How are you?
I hope you had a lovely festive break and are ready to go for it in the year ahead.
Here at the Rylett – Jones household we had a complete tech detox and work recharge. Although we did lots of household chores and family bits and bobs, I didn’t ‘work’ work! Importantly I specifically avoided laptop screen time for the whole break. I felt I needed a rest from what had become a bit of a merry-go-round of work. This was different for me. Normally I use the time between Christmas and New Year to get on top of workload, sort out the inbox, focus on projects that need to be complete etc.
But this year I felt the need to change it up.
Let’s remember Albert Einstein's definition of insanity:
“Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different outcome.”
Without the screen I was less distracted and able to think with more clarity about what was important to me both on a work and personal level. This clarity proved to be very helpful as I reviewed the year, thought about what I wanted to achieve in the coming year, developed a vision board for 2022 and set goals based on the thinking.
This year the thinking just seemed simpler, easier, quicker. I did something different and got a different result.
Here are some of the questions I asked myself.
What have I achieved? What am I proud of?
What are my values? Have they changed?
What do I dream of? What have I always wished for in my life?
If money or time wasn’t an issue and I knew I couldn’t fail, what would I do next?
Which areas of my life need my attention this year? Family, Friends, Health. (The Wheel of Life is a great exercise here.)
Why?
One of the most interesting questions I asked was what makes me happy?
I figured out it was a few small things:
On a personal front - the outdoors, walking in the countryside, reading brilliant books that I learn from, going to the theatre, sewing and creating things, dancing and music. In work – helping others become the best version of themselves they can be and being personally recognized for building up some good businesses.
This thinking led me to:
(a) plan several activities throughout the year as focus points, planned rewards for the work I plan to achieve.
(b) be more practical and people centered in my business goals. (As an aside it also led me to dance round my living room to disco music on my own on New Years Eve, but that is another story. LOL. Ask me if you want to see the video footage.)
I also figured out over the break that I wanted to shake up the way I work at the office. Many of you know I cram lots and lots into my day, but the more I do the more I feel I have still to do. The work never seems to be finished. I rush from one thing to the next not really finishing any of it off. So, I’ve decided I’m going to focus on less things to get more done.
There are many articles out there about how focusing on one thing at a time will help improve productivity and results. In this article, written 8th Jan 2021 Oliver Burkeman says “The single most effective ingredient for a happier and more meaningful 2021 is to improve your capacity for doing only one thing at a time.”
James Clear talks about how you change your entire life by working on one thing at a time.
I’m going to slow down to speed up.
Take more time in thinking what is best to do, focus more on the primary, most important activity rather than just speeding through the emails to see who is shouting the most for my attention. I’ll let you know how I get on.
Finally, a word on not giving up.
At this time of year many of us set New Year’s resolutions. I always set far too many but somehow 1 or 2 always stick; last year I managed not to eat sweets for the whole year. The point I want to say is that even if you failed to do something you set yourself on day 4….it doesn’t mean you have to write off the whole year. It’s just 1 day…there are still another 352 to get it right on. Don’t cut of your noise to spike your face.
I have a trick to help me keep positive and going forward. I have 6 personal development goals I like to fit into a day. (See below). If I do 5 out of the 6, I don’t beat myself up. I say I have achieved the day.
Making healthy food choices
Not Drinking Alcohol (Monday – Thursday)
Gym or walk for 300 calories
Learning French for 15mins
Reading for 30mins
Journaling
What have you set yourself for 2022? What areas do you want to improve? What are you looking forward to the most in the coming year? Let us know….we’d love to help keep you motivated and on track. Let’s support each other. We got this!
Comments