Is this Bank Holiday an opportunity to really indulge in something you enjoy?

No doubt many readers are looking forward to the final Bank Holiday of the summer. This particular Bank Holiday always takes me back to when I was in my teens and the fair coming to town. On the Monday they always reduced the price of the rides to just 10p (showing my age) so everybody seemed to be there.

This Bank Holiday we’ve decided to focus on just two things ....
- Visiting my mother who is based on the South Coast
- Decorating the loft room for which I mean repaint the walls and woodwork.

And this is the last time I’m going to log onto my computer until Tuesday morning. Now I’m not trying to be smug in any way as I’m sure many of you will have to review emails from work especially if you are on call. If however there is no real logical reason for you to jump to attention when the blackberry rumbles could I challenge you to have a break from it and have a chance to focus on one thing that you really want to do.
Now I know this is easier said than done as we all have adopted a life where multitasking has become the norm. Technology has supposed to have made our lives easier yet when you stop to think about it we have used these advances to cram more multi tasking into our already hectic days. ..and please don’t think that I can sit here and say I don’t succumb to these opportunities.
It is really difficult.

However researching this as part of my work to support leaders become more resilient the inability to sustain attention is not the only consequence of multitasking.

Research has shown that multitasking can lead to...

- becoming easily distracted by extraneous stimuli

- tasks actually taking longer to complete than if they were tackled individually

- difficulties around organising workload effectively

- overload, stress and ultimately burnout

Is it any wonder in so many work environments where desks are open planned that workers are finding it increasingly difficult to achieve quality, focused work and lack of concentration is becoming widely accepted as normal behaviour.

So what if you really can’t leave those e mails behind you for three days?
Well  why not allow yourself a short, uninterrupted period to look at your emails each day which gives you enough time to take necessary action if required. .. typically first thing in the morning so you aren’t constantly thinking about them throughout the day.
Agree the period of time with yourself or your partner and then stop, log off or turn your blackberry to silent.
Then close your eyes and take some deep breaths and try to switch off the internal chatter is no doubt still going on in your head. Count your breaths in and out a dozen times, trying to remain focused on the act of breathing.
Finally go and do something, anything as long as you focus your attention on it and really appreciate what you are doing.
I dare you!
The author Winifred Gallagher summed it up well and is quoted in Tony Schwartz and Jean Gomes’ excellent book ‘Be Excellent at Anything’.
“Paying rapt attention, whether to a trout stream or a novel, a D-I-Y project or a prayer, increases your concentration, expands your inner boundaries, and lifts your spirits, but more important, it makes you feel that life is worth living.”

I will be remembering this as  I dig the paint rollers out of the shed.

If you would like a copy of my free book 'Fit for business' then please just click on the link below

http://www.martincrisp.com/freebook/

A level resilience

Like many parents I spent Thursday morning anxiously waiting to hear how my middle daughter had done in her A levels. It's been a challenging year for her as she has had to manage the disappointment of not being offered a place on the course which she had set her heart on.

Now, like everyone we all went through the emotional cycle of change experiencing feelings of disbelief, denial, anger etc. I was concerned that the set back may impact on my daughters motivation to do as well as she could in her forthcoming exams. What made it worse was that the college she applied to was not prepared to give any feedback as to what specifically had led to their decision so at least my daughter could have gained some feedback for future applications.

After the initial disappointment my daughter picked herself up and focused back on her studies with a calmness and determination that has impressed us all. Although fully immersed in her studies my daughter continued to attempt to make contact with the university to find out more information that could help her with a future application.

So a timely tale to share which I think links well to the three resilient attitudes identified by Salvatore Maddi and Deborah Khoshaba in their excellent book 'Resilience at Work'. In the book they suggest that the attitudes of commitment, control and challenge came up repeatedly when analysing a group of resilient managers.

Commitment from the point of view that if an individual’s work or studies is important enough to them then full attention, focus and effort will follow.

Control in that an individual keeps trying to positively influence the outcomes of the changes going on around them.

Challenge in the fact that an individual faces into potentially stressful changes, seek to understand and learn from them before establishing a plan to move forward.

Over the past six months my daughter has worked through the implications of taking a year out and constructed a plan to maximise her chances of success next time around. This included securing part time employment and seeking voluntary work in a local school.

So does this story have a happy ending?

Well it does actually and I'm proud to say that my daughter achieved better grades than were required for her entry onto the course. She  then spent several frustrating hours trying to contact the university to advise them of her success.

..and the result?

A place on the course starting in October!

We are all very proud of her not only in terms of her academic achievement but also around the resilient maturity demonstrated.

So we are now preparing to celebrate her success on the fields of Chelmsford as we head off to the V festival and looking outside the window it's raining.

Looks like we will all have to demonstrate a level of resilience this weekend!

If you would like a copy of my free book 'Fit for business' then please just click on the link below

http://www.martincrisp.com/freebook/

Outdoor eating for resilience

So you've been good at work all week and eaten regularly and healthily, maintaining your energy levels throughout the day. It's the weekend and the sun is threatening to shine and the thought of outdoor entertaining crosses your mind.

For some reason I haven’t had many opportunities to demonstrate my barbecuing skills this summer. Perhaps I should have taken advantage of the wonderful weather we had a Easter.

It’s often said that barbecues brings out the ‘caveman’ instincts in us males as we grapple and turn our kebabs and burgers to stop them from burning.   In fact little has changed in terms of our body make up since those prehistoric times...

And that's what seems to be causing such a big issue for us in the 21st century as our bodies struggle to cope with the refined carbs that play havoc with our sugar levels, causing lack of sustainable energy and obesity.

These refined carbs are a bit like the 'instant light' type of barbecue coals you can purchase in that they heat up quickly to such a heat that the food can easily get burnt. The coals also cool down as quick as they heated up giving a relatively short time to cook all your food.

On the other hand the compacted shaped briquettes take longer to get going however provide a steady workable heat that lasts considerably longer. These briquettes are like the complex carbs of low glycemic load which release sugars into the body in a more steady predictable way. This in turn prevents the blood sugar spikes that leads to the body having to literally defend itself by releasing large amounts of insulin which mops up the excess sugar that ultimately gets converted into fat.

So here are a few pointers if you're planning to indulge in a bit of outside entertaining

- try kebabs made up of either chicken, turkey or prawns alternated with peppers, tomatoes courgettes and mushrooms.

- if you are a fan of the instant light coals then it's probably worth starting the chicken off in the oven...  a good reason to go for the longer lasting briquettes!

- if you want a burger go for a good quality one with minimal amounts of fat... Or even better make your own.

- venison sausages have a far lower fat content  and have a great meaty taste

- for vegetarians, consider kebabs with tofu or halloumi instead of meat

- potato salad seems to be the side dish of choice at so many barbecues however why not try something a little bit lighter such as three bean salad

- if you are barbecuing some vegetable for the kebabs why not cook a few more to mix with couscous or quinoa along with some small cubes of feta cheese to make a delicious side dish.

.. And remember if you've got any leftovers to take them into work for either snacking or lunchtime.

For more information on eating to build resilience, health and wellbeing please click on the link below to receive a free copy of my book 'Fit for business.. 7 steps to improve your company's competitive advantage.'

http://www.martincrisp.com/freebook/

Resilient Riot Reflections

Well it’s been a week of extreme emotions for many of us in the UK as people took to the streets and decided to riot, rob and destroy their local communities. Living in Ealing I felt firsthand the emotions of fear, anger and sheer frustration as to why people feel compelled to take this sort of action. I say ‘people ‘ as opposed to ‘youths’ as it has become clear that a large cross section of people of differing backgrounds and age groups decided to join in.

David Cameron today suggested the reasons for the riots were complex and I’m not about to throw down my own theory.

This morning my wife asked me to recall one of the stories from the Tony Robbins book ‘Awaken the Giant Within’ about the two brothers with the alcoholic abusive father. In summary each of the brothers had been interviewed independently in their mid years about their background and the impact it had on their life to date. One of the brothers had worked hard and had become a very successful business man whilst the other had taken a similar path to his father turning to drink and drugs.

Interestingly when each brother was asked what factors had influenced their path to date they gave an almost identical answer...

‘Well what do you expect when you had a father like that.’

The story really struck me at the time and I have often quoted it to clients and groups to help demonstrate how you really can ‘choose your attitude’ to life, work, or whatever....

... and I guess we have seen this exact same scenario being played out over the last couple of days with people from similar, often challenging backgrounds choosing their attitude and behaving accordingly.

It would certainly appear that many of the rioters don’t value other people’s property, feelings or sense of community. The most distressing image for me over the past few days was to see an independent shopkeeper sitting in his van, in tears next to his looted premises that he had steadily built up over a number of years.

I think it’s probably fair to say that most of us don’t find the time to take a step off the merry-go-round of our hectic lives and reflect on what is truly important to us as individuals..

 our 'core' values

... and how on reflection these values inevitably revolve around relationships, a sense of belonging and purpose, not material goods... and in business it is usually no different when observing  companies made up of resilient, dedicated and motivated teams.

Let’s hope that at least a proportion of those involved in the looting will take a look at their newly acquired Blackberry, Plasma TV or designer trainers and reflect on the impact their actions have had on their fellow human beings.

If you would like a copy of my free book 'Fit for business' then please just click on the link below

http://www.martincrisp.com/freebook/

When to remove one of your spinning plates

I was talking to one of my coaching clients recently  around how best to manage their workload and focus on the tasks that really create value.

When coaching I sometimes use the analogy of the spinning plates.

This can help leaders appreciate the need to maintain momentum in every area of their business and therefore prevent any 'plate' completely falling off its stick.

It may be that the plate is spinning well and just needs the occasional tweak... for example if a project has been successfully delegated to a competent member of the team.

It may be that the plate is wobbling precariously and requires some serious help to gain enough momentum to get it spinning comfortably again.... an example here could be a key person in your network who you've neglected to keep in touch with.

However....

There are some 'plates' that occasionally can't been spun however wobbly they might get. This could be an issue which has simply been taken out of your control or an external factor over which you have no influence over.

A resilient leader may rightly challenge this scenario, however where appropriate accepts the situation and moves on to focus on what they can influence and progress. 

So is spinning plate analogy broken?

Well maybe... or maybe you could simply remove the plate off it's stick and put it to one side. The issue may come back into play at a later date or it may become making there one less 'plate' to worry about.
Maintaining a clear focus on the task at hand whilst operating in today’s busy workplace environment is becoming increasingly difficult, resulting in bigger demands on people’s internal energy systems and potentially reducing resilience.
More information on how to maintain focus at work can be found in my new booklet..

'Fit for business: 7 steps that will dramatically improve your company's competitve edge.'

Click on the link below to receive you free copy

http://www.martincrisp.com/freebook/
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