Your calendar: a picture of chaos or calm?

Everyone, no matter how young or old, whether a CEO or an assembly line worker, all have one thing in common.?Each of us has been given 24 hours a day. How we use our time and that of our teams makes all the difference in how we and our companies flourish…or not.

Calendaring - Chaos or Calm?

Clients often express frustration of their heavy workload and calendaring challenges.

Audit: Are you doing only what only you can do?

I ask these leaders, “Are you doing only what only you can do?”?This makes them stop and think.?Are they taking on tasks that would be better off delegated?

I also suggest that they conduct a calendar audit for a few weeks, tracking how they spend each hour of the day.?Which are high value activities? Which are low? Which should be removed? Which give them energy??Which drain their energy? Are they incorporating enough time for family, friends, exercise, and spiritual well being?

What time in the day do you have the most energy??That is the best time for tackling difficult tasks or thinking through strategic issues.?Save the times when you have low energy to get through email. ?

Email Strike

And speaking of email, could checking your email fewer times a day open up space for more important priorities? If you wait on responding to group emails, often someone else who is more appropriate will handle. If you always answer questions better addressed by someone else, others will not feel ownership, expect you to do the heavy lifting or they will feel less empowered if you always come in over the top.?

Shiny object syndrome - SOS or a breakthrough?

Many entrepreneurs fall prey to shiny object syndrome.?If you and your team have spent time articulating your “why” and have a well thought through strategy on how to get there, you will be less attracted to each new shiny object that drops in front of you. You will have a yardstick to measure each opportunity against.?Absent that criteria, you can be constantly redirecting your team’s efforts, and that can get frustrating and lead to high turnover. ?

Innovation can result from looking outside the box and opening up to new ideas. Allow yourself time to play with some shiny objects that fall within the bounds of your “why” and your overall strategy. Allow for time to brainstorm and iterate around the idea.?You may get through the discussion and realize that in the end, it doesn’t make any sense at all - that in unpacking the idea, it is inconsistent with your mission. ?

The most important meeting to schedule: with yourself

Many clients are good at getting things checked off their list, and want to build in time to be more strategic.?When can they incorporate white space for thinking time? Could it be when they turn off their devices and go offsite for a set time each week or simply set their phones to airplane mode??Is it on a run when away from their desk? Perhaps the most important time of the week you can schedule is with yourself. If you invest in that time, it can benefit all others.

Less is More. Focus and slow down. ?

The frenetic pace of work contributes to high levels of chronic stress.?Building in time to pause lowers stress, improves patience and enables you to be a better listener.?We all want to be seen and heard.?Why is it uncommon for a CEO to stop and ask an employee how someone in their family is doing or takes the time to really listen. Overscheduling and always needing to get to the next task on the list makes this hard. ?

Slow Art & Deep Learning

This past week was the North Carolina Museum of Art’s annual Art in Bloom, a sold-out series of events displaying the creativity of floral designers who interpret works of art in the Museum collection. Gretchen Rubin, the author of The Happiness Project, the very first book I listened to in my year long Happiness Journey, taught me years ago that going to museums increases her happiness. In fact, she makes it a daily practice to go to the Met when she’s not traveling.

So, as part of my continued work on happiness, I signed up for a few events at my museum’s annual event,?including “Virtual Slow Art Appreciation.” I logged into Zoom to see the first piece of art and share my thoughts via text as well as by unmuting my microphone.?I was amazed at how many different things each of us saw in the same piece.?

I was eager for the facilitator to move on to the floral arrangement and then to the next piece of art.?We had 39 to work through in our ninety minutes together. When they were still on the first piece after twenty minutes, I was puzzled and went back to the description of the class, and was a bit shocked to read that we were to spend the entire session focused on only one (!) piece of art and its accompanying floral art interpretation.

In my rush in signing up for a few events before they all sold out, I failed to read this minor detail. I thought about logging out, but instead I decided to research just what was this “slow art.” I found out that the average person spends less than 30 seconds viewing a work of art. Gaining traction around the world, slow art is an observation style that aims to change this through intentionally observing art.?Rooted in a meditative approach, this practice encourages not only taking more time to appreciate a work of art, but also cultivating a slower state of mind in order to do so.

I can honestly say that in the end, I?enjoyed the experience. I walked away calm, relaxed, more knowledgeable and accomplished.?I had no idea that I could speak so long and interpretatively about one work of art. I felt like I had earned a mini-certificate in art appreciation!?I wouldn’t have enjoyed it by myself. The session was fun because of the social aspect of sharing and reflecting on the experience with others. The knowledgeable and encouraging facilitator brought out new ideas in all of us.

Slow Art leverages all the senses to be fully present to take in the piece of art and make a personal connection to it. Having worked on my meditation practice for nearly a decade, I found this form of mindfulness an easy way to engage with others and art in a much deeper way.?My happiness teacher, Tal Ben-Shahar, encourages us to learn fewer things deeply.?I theoretically understood this concept, but until last week, had not yet practiced it. ?

Fast Art & Shiny Objects

A few days later, I went to the very crowded, sold-out in-person Art in Bloom with “shiny objects” (the art + flowers) everywhere.?It was a much harder place and scenario to contemplate the art for long periods of time.?When I happened upon the piece that I studied earlier in the week virtually, a docent was giving a tour and providing an explanation to a small group. I smiled and thought to myself, “I know this piece of art very well.”?I took a few pics (included here) and confidently and happily moved on.?

I went through most of the 39 pieces in well under the time that I studied the one piece in the quiet virtual deep-study in my home.?

I now know that less is more.?The same can be true of your calendar, your meetings, your shiny objects.?In this coming week, how can you make less equal to more?

About Grace Ueng

Grace is CEO of Savvy Growth , a leadership coaching and management consultancy founded in 2003. Her great passion to help leaders and the companies they run achieve their fullest potential combined with her empathy and ability to help leaders figure out their “why” are what clients value most.?A specialty is conducting 360s in order to help leaders become more self aware and uncover their blind spots.

Companies hire her firm for leadership coaching and strategy consulting as well as to?facilitate HappinessWorks? programs, infusing the happiness advantage into corporate culture, leading to higher productivity and results. ?Watch her recent interview with MIT Sloan on this topic.

A marketing strategist, Grace held leadership roles at five high growth technology ventures that successfully exited through acquisition or IPO. She started her career at Bain & Company and then worked in brand management at Clorox and General Mills. She earned her undergraduate degree from MIT and MBA from Harvard Business School.

Grace and her partner, Rich Chleboski , accomplished cleantech veteran, develop and implement strategies to support the growth of impact-focused companies and then coach their leaders in carrying out their strategic plans. Their expertise spans all phases of the business from evaluation through growth and liquidity.?