Comfort zones at work

My blogs often concentrate on personal development topics but the learning can generally be applied to all areas of our life - socially or at work, or with family, stakeholders or suppliers etc. 

Last Friday's blog discussed expanding our comfort zone by doing small things differently. The subsequent blogs shared small things I'd done differently over the weekend.

A few of the small things will continue to be done the way I have always done them (e.g not sure I want to go back to drinking normal tea). A few of the activities I did differently made we realise how easy it is to learn a behaviour and then simply allow it to become a habit rather than consider alternatives each time. In a number of instances I realised what I had been doing wasn't necessarily the best option 100% of the time, in 100% of situations. 

Not so much of a setback if I just take the same route to work everyday - but perhaps a concern if I always walk the same route to my desk and therefore never get to talk to others off the route. Not the end of the world I know but doing small things differently can really open your eyes to what you might be missing. 

My blog suggested small things to do differently at home - in the office how about:

• Making a drink at a different kettle
• Getting your water from a different cooler
• Walking a different route to your desk
• Coming in earlier or later and therefore leaving earlier or later
• Taking lunch at a different time or in a different location
• Bringing in your own lunch or going out for it
• Making calls at a different time of day
• Reading emails at a different time of day
• Working from home on a different day
• Starting meetings at different times 10.08??
• Visiting a different toilet (we are creatures of habit after all) 

It's so easy to assume that all of our habits have arisen from efficiency and effectiveness - if this weekend's little experiment is anything to go by then the answer isn't always that clear cut. Try it for yourself and notice what you notice - I promise you will be surprised. 

Alison Smith

Inspiring change inside and out