Many of us have contemplated everything from our inner selves to universal consciousness. We've worked on our health, our relationships, and our intentions for ourselves and the benefit of all beings. Meanwhile, though our daily lives are filled with work and work-related activities, we rarely contemplate our work process.
In his new book just out this week, "Workarounds that Work: How to Conquer Anything That Stands in Your Way at Work," executive coach, consultant and Huffington Post editor-at-large Russell Bishop gives new perspective and tools that anyone can use to better their work through enhancing their work process. Many of the book's stories reflect Bishop's savvy as a long time consultant to companies and organizations. But as a small business entrepreneur myself, I found it applicable to my work, and anyone who serves clients and/or works for groups.
In the current economy, the good news for busy people is that they most likely are employed (although job seeking is a job too). Yet the pile-up of tasks can sometimes seem overwhelming. When a new assignment, client, or project emerges, it can lead us to wonder how to get it all done.
Bishop points out that every new endeavor necessitates a re-evaluation. He recommends that we consider these three questions:
What do we need to start doing?
What do we need to stop doing?
What do we need to continue doing?
While that seems fairly self-evident, how many of us actually do that re-calibration? I know I often forget to identify tasks that are no longer as critical. But through these questions, Bishop helped me to recognize that adjusting the pace or frequency of certain tasks was essential in a successful work process, rather than an occasion for guilt. For example, this past fall, I was actively blogging and reporting on certain key health and environmentally related legislation before Congress, which also entailed extensive social media activity on Facebook and Twitter. But once the lame duck Congress ended, so did the need for frequent blogs and constant Facebook exchanges. Bishop's insights helped me see that now that I am in the final stages of writing a book, adjusting my blog frequency just makes good sense. And I can check in with my FB friends a few times a day, rather than many times per hour. But consciously making these shifts in work flow freed me from the nagging sense that I should be doing more.
Minus the guilt factor, having an abundance of work tasks can be energizing, as Bishop points out. Drawing an analogy between work and exercise, Bishop writes, "Humans are programmed to produce energy by burning energy... Even when you stop exercising, the body keeps on producing energy for some time."
However, Bishop counsels,
On the work front, many of us have tasks to perform that lack the kind of clarity found in exercising, especially in terms of a defined purpose, outcome, and deliverable. If you can assign yourself these attributes for your work, you may notice that you actually start to feel the same kind of response as when you exercise. Completing a task takes some effort, but it also produces its own reward. If others notice, comment, or acknowledge your contribution, so much the better. Either way, simply getting things done that you set out to accomplish will begin to produce something akin to the exercise phenomenon--the more you get done, the more inclination you will have to get even more done.
Many of us experience the energizing feedback loop that work triggers, without understanding that it's a real phenomenon. Instead, we tend to think of the downsides, like burnout or work-a-holism. Committing to relaxation and downtime are obviously crucial, too. But Bishop's insight really nails the "worker's high" as a benefit we can build on. The book is filled with gems like these. What have you discovered about creating a successful work process?
To download a free chapter of the book go to www.russellbishop.com and click "Download a free chapter."
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Edward Muzio: Why You're Not the Golden Child at Work
8 Secrets to Work-Life Success - US News and World Report
Succeed at Work - Create Work Success and Succeed at Work
How to dress for success at work - CNN
How to Have Success at Work | eHow.com
Secrets of greatness: Practice and hard work bring success ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxbeR7IoIN4
It's an old trick in the guru game - endorsing each others' "breakthrough" products to help each other generate sales.