Lifestyle Elements

e-newsletter May 2005 Issue 13

In This Edition

What is turning executives and managers into frenzied under-achievers?
By Inta Sellick

Life Work Balance Improves Staff Retention
by Bridget Hog

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Welcome...

Lifestyle Elements provides services to not only individual customers, but to corporate clients also. As part of a work-life balance strategy, Lifestyle Elements' personal concierge and lifestyle management services are the perfect solution for assisting time-poor staff and rewarding employees for a job well done.

Our May e-newsletter therefore focuses on several issues which are hot topics of discussion in our current corporate environment, which relate specifically to work-life balance. .

This month Inta Sellick discusses the benefits of self management versus time management, and provides us with seven simple steps to get started and improve our work performance.

Bridget Hogg's article encourages executives to consider work-life balance when aiming to improve staff retention.

Please don't hesitate to contact us on 08 8234 8657 or email, to discuss how we might work together on a corporate or individual basis to improve your work-life balance.

Kind regards,

Abbie Martin
Lifestyle Manager

What is turning executives and managers into frenzied under-achievers?
By Inta Sellick

Peter is so busy attending to morning emails while attending to incoming calls that he is running late for his client appointments. Then he frantically makes excuse calls while driving to the first appointment for the day and wondering how is he going to fit them all in and get away in time to attend his son’s birthday dinner. Its just ten in the morning and he is already in overwhelm and stressed. Another coffee should fix it – for now.

Overwhelm
Overload, overwhelm soon leads to overboard! Then once intelligent, self motivated and enthusiastic people become unproductive, under achieving and disillusioned.

What is turning executives and managers into frenzied under-achievers? Apparently it is our modern office life and an increasingly growing condition called ‘attention deficit trait’ (ADT) according to psychiatrist Edward Hallowell reporting in the Financial Review.

Attention Deficit Trait (ADT)
Attention deficit trait is a by-product of our modern office systems and expectations causing brain overload and is epidemic in organisations. Our modern technology enables us to multi task constantly, increase productivity and transmit information faster. This leads to our brain being asked to process spinning amounts of data and information. Studies show that the brain’s ability to solve problems declines and the amount of mistakes increase as the brain loses its capacity to attend fully and thoroughly to anything.

When the brain is in overload it furiously fires signals of fear, anxiety, impatience, irritability, panic or anger. The body moves to red alert. In the ‘red’ people make impulsive judgements and angrily rush to finish urgent matters at hand. Melt down has occurred and now tantrums, blaming others and snapping at anyone nearby is the mode of survival, or for some its denial or avoidance of the problems. How long can we keep pretending all is fine and keep up the load? What are the physical signs and symptoms already emerging? Or is it a case of ‘beam me up Scotty!”

When these work (and family) pressing matters and tidal waves of to do lists overwhelm us there is little energy left. On top of that we just crave for a good nights sleep - if we can get to sleep in the first place and not wake around 2 am worrying and thinking about unfinished business or unresolved matters.

Time management is not the solution
There is simply never enough time. YOU’RE NOT ALONE! The problem is epidemic and yet with all the time management training and online courses, it hasn’t solved your problem, or anyone else’s for that matter. Why? Because managing time isn’t the solution. Family friendly policies are of real benefit to support the solution but are not the solution alone. Time isn’t something you can pick up and manipulate even with the wisdom of day light saving. The solution is a fundamental change to our intention, thinking, feeling and behaving – our self management and mastery of that.

Yes, it is about self management
How overwhelmed, burnt out and at crisis point do you need to get to before you are ready to spend just 5 minutes at the beginning of your day getting committed to self management, planning and then committing to a time line of action?

Distinction between urgent and critical
Planning is one of those things that is critical but not urgent. First let’s sort out the distinction between what’s urgent and what’s critical. Urgent things are usually deadline driven projects, some meetings, lack of organization on others behalf, pressing phone calls and some emails. Whereas critical things are the bigger picture matters, prevention activities, planning, relationship building, exercise, recreation, healthy eating and rejuvenating sleep, but they are not felt or seen as urgent.

Seven simple steps

1. Set your intention to be committed to yourself.
2. Spend 5 minutes twice a day at the beginning and end planning and reflecting; work out what you want to achieve by the end of the week and how, ie calmly or frantically. Break tasks down to daily achievements and then prioritise according to what’s critical, what’s urgent and what’s not.
3. Chunk big tasks down to small tasks. It makes them achievable.
4. Start your day with critical tasks not emails.
5. Slow down. Quit multi tasking. Do one thing at a time and be totally present and focussed.
6. When complete, tick it off and put it away.
7. Finish your day each day with a tidy up of your desk and a draft of tomorrow’s plan and leave it there.

The consistently best performers are able to manage their thinking, feeling and behaviour according to what is critical and urgent at work and in their personal life. As a result they are unrushed and highly focussed on each task. They have the skill to shift their focus as required and attend to communication and tasks fully and completely, yet remain flexible in their thinking and behaviour.

Inta Sellick, Principle Consultant, Integrated Learning & Development. inta@senet.com.au
EFM’s preferred corporate provider for work life balance seminars and coaching.

Life Work Balance Improves Staff Retention
By Bridget Hogg

Providing Life Work Balance policies and practices, and encouraging staff to use them, helps employers win the war for talent, says Bridget Hogg, Principal Consultant, HR Development at Work.

It’s a fact – employers are increasingly concerned about skills shortages, the shrinking size of the working population and high levels of competition for talent. The unemployment rate is at a 30 year low, and predicted to drop again. How can an organisation maintain its capacity to provide services, or tender for business, when it doesn’t have enough staff? And amidst all this pressure to achieve - how can individuals maintain Life Work Balance?

No Balance – detrimental to organisations, individuals and society.

Long hours can be harmful to your health, your concentration and your safety. In Japan they even have a word for “death due to overwork” as it is so common.

Employees are seeking organisations that offer flexible working practices when they choose who to work for.

Employers who don’t provide flexible working practices will probably find it very difficult to attract new staff, and are more likely to experience high staff turnover.

Many parents are finding it impossible to work and have children. As a result many choose not to have children – resulting in a low, and decreasing, birth rate. Maybe some parents feel they have a limited choice because of the way we have structured our workplaces.

Did you know one in five children in South Australia is brought up in a jobless household?

Who wants flexibility? Generation Y, Baby Boomers?

These days its not just Generation X and Y or working parents who want flexibility in how they arrange their lives. Baby Boomers are approaching retirement age and they are seeking flexible working lives too. (And while we’re on the topic, Generation Y are more likely to want flexible working hours so they can balance study and work – not so that they can go surfing!).

Baby Boomers are the ones who will lead the charge as they are often in senior roles. Many are seeking to maximise their income by combining work with play, and to do this they need to encourage flexible working practices such as part-time work, buying extra leave and working from home, or on a consultancy basis.

Schefenacker have started to lead the way in Adelaide with provision of core working hours (9-3) and flexible working hours at either end of the day (7-9, or 3-5). This enables retention of both parents and assists parents to manage the school run at both ends of the day. If its good enough for them – why not emphasise to your employer, or senior management team, the benefits in terms of staff retention they can enjoy if they start to offer Life Work Balance.

Bridget is Convenor of AHRI’s Attraction and Retention Special Interest Group and will run “Attracting and Retaining Talent” for HR Managers and Senior Operational Managers in Adelaide, in July. If you want Bridget to persuade your employer for you, forward the flyer to your boss. For Masterclass information click here or contact Bridget on bh@developmentatwork.com www.developmentatwork.com.au



	e-newsletter May 2005 Issue 13
	In This Edition What is turning executives and managers into frenzied under-achievers? By Inta Sellick Life Work Balance Improves Staff Retention by Bridget Hog Gourmet home-cooked meal delivery Home-cooked meals ready for your family. Keep in the fridge or freezer for when you need them. Delivered to your door. Click here for more information	Welcome... Lifestyle Elements provides services to not only individual customers, but to corporate clients also. As part of a work-life balance strategy, Lifestyle Elements' personal concierge and lifestyle management services are the perfect solution for assisting time-poor staff and rewarding employees for a job well done. Our May e-newsletter therefore focuses on several issues which are hot topics of discussion in our current corporate environment, which relate specifically to work-life balance. . This month Inta Sellick discusses the benefits of self management versus time management, and provides us with seven simple steps to get started and improve our work performance. Bridget Hogg's article encourages executives to consider work-life balance when aiming to improve staff retention. Please don't hesitate to contact us on 08 8234 8657 or email, to discuss how we might work together on a corporate or individual basis to improve your work-life balance. Kind regards, Abbie Martin Lifestyle Manager
	What is turning executives and managers into frenzied under-achievers? By Inta Sellick Peter is so busy attending to morning emails while attending to incoming calls that he is running late for his client appointments. Then he frantically makes excuse calls while driving to the first appointment for the day and wondering how is he going to fit them all in and get away in time to attend his son’s birthday dinner. Its just ten in the morning and he is already in overwhelm and stressed. Another coffee should fix it – for now. Overwhelm Overload, overwhelm soon leads to overboard! Then once intelligent, self motivated and enthusiastic people become unproductive, under achieving and disillusioned. What is turning executives and managers into frenzied under-achievers? Apparently it is our modern office life and an increasingly growing condition called ‘attention deficit trait’ (ADT) according to psychiatrist Edward Hallowell reporting in the Financial Review. Attention Deficit Trait (ADT) Attention deficit trait is a by-product of our modern office systems and expectations causing brain overload and is epidemic in organisations. Our modern technology enables us to multi task constantly, increase productivity and transmit information faster. This leads to our brain being asked to process spinning amounts of data and information. Studies show that the brain’s ability to solve problems declines and the amount of mistakes increase as the brain loses its capacity to attend fully and thoroughly to anything. When the brain is in overload it furiously fires signals of fear, anxiety, impatience, irritability, panic or anger. The body moves to red alert. In the ‘red’ people make impulsive judgements and angrily rush to finish urgent matters at hand. Melt down has occurred and now tantrums, blaming others and snapping at anyone nearby is the mode of survival, or for some its denial or avoidance of the problems. How long can we keep pretending all is fine and keep up the load? What are the physical signs and symptoms already emerging? Or is it a case of ‘beam me up Scotty!” When these work (and family) pressing matters and tidal waves of to do lists overwhelm us there is little energy left. On top of that we just crave for a good nights sleep - if we can get to sleep in the first place and not wake around 2 am worrying and thinking about unfinished business or unresolved matters. Time management is not the solution There is simply never enough time. YOU’RE NOT ALONE! The problem is epidemic and yet with all the time management training and online courses, it hasn’t solved your problem, or anyone else’s for that matter. Why? Because managing time isn’t the solution. Family friendly policies are of real benefit to support the solution but are not the solution alone. Time isn’t something you can pick up and manipulate even with the wisdom of day light saving. The solution is a fundamental change to our intention, thinking, feeling and behaving – our self management and mastery of that. Yes, it is about self management How overwhelmed, burnt out and at crisis point do you need to get to before you are ready to spend just 5 minutes at the beginning of your day getting committed to self management, planning and then committing to a time line of action? Distinction between urgent and critical Planning is one of those things that is critical but not urgent. First let’s sort out the distinction between what’s urgent and what’s critical. Urgent things are usually deadline driven projects, some meetings, lack of organization on others behalf, pressing phone calls and some emails. Whereas critical things are the bigger picture matters, prevention activities, planning, relationship building, exercise, recreation, healthy eating and rejuvenating sleep, but they are not felt or seen as urgent. Seven simple steps 1. Set your intention to be committed to yourself. 2. Spend 5 minutes twice a day at the beginning and end planning and reflecting; work out what you want to achieve by the end of the week and how, ie calmly or frantically. Break tasks down to daily achievements and then prioritise according to what’s critical, what’s urgent and what’s not. 3. Chunk big tasks down to small tasks. It makes them achievable. 4. Start your day with critical tasks not emails. 5. Slow down. Quit multi tasking. Do one thing at a time and be totally present and focussed. 6. When complete, tick it off and put it away. 7. Finish your day each day with a tidy up of your desk and a draft of tomorrow’s plan and leave it there. The consistently best performers are able to manage their thinking, feeling and behaviour according to what is critical and urgent at work and in their personal life. As a result they are unrushed and highly focussed on each task. They have the skill to shift their focus as required and attend to communication and tasks fully and completely, yet remain flexible in their thinking and behaviour. Inta Sellick, Principle Consultant, Integrated Learning & Development. inta@senet.com.au EFM’s preferred corporate provider for work life balance seminars and coaching.
	Life Work Balance Improves Staff Retention By Bridget Hogg Providing Life Work Balance policies and practices, and encouraging staff to use them, helps employers win the war for talent, says Bridget Hogg, Principal Consultant, HR Development at Work. It’s a fact – employers are increasingly concerned about skills shortages, the shrinking size of the working population and high levels of competition for talent. The unemployment rate is at a 30 year low, and predicted to drop again. How can an organisation maintain its capacity to provide services, or tender for business, when it doesn’t have enough staff? And amidst all this pressure to achieve - how can individuals maintain Life Work Balance? No Balance – detrimental to organisations, individuals and society. Long hours can be harmful to your health, your concentration and your safety. In Japan they even have a word for “death due to overwork” as it is so common. Employees are seeking organisations that offer flexible working practices when they choose who to work for. Employers who don’t provide flexible working practices will probably find it very difficult to attract new staff, and are more likely to experience high staff turnover. Many parents are finding it impossible to work and have children. As a result many choose not to have children – resulting in a low, and decreasing, birth rate. Maybe some parents feel they have a limited choice because of the way we have structured our workplaces. Did you know one in five children in South Australia is brought up in a jobless household? Who wants flexibility? Generation Y, Baby Boomers? These days its not just Generation X and Y or working parents who want flexibility in how they arrange their lives. Baby Boomers are approaching retirement age and they are seeking flexible working lives too. (And while we’re on the topic, Generation Y are more likely to want flexible working hours so they can balance study and work – not so that they can go surfing!). Baby Boomers are the ones who will lead the charge as they are often in senior roles. Many are seeking to maximise their income by combining work with play, and to do this they need to encourage flexible working practices such as part-time work, buying extra leave and working from home, or on a consultancy basis. Schefenacker have started to lead the way in Adelaide with provision of core working hours (9-3) and flexible working hours at either end of the day (7-9, or 3-5). This enables retention of both parents and assists parents to manage the school run at both ends of the day. If its good enough for them – why not emphasise to your employer, or senior management team, the benefits in terms of staff retention they can enjoy if they start to offer Life Work Balance. Bridget is Convenor of AHRI’s Attraction and Retention Special Interest Group and will run “Attracting and Retaining Talent” for HR Managers and Senior Operational Managers in Adelaide, in July. If you want Bridget to persuade your employer for you, forward the flyer to your boss. For Masterclass information click here or contact Bridget on bh@developmentatwork.com www.developmentatwork.com.au