How to do more by doing less

One of the hardest things I found adjusting to when I first started working from home was managing my work! It didn’t seem to matter how much effort I put in, or how long I sat at my desk, in my mind my efficiency had gone down tremendously and I couldn’t get as much done as I could when I was working elsewhere. I initially put this down to all of the distractions at home, there was a temptation to put a wash on, empty the dishwasher or make a phone call. When the kids started schooling from home, there was an added layer of making sure that they were logged on, working, had they eaten – that sort of thing!

A few months ago I came across an app that would track what I was doing, as I felt my productivity had fallen I initially thought this was a good idea. I then became even more conscious how many hours I was putting in and how often I was at my desk, undistracted, comparing each day to the one before. However, even though I felt I was putting in the hours, I quickly noticed that something was missing, I was finding running my own business, which I have done for many years, hard, there was far less ease, less creativity, less enjoyment. I found this really curious.

What occurred to me is that I had fallen into the traditional trap of the idea of what work is, or more specifically, the idea of how we achieve efficient and effective work, that if we put in the hours and sustained effort we will achieve higher levels of ‘output’.

Of course I knew this, this was how I used to work, but I had innocently forgotten, which is what we do as human beings! It’s no surprise either, as we are surrounded by messages telling us how we can be more focused, how we can work for longer, how we can increase our effort – and we have been brought up in a world where the number of hours you work directly represent how hard you have worked that day. However, I knew that that wasn’t true!

What if we already had the attribute we need within us to produce exactly what we are looking for, but what if to achieve if would feel like we were doing exactly the opposite to what we had been told, what if it had nothing to do with time and effort, what if we could achieve more but in far less time?

One thing that I have noticed about us humans is that when our minds are clear, it’s like we are on fire! You may have noticed that when your mind is fresh, alert, your thinking is clear (you don’t feel stressed or worried), the ideas flow, tasks have an ease about them and problems are navigated effortlessly – you may even come up with a few good ideas! I used to attribute this to working early, my clear desk or having no one in the house! However, I quickly realised that throughout the day when my mind was settled I experienced this clarity (irrespective of those other things) and things I needed to get done, simply got done.

Another thing I realised, is that our minds will go in and out of clarity throughout the day, quite naturally, but that when our minds are not clear (if we start getting stressed, or something feels really hard) if we push against that, if we try to ‘work through it’ it simply makes it worse and our productivity falls even more. However, we often know what we need to help ourselves, intuitively we’ll know if we need to make a drink, or go for a walk, or rest – something will occur to us and following this will often have the effect of freshening up our minds so that when we return to our desk our minds are clear again.

Like a tightly wound spring our minds need the opportunity to relax, this is when it works at its optimum, this is when it does its best work and noticing this can make the difference between a to do list that takes several hours, and one that is completed with ease in far less time.

When we begin to notice this, and I mean really notice that this is how we work best, we begin to notice how our minds unfurl naturally, it wanders by itself, we may lose concentration, find ourselves gazing out of the window, but also how in many ways all those distractions can provide the opportunity that we need to ‘unwind’ our minds. Sometimes I find I have some great ideas when I’m unloading the dishwasher, folding some clothes or letting the dog out! Far from frustrating, these distractions provide for us a welcome opportunity to take us away from the busy-ness of our own minds, allowing for space to appear and for fresh thought, perspective and well-being to naturally seep in. When we then go back to our desks, we can start work refreshed and be far more effective.

So simple how our state of mind is the one variable that so often is invisible to us, but when we notice it, it makes all the difference.

With love, Andrea x

Andrea Morrison is a Transformational Coach, Tedx Speaker, Writer and Columnist for The Yorkshire Post. Find out more about her forthcoming events and programmes on her website: www.andreamorrison.co.uk