Good habits to put an end to rushing around at work

Does your working week whizz by at the speed of light? Get organised so that your days will once again be serene and enjoyable!

“I feel as though I go straight from Monday to Friday.”

“I only tackle the important things at the end of the day”

Sometimes our working days look like an endless loop of tasks, meetings, discussions or just chores!

Considering how much time we spend at work every day, it is time to get organised so that our working days can go back to being serene and enjoyable! Filled with hope, we went to get some advice from specialists and also from some organised mums.

•      Make it meaningful again: Yes, it’s true, why did we choose this particular job? “Finding meaning again involves finding the good reasons that made us choose our profession. What do you like about your job? When you first chose it, and today. Make a list of what you like and don’t like about it. Often, we like our job, but not the way we perform it. This offers some lines of enquiry to change our surroundings, methods, our department or colleagues… and if deep down it doesn’t suit you any more, it is better to think clearly about changing jobs” advises our coach Veronica.

•     Regain control over your diary: “Set aside blocks of time every day. I smiled too when I was given this advice,” teases Line, who is an assistant. “Everybody says it and nobody does it! And when you genuinely do it, your days improve dramatically. I have a service occupation and I am constantly interrupted by the various requests from my boss. But to move ahead with a presentation, I need to have at least one hour ahead of me. Every day I am “off” between 10 and 11.30am. The morning emergencies are over, I set the phone to voicemail except for important directors, and I make it known that I am working on the presentation for 90 minutes. And believe it or not, I am rarely disturbed.”

•     Choose your moments of relaxation: If you have been following us, you will certainly have read our article about the Pomodoro method at work, and you will know that you have to take regular breaks in order to remain alert. But which breaks do you really need? Sort through the breaks that give you some breathing room and help you relax, and those that sap your energy. Spending your 15 minute coffee break with toxic or negative colleagues is not the best way to boost your morale. It’s not a question of cutting yourself off from the world, but one of measuring your energy in the moment, and knowing how to say no when there is one conversation too many. Stepping outside for a few minutes may be a better choice for you today.

•     Implement “home organisation” periods: we spend over one hour a day organising the lives of our kids, including time at work (yes, yes, and we look at facebook too!). “For my own peace of mind, I programmed my mobile to always take calls from the family and from school. For everything else, it is on vibrate and I listen to messages at lunchtime and at 4pm, that’s it”, reveals Laure who offers advice to mums who are going back to work. “I save 30 minutes at lunchtime for private emails and personal calls, and treat them as an activity in themselves. Previously, I used to surf a lot, but I didn’t notice the time going by, so I stopped. You miss it at first, and then not at all, in fact you feel lighter!” So, is Laure very disciplined? “No, not really, but it’s fair. As I tell my clients, otherwise the personal and the professional get mixed up together and your brain gets foggy. And it’s stressful and exhausting to constantly do two things at once.”

Well then, to summarise: I make a list of what I like and dislike about my job… and I change what I dislike (well, if it’s my boss, then I’ll have to change departments!), I set periods when I work uninterrupted, I choose the break I like, and I group my personal activities together… and facebook?

Further reading: Know how to set limits at the office!