WORKLIFEDESIGN

This week I’m sharing one of my personal worksheets. This is what I use to stay focused and to minimise those 3.00am eyes-bolt-open, oh-my-god-what-am-I-doing moments.

Over the years I’ve found people who are very clear about what they are doing (ie their vision) have some sort of physical, visual reminder that they see daily.

Some people have Vision Boards.

Others have Treasure Maps.

I have my Ducks.

Or more specifically, my Ducks In a Row.

My Ducks came out of having a moment of terror where I thought I’d made a terrible life choice. Then the phrase, “No, it’s okay, I have my ducks in a row” came into my head and I felt much calmer, focused and okay with my situation. In fact, when I considered my “ducks” (ie all the things I had setup and were going to generate lots of love and income over the next 12 months) then things actually looked pretty good.

So I decided that I had to get my Ducks out of my head and onto paper. And the Ducks In a Row Worksheet was born.

As you can see, it brings together my priority projects – with the values, strengths, passion, vision, goals and next action steps – onto one page in an easy reference style. I have a copy at my desk. I have a copy in my Dump Book.

It’s a working document which means it changes weekly as I get new information, move to the next stage of a project, or decide to back/front burner projects.

You obviously need to do a little bit of work to complete it. It’s probably a two-coffee activity. I’ve included the Master Lists as a second page where you can brainstorm/list your values, strengths, passions, and crazy dreams. (And then you draw on these Master Lists to complete the Ducks).

So, there are no excuses for flapping about in a tizz. Get quacking!

DOWNLOAD The Ducks In a Row Worksheet

(BTW the cute little ducks come from freerangeduck.org)

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Sometimes Brilliant! ideas can come from the most unexpected of places.

I found the following Five Minute Rule to overcome procrastination from Page Lambert in the comments section of a blog about escaping from the slow death of an office job.

“My father, Loren Dunton (internationally recognized Father of Financial Planning) used to have what he called his Five Minute Rule to help overcome procrastination so that he was ACTING rather than AVOIDING. He knew that the hardest thing to overcome in terms of getting any project started, was INERTIA. So he played a game with himself: “Dunton,” he’d say, “you don’t have to write the ENTIRE article today, you just have to spend 5 minutes on it. Then you can go play 18 holes.” Then he’d set the egg timer for 5 minutes. He knew that once he’d invested 5 minutes on a project, he would’ve overcome inertia and created momentum. Usually, when the egg timer went off, he’d spend another half an hour, or maybe even an hour. But he also knew that at the end of 5 minutes, he could go play that round of golf!”

Source:  Page Lambert Comment on Tiny Steps Make Major Leaps at Escape From Cubicle Nation, 8 December, 2009

As someone who has been on BFF terms with procrastination in the past, I love this idea. I’ve found a similar approach, The 60 Minute Rule, works for me. I set aside 60 minutes to do a task, with the attitude of “what gets done gets done” and usually find that once I get into the task (and find my Flow! yay!) I can work on it for hours.

Not only is this a great idea for shifting through inertia or fear (in a light and playful way), but it’s also a great example of how to write a smart blog comment. (I love reading comments where the person is actually sharing something new, adding to the conversation.)

So 3 Sparkly Brilliant! Stars to Page and her father!

Brilliant! idea to shift through inertia and fear

Brilliant! way to comment on blogs

Brilliant! legacy to leave your daughter

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I don’t use the Wheel of Life much these days (as most of my work with client’s is work-focused) but when I do, I’m always blown away by how effective it is. After this simple 10 minute exercise, a client often has new insight into their lives, clarity about their life and work direction, and renewed energy. It’s pretty neat… which is why I share it with you now. Enjoy!

The Wheel of Life

The Wheel of Life (WOL) is one of the most commonly used coaching tools.  Most coaches have one hidden in their toolbox. I didn’t use it for years because I wanted to be different. But I remembered how many of my clients found it very valuable. So recently I’ve come back to it with fresh eyes and a new respect. It’s a wonderful exercise that draws power from its simplicity.

What is it?

The WOL consists of a circle that’s divided into eight segments (like pieces of a pie or spokes in a wheel). Each segment represents an area of life. These often vary, depending on the coaching focus (or which version of the wheel is being used).

How do you use it?

The WOL is a great introductory ‘snapshot’ of your life. You rate each area of life on a scale from 0 to 10 and draw a little line across the relevant segment. Once completed you can quickly see which areas of your life need a bit of attention.

Where does it come from?

I have no idea who created the first wheel. (Do you know? Email me.) There are so many variations of it around that it’s hard to know what the original version is. The one I use is an adaptation of Whitworth, Kimsey-House & Sandahl’s (1998) version (found in Co-active Coaching). I love their Wheel because they give a little wheel example and refer to the ‘bumpy ride’ when your wheel is out of balance.

What’s so good about it?

It’s simple. It lets you define what’s important in each area of your life and rate how you’re going against your own subjective ideal. This is compared to some other ‘discovery’ tools that impose a value system of success or satisfaction on you).

It’s visual. For those of us who prefer to receive information in the form of pictures, the wheel sends an instant message of what’s going on.

It’s adaptable. You can take it to a deeper level and access core issues from it. You can use it to draw out a vision. And you can use it as a precursor to goal setting (as with one presented here). Oh, and it’s the perfect metaphor for balance and wholeness.

It’s quick. It only takes a couple of minutes to complete so you’re not wading through questions for 45 minutes.

See where you’re at in your life (and peer through the window of how you want things to be) with the WORKLIFEDESIGN Wheel of Life (pdf)

The I Wish Song

My favouritest radio show/podcast in the world, This American Life, did one of the most amazing introductions I’ve ever heard in this week’s (replayed) episode, Promised Land.

The host, Ira Glass, recounts how upon watching the 1937 Disney classic Snow White recently, he noticed how it has almost an operatic feeling with each of the main characters entering the story with a song. When he mentions this to his sister (who works for Disney) she informs him that what he’s seeing is the “I Wish” song in action. It’s a common storytelling technique that’s used in musicals where the character declares exactly what they want in that first song.

As Ira lists through all the musicals (classic and contemporary) that have I Wish Songs, I’m gobsmacked to hear how common it is. Think, “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” starts off The Wizard of Oz, or, the Britney Spears’ film Crossroads which begins with her singing Madonna’s “Open Your Heart”. The Little Mermaid. Fiddler on the Roof. Funny Girl. All begin with the main character’s I Wish song.

What makes this intro so brilliant though is what happens next. If all these cascading aha’s weren’t enough, Ira then launches into his own I Wish song for the episode. It’s adorable and clever and unexpected (oops, maybe not for you now).

The triply brilliant thing about this is that it illustrates, in such a beautiful and creative way, what we know about successful change (and all the characters in these stories are about to go through pretty significant change). We need to set our intention, say what we want, or as Stephen Covey puts it, “Begin with the end in mind”.

And I wondered, seeing as this is my first Brilliant! post, what would my I Wish song be? What tune would carry the hopes and dreams of a little blog that could?

So here it is. Cue the orchestra. Put on your 3D glasses …

To the tune of the “Oh What a Beautiful Morning” (the ‘joy’ opener from Oklahoma), here is my Brilliant! I Wish song:

(Here’s the original music if you’d like to sing along!)

The Brilliant! I Wish Song

There are brilliant ideas all around us
There are brilliant ideas all around us
But they seem to be hidden from everyone’s eye
An’ if we could just see them then we would all fly

chorus:
Oh what a beautiful idea
Oh what a beautiful way
I’ve got a wonderful feeling
This will so brighten your day

All the people are following like sheep
All the people are following like sheep
They don’t allow their ideas to see light
But this time I think they may just, they might.

Repeat chorus

All the brilliant ideas will inspire you
All the brilliant ideas will inspire you
When you find your own it will set you free
And in no time at all you’ll be laughin’ with me

What’s your I Wish song? What film’s I Wish song do you particularly love??

Go listen to the inspiration now

This American Life. Episode 259: Promised Land

And while you’re there, subscribe to their weekly downloads. They are brilliant.

Would you like to receive a monthly roundup of Brilliant! ideas for work and life? You can subscribe to the Brilliant! newsletter here

Ahh, Monday morning. How I love thee…

I rarely check my email over the weekend so by the time Monday morning rolls around, my Inbox is full to the brim with fascinating things that could suck at least 28 hours of the day away. Combine this with a rapidly expanding to-do list in my head and a sense of anticipation that “this week I’ll actually get a substantial slab of work completed” and things start resembling chaos.

So taking some time-out on Monday mornings to organise my week is essential.  I’ve found that I need to move beyond a to-do list of things that need my urgent attention and check in with what’s important (goals and priorities), what I need to do to realise these priorities and scheduling it into my calendar.

For this worthy, weekly task I have my handy Weekly Actions Worksheet. It’s fairly straight forward:

1. Check-in with my overall goals (eg beautiful home, work I love, etc).

2. Determine what this week’s priorities will be (depends on where I am, what needs attention, what I feel like doing this week).

3. Write down the ‘next steps’ or actions for each of the priorities and/or goals. Plus anything that may be floating by that needs attention but is part  of a greater goal (such as ‘feeding myself’, ‘having hot water’, etc). I keep the actions easy, small, managable. I can always create new actions later in the week if I complete them.

4. Work out what I’ll do on what days, and perhaps when (AM, PM, or specific time)

5. Transfer whatever reminders I need to my iCal

6. Refer back to the worksheet every morning during the week. Add, delete or change as necessary.

Download Monday Morning Weekly Actions Worksheet (MMWAW!)