As a parent how many time have you heard that? I hate school, I don’t want to go to school, I have a tummy ache, I’ve lost my uniform so I can’t go.
As children we think very short term and often dread what is happening the next few hours. Is that just a trait of children? I’m not so sure.
Come on admit it. You have had that Sunday evening feeling. You’ve had a great weekend but wow has the past 8 hours gone quickly. You are now thinking about the 10am client meeting with a difficult client or supplier and all your ‘Weekend Wonder’ has turned into the ‘Sunday night Sadness’.
My answer I give my children is a simple one. Find the positives. Think about play time, seeing your friends, the subject that you really love or your favourite teacher.
I use the same approach with work. I mentally separate my days into four types of event
1. Events that benefit me. Meetings that allow me to develop people, client opportunities and generally benefit the agency.
2. Events that I enjoy. These could be creative sessions, blue sky discussion or working with inspiring, exciting people.
3. Events that are a chore, necessary but not overly beneficial. I admit that admin is not my strong point. It must be done but I don’t love it.
4. Events that will be difficult. Giving bad news, meeting people with opposing points of view, handling conflict and disagreements.
Each Sunday I review my up come week and identify my objectives for each entry in my schedule and score each entry as a 1,2,3 or a 4. As I prepare for the coming week I focus on the first and forth type of event. My rationale being that type 2 are easy to attend and type 3 are a necessary evil or may not actually require me to attend. By focusing on point 1 I ensure that my focus is on the growth opportunities and I can spend time and energy preparing to get the best possible outcome. With point 4 I also commit time and energy to get the best outcome bearing in mind the risk of negative outcomes.
I also take this approach when I plan my schedule and my future tasks and meetings. I aim to have a controlled mixture of positive productive time (1&2) along with more challenging time (3&4). This is not always possible as client meetings or E.R. issues often have a formal cadence. When this happens I try to fit the positive time either side of the more challenging events.
Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that I avoid conflict and the less easy side of being a C.O.O., far from it. However, I try and manage my time so I get the highs as well as the lows.
Unfortunately, when I told this story to my 12-year-old, she pointed out that on Monday she has French, followed by RE with fish for lunch. I guess I don’t have an answer for everything!
by Richard Wright
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