Purchasing Coach: Advent Window 13: Do nothing

25 unconventional coaching and facilitation tools to surprise and delight

Following on from yesterday's insight I'm reminded of another tool - Do nothing.

Here, I don't mean do nothing about the problem and do everything and anything else instead.

I mean, DO NOTHING - zilch!

Put your phone down, turn your laptop off, or at least walk away from them all, and have a quiet few moments to your self.

A few minutes walking, or sitting with no talking, no thinking, just being in the moment, and taking deep breaths.

And then, and only after your few minutes away, notice what you notice.

Alison Smith
Unlocking procurement potential - using conventional and unconventional tools
Procurement and Business Speaker, Coach, Trainer, & Facilitator
alison@alisonsmith.eu +44 (0)7770 538159

Earlier in the year I applied some of the unconventional tools shared in this series of advent posts to common procurement challenges - more here.

Adrenaline junkie *

I'm writing this on my iPad as I eat my breakfast sitting in my garden. 

It's 0832 on Monday morning, the sun is shining (till 1300 anyway) and I'm working from home today. I have no calls scheduled in the diary, and have some nice chunky work to do (you know rather than the 20 minutes of this, 30 minutes of that, interrupted by a number of 45 minute conference calls).

Yet I feel guilty for sitting here - I even had to drag myself passed the office door. 

A voice whispered "just check your emails first." I knew however, that if I listen to that voice and took that left turn into the office, I'd be eating breakfast at my desk, and would be there for the rest of the day. 

It's a feeling I recognise, and one I know signals a holiday is well over due. The signal that adrenaline is fuelling the need for constant doing, and knowing there isn't an ever replenishing supply of adrenaline available 24/7 365.  

I've caught the feeling earlier than normal and have booked a week off next week. I wonder whether that's why I found it easier to have breakfast on the beach yesterday morning. 

Perhaps that's the Key Performance Indicator (KPI) I should be measuring to track my well-being - 'the number of breakfast's eaten outside'? Or perhaps even 'the number of paddles taken' :-)

What triggers you to notice you're headed away from well being and balance, and towards stress and burn out?

• Number of cancelled dates with family or friends
• Number of meals eaten at the desk or on the go
• Number of days you skipped breakfast or lunch
• Number of days you get home from work and fall straight into bed
• Number of days you feel no sunshine on your skin
• Number of days when the only walking under taken was from car to office and back
• Number of days without laughter
• Number of days where time available for sleep due to your schedule was less than 7 hours

You could argue that even 1 day of any of the above in a week is unacceptable. I suspect, however, we'd all choose a number slightly higher than that to provide some leeway for busyness and doing.

Its 0902 now and my breakfast is eaten and blog written (yes I realise that could also be a replacement activity for not being in the office). 

The desire to get to the office is even stronger now and that whisper is getting louder ....

• "There may be an important email" 

and I attempt to quieten it with:

• "If there is an important email they'll call too - no one relies on email if it's urgent !!"
• "It wasn't there on Friday evening - no one works over the weekend!!"
• "You're on top of all your actions - no one would add more to your to-do list without first checking that's OK!!"
• "You're more effective when you've taken time to just be - no one thinks that we have to be at our desk from 9-5 any more !!"
• "The sun is great for vitamin D and helps your well being - no one discounts the impact of our well-being on our effectiveness at work!!"
• "Breakfast eaten slowly and mindfully is more nourishing for you - no one believes eating on the go is good for you!!"

Oh dear - it seems the only answer that quietens the need for doing is:

• "It's ok you can work later tonight and make up for it."

As ever on my own well being - the talking is easier than the walking! 

Although as it's going to rain at 1300 that last comment has made we wonder about going for a walk (once I'd checked my email mind) as I really can work later tonight, and it's scheduled to rain for the next few days so time spent in the sun now will help for the next few days spent inside. 

It's 0919 and if I go for a walk it may be a while till I really hit that laptop :-). 

After 15 minutes of dealing with emails, and calls being scheduled for later, I did manage that walk and even managed a paddle in the sea. 

It's 10:33 and I'm now going to start my day and feel much better for the start I gave myself.

I would love to know the trigger that has you reassessing the speed that you're running your life at, and what helps you stop adrenaline's call.

Alison Smith

Inspiring change - inside and out - when what you're doing isn't working 

* A reminder I hope that adrenaline junkies don't just drive fast cars, jump out of planes or climb steep cliffs. A junkie in the sense that you can't stop the current behaviour and don't want to either - despite knowing in the long run it's no good for you and you really should stop - would benefit from the stop too! 

Speak When Inspired

There's a card (*) I use when coaching that asks us to consider the impact of

'you speak when inspired and say nothing when you're not.'

It came to mind today as I searched for a subject to blog on. I've got a list of potential blog items with subjects that inspired me at the time of adding them to the list. The issue is that days have passed since then and they no longer resonate for me. They may resonate tomorrow but not today. So future blogs may touch on: not having time to listen, the impact of short term decision making, anger, lean conversations and our personal best.

This blog - well it's a reminder to only speak when inspired and say nothing when we're not. (If you forgive me the few lines it took to share the insight.)

Alison Smith

The Purchasing coach
Inspiring change inside and out

Mona Lisa picture source: en.wikipedia.org via Alison on Pinterest

* The insight card used here is from the Transformation Game © Innerlinks - www.innerlinks.com

Stop, Look, Listen

Before I went on holiday life had got very very busy - you know the sort of thing: get up and immediately turn on the PC, eat on the go, too much time spent on planes, trains and automobiles, eating too much of the wrong foods, no time for me or friends (or laughter for that matter), collapse in front of the TV for some mind numbing 'entertainment' to wind down before collapsing into bed. Oh yes ... not forgetting that irritability with the world and especially at the lack of speed everyone else was going!

What a difference a week can make!

It was a holiday of sorts - a week retreat if you will at a conference and training centre celebrating its 50th birthday. There were many local, national and international speakers offering lecturers and workshops for 7 hours a day for each of the 7 days I was there.

Over forth coming blogs I'm sure I'll share some of the insights shared during those lecturers/workshops but on my first day back in the office I'd like to share what I learnt about the pace of my life and more importantly the changes I'm making.

• Stop: Stop the constant doing. The 7 hours of lectures were spread over 13 hours a day. That is we had lots of time to stop. 30 mins break in the morning, the same in the afternoon, nearly 2 hours for lunch and 3 hours for dinner. Initially I was frustrated with all this 'wasted' time. Now I realise it gave us time - it gave me time. Time to eat and then digest the food that had been prepared for us, to digest what we'd heard, to connect with others, to take time out or to catch up with any other activities we needed to attend to. It's interesting how often we try to fit these into the time we've set aside to attend to our To-do'ing.
• Look: I'm sure my constant doing in the past, with that all too familiar physiology that goes with it - head down and a fast speed of walking, means I've missed much. Last week I had time to look around and notice the world around me - the people, nature and my own thoughts and feelings. That very 'looking' enabled me to connect to an energy that's been missing in my life for a while - a spontaneous, creative and expansive energy that is one that I need often in the work I do. Let's just hope I don't get too busy to let it slip through my fingers - again! 
• Listen: I didn't attend every one one of the sessions on offer. What I did was listen to that quiet voice inside that suggested this lecture was one I would attend and this one wasn't. What that facilitated was a week where the information and insights came at a pace I could handle. It certainly wasn't about listening to that other critical voice inside that said "You might miss something." "But you've paid for this!" "What will others think?" This is one significant change that I'd like to continue now I'm home - taking time at the start of the day to listen to that quiet voice about priorities and To-dos. Which this blog is an example of because I wrote it first before looking at the emails!     

I'll let you know how I get on in embracing these changes. Certainly as I peek at my inbox for the first time,  with its 858 emails, I can feel the all too familiar voice whispering "quicker, quicker". Think I may need to print a copy of the road sign above to remind me of my commitment to change.

What changes do you need to make to enable you to connect to an energy that's needed for your work but has slipped through your fingers recently?  

Alison Smith

The Purchasing Coach
Ensuring your purchasing team takes time to stop, look and listen.