Getting your tactics in Synch

We've just finished the 2 day kick off to the athlete at work^® programme and really enjoyed some interesting conversations around performance in these testing times. One of the most interesting discussions was around the perceived pressure to get more done in less time. Wouldn't we all like that? So, when we talked about being mindful about what tasks people are choosing to do, at what times of day, it seemed to really strike a resonant chord. The group reached the conclusion that they would get more done in less time if they worked more in line with their their natural energy rhythms throughout the day. If this sounds deceptively simple, then that pleases us immensely... it suggests it might just work!

So, stop for a moment and think about which points of the day coincide with your most effective work? When does work feel easiest? Is it in the morning? Late afternoon? Evening?

Now have a think about those times in the day when work seems a little harder. When do you find it tougher to concentrate? When do those meetings just seem to drag? Are there times when you have a slump in energy? For many people, early afternoon is a time of reduced effectiveness - but not everyone, so have a think.

What are you choosing to do with these different times? If you're someone who is most productive first thing in the morning, then how can you make the most use of this time each day? And if you're more of an evening person, what work are you saving up for your best working time? This is when your most challenging and important tasks are likely to get done most effectively and efficiently. So be selective about what you do and when you do it!

Which activities are best left for the naturally less productive times? Perhaps the less taxing elements of your work, or something that you find really energising to do, or you could even choose to meet with someone who you find interesting to work with and who doesn't drain your energy levels (they might even top them up!). In your less productive times it's probably best to avoid the business critical tasks (I know they're all business critical, but some of those emails are less important than others!). You're less likely to do key activities with the quality and focus that they require when everything is feeling like a grind. The key tasks are likely to take longer and you're more likely to make errors.

So, don't just use up your time every day - focus on using your time mindfully. Time is a precious thing and it's even more important to use it optimally in such interesting and challenging times.

Active Recovery...

One thing that we know from working with the highest level athletes is that they value and actively exploit recovery in order to perform better. This contrasts with the views that we hear in the corporate world, where is appears there is a perception sometimes that sleep and downtime are an inconvenience to getting a job done, rather than an essential influence on a person's ability to sustain excellence and constantly improve.

So, given we're in challenging times, it's worth thinking about how effectively you're utilising rest and recovery to deal with what is essentially a more draining and energy sapping time. Ask yourself whether you're managing to feel refreshed as a result of your sleep. Check whether you're getting any opportunities within the course of a challenging day to get a worthwhile time-out so that you can have a mini re-charge, so you can give a concerted effort again. Check whether you're assuming that you can keep giving your optimum performance without paying attention to the need to rest your brain and body. Are you using rest, recovery and time-out for a competitive advantage? If you work out the ideal recovery strategy for you and put that alongside the optimal performance delivery strategy, then you're going to be winning more consistently.

Don't let the situation you're in control you to make poor performance choices. You control the situation - the situation does not control you.

Fit to Perform?

It's pretty clear that the coming months are going to explore the endurance of business leaders, both physically and mentally. Endurance will give you the capacity to persevere with demanding work for long periods of time; enable you to make good decisions when physically and mentally tired; and find those additional reserves of energy if the going gets tough (didn't we mention Billy Ocean when we sent you an invitation recently?).

So, are you fit to perform or fit to drop?

There is some good news about endurance. First, it is very trainable. If you want more stamina then you can have it, if you work at it in the right way. Second, you can develop endurance while in the thick of performing, if you use your intelligence and approach things in the right way...

There are four relevant key principles to developing endurance...

1. Specificity: Your training needs to be specific. If you want to train for a marathon, then you'll need to do some running. So, if you want to get fit to cope with the demands of work, then the best way to do it is to face the challenges of work with the attitude that any increased workload provides an opportunity to test your endurance, stretch it a little and see how good you can be.


2. Transferability: If you're fit for running, then some of that fitness will transfer to cycling. Likewise, if you are physically fit, then some of this endurance will transfer into your work performance. Don't get me started on this one... there's so much data to support this that we'd need a whole new blog to cope with how training and improving fitness are directly linked with improved cognitive performance and emotional well-being!


3. Overload: To get fitter, you benefit from pushing yourself beyond comfortable limits. However, overdo the overload and predictable problems can start to occur. With a sports person they'll start to suffer from injuries and illness. In business, lack of concentration, insomnia, chronic fatigue and susceptibility to illness are some of the signs of getting the balance wrong.


4. Recovery: So, in order to prevent "over training" it is as vital to pay as much attention to the quality and quantity of your rest as you do to the quality and quantity of your work. You will gain endurance while you are resting and recovering. So, make sure you intersperse periods of hard work, with periods of high quality recovery. The better you get at recovering quickly, by using good sleep practices and energising nutrition, the harder you will be able to work and the greater your capacity to endure will become.

So, what's your energy management strategy? How are you ensuring that you get good rest and proper nutrition? Are you preparing for the demands you face and then planning effectively to get enough rest and the right foods to be able to deliver the performances you need, when you need them most? Are you making the time to train so that you enjoy the physical and psychological benefits of improved fitness?

What barriers are you hitting to managing your energy effectively and developing your endurance? Post any barriers and challenges as a comment here and we'll see if the inhabitants of planet K2 can help.

More done in less time...

We received the following feedback on planet K2 yesterday. Not only did it make us feel quite good about ourselves, but we also realised that there's quite a bit we can learn from these select words, particularly when it comes to filling the physical component of the performance pie...

"My training continues – making the right eating choices still goes up and down, but increasingly more ups than downs as time goes on. I’ve no doubt that my current physical performance and state of readiness contributed to my recent success and I have to say, it all started with the principles from your workshop.

The business pay-off? Afternoon slumps are a thing of the past and I’m getting more done in less time. Bonus!"

What can we learn from this gentleman?

First, most change in behaviour is not a straight line. There will be ebbs and flows in how well we do what we set out to do. The two keys to his success in making sure an ebb did not lead to a total lapse?

• To have a constant reminder of his commitment to pursuing his goal. He used the colour blue to remind him, gave himself a blue screen saver on his work PC, wore a blue wrist band got himself a blue water bottle (he was training for his blue belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu!).


• He accepted that making changes to habits will not be a straight line. Stuff gets in the way! He has a young family, a demanding job and walks past an award winning bakery on the way to work! He judges himself by how well he sticks to the behaviours and also by how well he gets back on track after a slip up. First prize is to have no slip up. Second prize is related to how well he recovers from slip ups. This doesn't mean he's easy on himself, but it enables him to retain perspective and root his efforts to change in reality, not in a fictional perfect world.

The fitter he gets and the more healthily he eats, the better he performs at work. He's choosing his fuel more wisely and making sure he's training appropriately. Good food choices and regular exercise are now physical performance fundamentals for him. Without them he'd be getting less done in more time! So he's controlled the things he can control (no-one else puts food in your mouth!) and has systematically developed his physical capacity to perform.

Do you know what your physical performance fundamentals are? Are you in control of them? Do you have a strategy, not only for what you intend to do, but how to stick to them? Commonsense? Perhaps. But how commonly are you applying this commonsense? These simple physical performance fundamentals become even more vital in allowing you to deliver consistently to your best in the face of changing demands.

So, are you choosing to get more done in less time or less done in more time?