Monday Morning Blues(ky)
I just finished a call with a client who said that for years by 10:00 am on Monday morning he already felt like the week was overwhelming his necessary work with “stuff.”
I asked him what changed. He told me about a simple process that he uses when starting his day on Monday. I asked his permission to share this and he said “Sure thing. Just don’t use my name. I do not want anyone to think I am some kind of management expert.”
Here’s what he does:
He starts his Monday out of the office at a local coffee shop. “I pick one where I won’t see anyone I know, where the music and the chatter is pleasant but not distracting and where I am not tempted to blow my diet. The key is to have a place to think and work, work and think.” Think and work, work and think; this is what Donald Schön called reflective practice.
He builds his week by NEVER allocating more that 1/3 of his days to meetings, except his quarterly senior leadership team meeting. “I have found when I spend 1/3 in meetings, 1/3 getting work done and 1/3 anticipating, researching, connecting – I do a much better job.” (If you wonder about this, take a look at Daniel Pink’s presentation on Motivation on TED.com)
He brings along a book or an article that will take 30 minutes plus/minus, that he reads carefully and makes notes looking for ONE thing that he can put into practice right away. The one he brought along today was Larry Hirschhorn’s The Primary Risk, a favorite of mine. Last week it was an article on HR practices. Two weeks ago it was chapter from a Peter Drucker book. “The last thing I do, after planning, is feed my thinking by wrapping my brain around something good.” Good for him is something that stretches his thinking, gives him a practical tool or two and is recommended by someone he knows. “I often ask friends and colleagues, read anything great lately?”
As I listened to him, I imagined dozens of variations on this approach. The key is having a plan that enhances one’s practice. I especially like plans thoughtfully and consciously engage with one’s work and the people that are a part of it. It is my observation and experience that as work and life becomes more complex, reflective practice becomes the foundational skill.
Looking to the week ahead with some spaces for reflective practice brings more open space, more blue skies. And as friends who live with the six months of grey that is the Northwest remind me when I am there, A little blue sky here and there makes a big difference.