Management Matters

Each edition Jackie Astbury, our Training Manager, will look at the ‘managerial side of life’ and focus on management development, providing guidance, tips, techniques and practical advice on an assortment of topics including performance management, conflict management, time management and many more.

We continue on our journey looking at managing your time and specifically with our spin off series ‘Stop doing/Start doing’. As managing your time is an individual thing, over the last few and the upcoming months, I will be presenting a ‘buffet of ideas, tips and techniques’. The idea being, if you like the sound of something, stop, grab a plate and tuck in, if not, then move on.

Last month we looked at procrastination as a habit and that sometimes we are our own worst enemy in the ‘getting stuff done’ business. This month we move onto motivation and also look at a book that helped me in my eternal battle with managing my time.

As mentioned in a previous article, I am not great at managing my time so I employ a near military operation to ensure I am organised and things get done. This is after many years of blood, sweat and tears trying numerous techniques (okay, maybe not blood. Although I have had my fair share of paper cuts so maybe that counts.) My system is a complete mash up of bits of theory and some techniques that I have ‘Jackie-cised’.

There is one book however that I have read and I have followed the advice exactly as it is given, but I hasten to add, not literally. The reason I say ‘not literally’ is because the book is called ‘Eat that frog’ and I don’t want you to think that I eat frogs everyday (just on a Frogday, I mean Friday). No it is not a cook book before you think I am going off in a very weird direction (next month – Road kill recipes!) It is based on this premise:

If the first thing you had to do every morning was eat a live frog, then you can go through the rest of the day knowing that that was probably the worst thing that is going to happen all day.

The ‘frog’ is the biggest, and specifically, the most important task you have to do.

It’s an odd analogy and a little unsettling, particularly if you are a vegetarian or like the Muppets (it would bring a whole new meaning to Kermit’s ‘It’s not easy being green’. No mate it isn’t, if you are about to get eaten!) The idea then is simple, do the most important task first, finish it and resist easier or more pleasant tasks.

It is not a revolutionary idea and on the surface it is obvious, but can we honestly say we do it every day? Yes I know you get interrupted, yes I know you have 3,112 emails, yes I know you need a coffee (I know many things!) but, and think about this before you answer, do you get the most important thing(s) done every day? (It’s okay you don’t have to answer, I can’t hear you.)

Every morning ask yourself what is the most important thing I need to do today and do that task first before anything else, finish it and then ask, what’s the next important thing and so on.

The other thing about eating those frogs:

1.            If you have to eat two frogs, then eat the ugliest one first

2.            If you have to eat that frog, it isn’t good to sit and look at it for very long

The first statement concerns a situation where you have two important tasks and simply states, start with the biggest and most important task first.

The second, concerns actually starting the task.

I have a strange saying, ‘If I just do it, then it’s done.’ This is possibly the most obvious saying since Mr and Mrs Obvious and their two children entered an obvious competition in Obvioustown. However this works for me as just saying the sentence gets me to do it, as it acts like a Pavlovian trigger (although like Pavlov’s dogs, if a bell does ring, I assume it is dinner time!).

The longer you consider a task the harder it is to start.

The other thing is, you get that mind chatter loop of ‘I need to do that report. I really need to do that report. I really really need to do that report… (Repeat until bored of hearing it). This in itself is time consuming as it takes your mind off whatever you are doing at that moment. It is also really draining to have these constant thoughts.

Also, sometimes, the longer you leave a task then your brain starts to make it much bigger than it actually is, a perception verses reality thing. How often have you started and completed a task and then thought ‘that wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be’?

Your brain sometimes is really cruel, and all the doubts, insecurities, negative thoughts etc. all conspire together to stop you doing the task. This is where the positive self talk comes in and where you use whatever mechanism works for you to get you started, be it thinking of the consequences of not doing it, reward after completion etc. which I talked about in the last edition.

Sometimes it is motivation that is lacking when you want to do something. So doing things like setting deadlines and putting pressure on yourself helps. It might be that you need to put on your positivity hat (not a literal hat, you cannot buy these on eBay) and almost be your own cheerleader. It is difficult sometimes to motivate yourself if you are having a bad day or as I call it you feel a bit ‘Flumpy’ (definition: – out of sorts). However my dear reader, sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but it is doubtful that someone is going to come along and do it for you. Therefore you need to have a mechanism that works for you to push yourself. Do use other people to help you though. If I ever feel a bit flumpy (the word will catch on I’m hoping) I go and talk to someone who I know will help. My method is, I purposely don’t complain or moan but what I do is talk about something I know that we are both passionate about. So the conversation starts quite evenly and then we proceed to bounce ideas off each other and then after a while, I usually feel better. Some people find comfort in complaining and this is absolutely fine and often helps, but there needs to be a limit and it needs to move onto more positive ‘action talk’ otherwise you will potentially feel worse afterwards.

So every day I work very hard to eat that frog. The technique works for me, maybe because it is memorable and the analogy is silly, but who cares, it works. It is not a stand alone technique, so if it resonates with you, it will need to be used in conjunction with other things. It also requires discipline and I’m not saying it’s easy but at least you don’t have to eat Kermit each day!

For more information about management training for your business or for a friendly chat on guidance on training and development of staff contact Jackie Astbury on jackieastbury@chadlaw.co.uk or telephone 0113 2523452

This article refers to a book entitled ‘Eat that frog’ by Brian Tracy