Be more aware - pay attention to where you are

In our fast lives it is all too easy to be caught up in the busyness and miss or not see what is around you.

While driving today it was hard not to notice a herd of mountain goats on the road - not to mention these two who were having a full on disagreement. The novel or unusual will obviously get our attention easily - but how often do we go through life on 'auto pilot' oblivious to what is going on around us - caught up in worrying about people and future events and not present in the moment ?

How often do you notice things on your drive or walk to work ? Do you take time to be conscious of the familiar sounds and sights each day?

I challenge you to go for a walk this evening - walk around somewhere familiar but go with the intention of being aware and take notice of your environment. As you walk, look up and around, notice things, be aware of the noise your feet make as you walk ... try and focus on your breathing ....

Stop half way on your walk and consider your life, what are you grateful for how would you describe your life in one sentence .... continue your walk and reflect on the sentence you made to describe your life.

Often people when they complete their walk realise that they need to devote more time to their needs and spend time doing the things they enjoy doing. There is often the realisation that we are missing out on experiences and enjoyment because we are so wrapped up in what we consider to be pressing and urgent demands.

We all seem to have busy lives and can often find ourselves being very busy but not getting the results we want. Frequently we are very busy doing work and activities which may be important to others but not ourselves.

It is useful to consider your workload and tasks as important / not important and urgent / not urgent ...

We should all make much greater use of this approach to how we work ... try it and start making conscious decisions to identify that you need to 'DO', what you should delegate to other and what needs to be deleted !

Don't be afraid to give yourself the time to stop and consider your work plans / workload - you will make better decisions and allocation of your time - which will in turn allow you to progress with important and urgent work which will give you outcomes that matter to you.

Enjoy your walk !

CH Executive Coaching

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The being busy trap

Today’s walk along the road was achieved by careful timing and watching the clouds to avoid the rain. I found myself wondering about a conversation I had last week about the language we use in work situations relating to how busy we all are. I caught myself saying that I had ‘back to back meetings all day’ not sure if I was looking for admiration or pity. The fact that I could feel the uncomfortableness of the fact, combined with an annoyance with myself for getting into this situation collided and I adopted a resigned to accept it outlook. With the time to reflect today – I wonder how often I willingly allow myself to get into the too busy being busy mode. The day goes so quickly – for sure ! Some around may marvel at my revolving office door and the constant foot fall …. When I reflect on what I achieved during my day of meetings it is clear little or any of it could truly be called ‘deep work’ – in contrast to what is described as ‘shallow work’ – those non-productive meetings

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