Killing BIG mo

Are you familiar with the “Dog Days of Summer”?

If so, do they affect you & your business?

Dictionary.com describes the Dog Days of Summer as "a period marked by Lethargy, Inactivity or Indolence." There is of course a whole story behind the dog days of summer, which were historically the period following the heliacal rising of the star system Siruis (known as the "Dog Star"), which Hellenistic astrology connected with heat, drought, sudden thunderstorms, lethargy, fever, mad dogs, and bad luck. They are now taken to be the hottest, most uncomfortable part of summer in the Northern Hemisphere.

In businesses around the world, including here in the UK - yes, admit it, we do get some hot days of summer! - these dog days can have a seriously detrimental impact on BIG Mo.

For those unfamiliar with the affectionately known "BIG Mo", it is of course, momentum. That wonderful, invisible thing that carries so much weight and power, especially if you've ever got it going in your business.

Momentum is huge. And once you've got it, you've got to keep it! You don't want to lose BIG Mo.

Which is why you've got to be vigilant and careful at this time of year.

Did you know, there is statistically a 20% decline in workplace productivity during the summer?

There's also a 19% drop in employee attendance. Both of these contribute towards a 13% time increase for project completion.

According to American Express' Open Forum, people also take 2.6X longer lunch hours during the dog days of summer.

And believe it or not, the summer is also when there's a 200% increase in shopping during work hours!

And to really hit businesses where it hurts, the summer is when we see a 120% increase of employees searching for another job, whilst at their current job! ??

For these stats alone, these dog days of summer need some proactive management within your company, perhaps even within your own head for your personal behaviour?! (not that you're the type of person that would look for a new job whilst you're supposed to be working in your current job, I'm sure no one that reads this is that person)

Step 1 is awareness - you've now got that covered - you're welcome!??

Step 2 onwards though - is what you need to do about it - so, here goes...

Step 2: Take, or book, some holiday! Yep, decide when you're going to take some time off - you need rest & recovery to replenish energy sources. Also, once you've decided when you're going to be 'off', you can properly concentrate on being 'on'. Knowing that you've got a holiday planned, or a long-weekend coming up, or some days planned with no work, means you can stop thinking about it. You can stop being jealous or envious of your colleagues on holiday right now, because you know you've got plans - your time will come!

As the late Jim Rohn used to say,

...when you're at the the office, be at the office and don't be thinking about the beach. Then, when you are at the beach, be fully at the beach.

Step 3: When you're off, be off, properly.

Post an auto-responder on your emails with a request for people to resend you their email at a certain date when you'll be back at work. Inform them that you're currently out of the office and their email won't get read. So, they can either contact someone else, or they're going to need to resend it to you after a certain date, when you will be back at work and it will then get read. This puts the responsibility back on the sender to act. It also means that you don't need to read all those unread emails when you return to work. You can simply select all & hit delete. How much time will that save you on your return?! You can then actually look forward to returning to work, because there's no backlog of emails to catch up with. [Although this step might freak some people out, it's perfectly achievable, if you just do it.]

Step 4: Create a special summer schedule. Here are some results of a survey asking respondents what is most important to them during the summer months:

41% of people said that having a flexible schedule was most important to them.

28% said that it was being allowed to arrive & leave early on Fridays.

11% of people favoured having a company picnic, and 5% said that having a relaxed dress code was most important to them.

From these results we can see that scheduling is most important. Which sits perfectly alongside steps 2 & 3, meaning you can work when you're on and not work when you're off. Be disciplined with both, to make room for both during the summer.

Step 5: Have a fully planned calendar. Have you ever started a day's work and had an empty calendar, then you get to 5pm and think back over the day and don't know where the time has gone or what you've done? You can't start the day with an empty calendar, it's a bad strategy. If you have nothing in your calendar, instead of creating, you'll end up reacting.

If you were in a meeting, all those interruptions, the ones that land in your office, inbox or mobile phone, would all pass you by. You're in a meeting, so you cannot be disturbed by them. It's not just the outside world either, it is also in your own mind. Without a fully scheduled calendar, your mind is free to wonder. You're free to fall into every path of least resistance and be derailed by any shiny object, email, YouTube video or notification.

In the absence of a set agenda, you just spin. It's movement, without progress. You have to plan your day. Even if you don't have appointments, you can still block time out - book meetings with yourself! Fill up your calendar with activities centred around your goals and objectives. Before you start your day, finish it on paper (the day before).

Have a fully planned calendar, including scheduled interruptions, when you'll deal with all the stuff that you know will crop up throughout the day.

Is tomorrow planned for you already? What does your calendar look like?

If you want to keep BIG Mo on track for the rest of this summer, to help make sure you get the results you want in Q3, give some of these steps a go. The decline in productivity and staff attendance is very real at this time of year, and so is the increase in project completion time. Everything takes longer! And if you or your colleagues are taking longer lunches or spending more time shopping during work hours, then it's no surprise!

You're in charge of your calendar this summer, just as you are every day, so make the necessary decisions to increase your output to help your Q3 results. Plan your time so you can enjoy & make the most of summer, don't let it set you back, use it wisely to allow it to propel you even further forward.