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Business Coach Sydney

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Are your work habits sustainable?

I’ve been talking a lot about burnout over the last 12 months, and with good reason.

It is in times of change and uncertainty that stress increases and insecurity can sometimes drives us to do more in an effort to adjust quickly and avoid failure.

If you also add in the changes to the way we work and subsequent blurring of work/home life boundaries, then what we have right now is a situation that is ripe for burnout.

So, I ask you: What do you know about burnout and especially burnout prevention?
Because it is preventable, regardless of the situation.

However we do need to be informed and to understand what to look for and what to do now in order to avoid ending up there.
This is important for your own wellbeing as well as that of your team or family.

I have created a FREE webinar Burnout: What you should know for yourself and your team, to help inform you about what burnout is, what causes it and how to prevent it. You can register here.

For the moment though, you can start by asking yourself:
Are your current work habits sustainable?
Answer it honestly. If they are not sustainable, then you should assess if the situation you find yourself in is temporary or not. We all have crazy days and weeks of flurried activity, but they should subside and calm down.

If you suspect that slowing down won’t happen over the next few weeks, then you need to start thinking about implementing practices that will ensure the sustainability of your health.
Ask yourself:
What boundaries do you currently have between you work and leisure time?What selfcare practices do you do regularly? (Selfcare practices restore your energy and help you rejuvenate)

The great thing about our current situation is the amount of opportunity for all of us.

As individuals we can learn to value our wellbeing as much as our work
and find strategies to prioritise both. 

I invite you to join my FREE webinar on Tuesday 23rd March at 7pm to better understand what you can do ensure that no matter what the situation this year, your work practices are sustainable.

It’s a good feeling to be confident that at the end of the year, you will have your goals achieved without sacrificing your own wellbeing.

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Is this the missing piece to your wellbeing?

Recently I’ve had the urge to try some new things. Not big things, just small ones. Lots of small ones. New recipes for dinner, new cafes to be in, new blogs to read. I acquired (or renewed?) an interest in Ancient History and became very dedicated to making every curry in my beloved vegan Indian cookbook.

I started to wonder at this new inclination for something different, but as it started about the same time as we’d been in lockdown for weeks… the answer was clear.

I’m needing a change. I’m seeking something different.

And this makes sense right? We’re living and working in the same place, seeing the same people and as a result we’re experiencing less variety.
There is no novelty, so we start to create novel things to do or incorporate into our routine. This explains the sudden interest in baking by many people during lockdown.

So, being curious, I did a bit of reading and discovered that we all actually need novelty for our wellbeing. 

Research has found that experiencing something new (in a safe way- where our brain does not detect a threat) activates the pleasure centres of the brain. We actually get a dopamine hit. And this need for novelty is not just important for now, during these challenging times, but is in fact a fundamental part of our general wellbeing.

I must say that this made sense to me instantly and I’m sure you’ll relate too. It’s when we stop experiencing new things and seeking out new learnings, trying anything new, that we get a bit stale and sometimes stuck. Don’t get me wrong, we certainly need routine and structure but what we also need is a sprinkle of novelty. 

So how much novelty are you creating for yourself?

Like this post? Sign up for my weekly Coaching email direct to your inbox.

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How to quieten your mind chatter

With  access to all the information we could want at our very fingertips, its no wonder we have busy brains, right? The convenient and instant access to information has created amazing benefits for us all but with it also comes a few new challenges.

The constant consuming of information and entertainment make for very full minds. In many cases we are over consuming. It doesn’t help that alerts and pop-ups tap into that biological response part of us all which is highly addictive!

So, what can we do to create a little quiet in our minds?

Be present and focus
The more we are simply focused in what we are doing and where we are right now – ie. being present – the more quiet and peace we can create for ourselves. Initially this focus will need to be with you focusing your whole attention into a specific activity that you’re currently undertaking. With practice over time, you can also create this quiet without doing any activity at all. How does it work? Simply do one thing at a time and focus all of your attention on what you’re doing. Call it getting into flow, into the zone… it is about getting into a space of full attention and very little, if any, mind chatter.

Create boundaries
Start small with this. It can be really as simple as turning your phone off during one meal per day, or for one hour. This is to totally disconnect from information. You can also create boundaries by reducing the flow of information to just one source. We are often receiving multiple sources of information at one time and this exacerbates the busy brain problem. For example, don’t have email open while you’re working on other projects, put your phone on silent etc. 

Schedule tasks or delete them
Throw away your to-do list! Yes, I said it. I am a lover of lists of all kinds, but a to-do list rarely gets actioned. This is mainly because the to-do’s don’t have a hard deadline and aren’t actually  allocated time. You need to actually allocate time to do the things on your list. Put them straight into your calendar. Then, you simply honour your calendar and do it when it is scheduled. If you don’t want to put it in your calendar, your really don’t want to do it, so completely delete it from your list and mind.

Make your decisions in advance & final
There is a crazy amount of cognitive effort that is wasted on unmade or half-made decisions. Even for simple things like “what I think I might cook for dinner”, we spend a lot of time and energy going back and forth over the options. It’s such a waste our valuable cognitive space! The best option is to decide in advance as much as possible. If you can plan all your meals for example in advance for a few days or a week, it means you won’t be using your brain space to wrangle with that. Sounds simple and small but try it! Start small and move on to bigger things. You may have heard the story that Steve Jobs only wore the same outfit every day. Why? To avoid the mind chatter and cognitive effort being spent. 

Become more present in your body
When we are more present in our physical bodies, we are less occupied with our minds. Think about activities that get you in touch with your body and your senses… exercise, being in nature, cooking, dancing, sex… Any activity that helps you become more in touch with your senses and/or breathing will bring you into your body and away from the thought chatter. Some people get this from running, meditation or a creative hobby. Look for activities that help you to be present in your body to help you quieten your mind.

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Time boundaries and your values = wellbeing

How you use your time shapes not only your productivity levels but also your wellbeing and ultimately how fulfilling your life is. Knowing that your choices about time create such an impact, are you ready to look at your time choices more closely?

Have you ever been in a space where, for a day or a month or so, you felt really great? Things flowed along and you felt an inner experience of peace and calm. You were not on holidays, rather, you were doing your normal workload but things just felt “easy” as if they were just falling into place. If things came up they were dealt with. You were productive but not stressed. It could be called a joyful process in many ways… Have you ever been in that space? It is an experience of  wellbeing and accomplishment without drama or stress. Want some of that?

Well it’s very doable if you can design your time boundaries well. Creating specific time boundaries will help you to be more productive without the stress. It will also create an inner sense of fulfillment because you are ultimately living according to your own values and priorities.

Here’s how you can get started with creating time boundaries and implementing them into your life right now:

1. Understand that the way you spend your time impacts the quality of your life

2. Accept that you are responsible for how you spend your time (No blaming work, your boss, your kids, your spouse)

3. Discover what is important to you. You need to understand your personal values as they will direct you to the activities that are the most fulfilling for you. These are activities that give you energy and you experience that sense of aliveness. This is very personal and each of us is different. Here are a few questions to get you started:
When did you feel the happiest? Consider what you were doing, who you were with.

When were you most proud of yourself? Consider WHY you felt that way and if anyone else also shared in your pride.
What was a peak experience you had? ie. an experience that made you feel fulfilled and satisfied? Consider how this event gave your life meaning.

What do your choices show you about your values? Consider the people you choose to have in your life, how you treat others and how you respond to hardship. In these interactions, you act according to your values. Which values are you acting upon?

4. Highlight which of your current activities or ways of spending time align with these values

5. Prioritise these activities by creating clear allocated times for each activity

6. Honor your decision of what is important to you by respecting these time boundaries