out for myself?  Well, the fact is that the world keeps turning and the sun keeps rising regardless, so do yourself (and those around you) a favour by stepping off the treadmill and having a break.   This week's blog is a round-up of my well-deserved break and I can't tell you how good I feel for taking it.   I've had THE most fabulous week off work yet I've not done anything remotely exciting, I've barely strayed across the county border but I've had THE best time. My intention was to 'reset, relax, revitalise' and I put no pressure on myself to achieve anything else.  So instead of having a 'to do' list I used these intentions instead, for example, what do I need to do to reset (learning and self-development), what do I need to do to relax (yoga and meditation), what do I need to do to revitalise (exer...

The storm before the calm

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  Looking forward to a week of reset,  relaxation and revitalisation I know the calm usually comes before the storm but over the last week it's been the other way round in my case and I'm so looking forward to the calm next week. It's been one heck of a week, both physically and mentally.  After writing about needing more thinking time in last week's blog, I really am in desperate need of taking some time out.  The good news is that I'm on holiday from work next week, only the second week in 9 months and one of those was moving house, which was no fun whatsoever!  So I'm very much looking forward to this one where I'll be taking a step back, gathering my thoughts and then coming out refreshed and revitalised for the last quarter of the year - eek! Anyway, back to the storm of last week.  Last Sunday saw me and my running bud taking on the challenge of the virtual Great North Run.  Virtual you say?  And yes, a number of people, including Mr Bob, as...

Do you have enough thinking time?

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  Sometimes you need to take a step back and ... think Last week I spoke about procrastination and either not taking enough action or the fear of starting something.  At the other end of the scale, we can be so busy 'actioning' that we don't have any 'thinking' time.   Taking time out to simply think is really important.  It's what actually keeps us progressing and moving forwards.  If we don't have the capacity for strategic thinking then how are we we going to keep coming up with new ideas.  From thinking things through we can then take the necessary action. I always used to take the mickey out of Mr Bob when he announced he was taking himself off for some thinking time.  Mainly because that usually meant I could hear him snoring within 10 minutes!  Thinking time?  Yeah right.  Although I shouldn't be too hard on him because it does seem to work.  Any time he has a problem or needs to come up with a new way of working, he ste...

If you're thinking about putting something off ... don't

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Procrastination is never a good thing I'm usually pretty good at doing things at the time, but I do have moments when my Taurean bull raises its stubborn head and I dig my heels in because I don't want to do something.  I can turn procrastination into an art form. Typing up minutes and actions after meetings is a good example.  I take the minutes for around 12 different meetings (there's that many I've lost count) so they come at me pretty thick and fast throughout the month.  In a bid to keep on top of them, I quickly type up a draft copy of the minutes and actions either immediately following the meeting or the day after.  However, other work comes along in-between time and I do sometimes procrastinate on the minutes, especially when the meeting is very technical and complex.  I've already sat through the meetings for goodness sake, I don't want to relive the pain again.  Then there's the whole acronyms and business lingo to contend with.  When I fir...