Reset Your Work With These 4 Steps

The new year always brings boatloads of tips on how to maximize (or minimize), do more (or slow down), and improve (or let go).  Regardless of your goals, these 4 simple things will help reset and bring focus to your work.  All can be accomplished in 15 minutes or less. 

1. Clean up: 15 mins.  

This clean up is both digital and physical, and the sense of accomplishment is pretty darn nice.  Get rid of junk on your desktop (physical desk AND computer desktop).  Consolidate your post-it notes and to-do lists.  Organize something that gnaws at you every day - your photo or download folders perhaps?  Delete apps you haven’t used in a month from your phone.  Get some tech-safe cleaning wipes (I like these) and wipe down keyboards, monitors, phones, tablets.  Spending the 15 minutes to tidy up your workspace and tools will help you feel energized upon your return to work.

2. Send a quick note of thanks: 9 mins. 

Sometimes sending holiday greetings to professional connections gets…weird.  Instead, send a quick note of thanks and/or well-wishes for the new year.  Email is sufficient and the shorter, the better - 3 sentences max.  Thank them for something they’ve done for you this year (mentorship, lending an ear, help on a project, great work amidst a stressful situation, sticking up for you, great attendance, their sense of humor - anything!)  It will mean more than you think, and you’ll feel good doing it.   No need to be flowery - just thank them, wish them a happy new year, and DONE.  Pick 3 people to start, 3 minutes each.  I can almost guarantee 2 things: you’ll want to do a few more, and you’ll find that this is contagious - your recipients will very likely do it in kind.  

3. Reflect: 4 minutes every other day (or daily if you’d like).   

I know, I know: the words meditate and reflect conjure up uncomfortable seating positions and incense burning over a cup of green tea.  Forget that.  Here’s what you do:  Any time of the day, spend four minutes with the phone down.  FOUR MINUTES, come on, no excuses!  It helps me to look out the window or throw on a ~4 minute song.  Some report doing this in bed before they wake up or before they fall asleep.  Lock yourself in the bathroom if you have to!  

Minute 1: Get your head in it.  Think of your core values: the things that are uncompromising and unwavering.  Have 1 minute of unstructured thought about things like family (separate children from spouse/partner, parents, siblings), health, religion, trust, authenticity, honesty, leadership, creativity, integrity.  

Minute 2:  Answer "What did I actually do today?”  Be honest with yourself.  Don’t just think “I worked today” or “I ran errands” - break it down into truer statements.  This is not about judging, this is just about stating facts of how you spent your past 24 hours.  

Minute 3:  Answer "What will I do more of tomorrow?  What will I do less of?” (My recent one was “I’ll spend less time on Facebook and spend 5 more seconds sending an “I love you” text to my mom)

Minute 4:  Answer “What am I proud of?” This can be yourself or someone else.

After doing this a few times, you will be pleased how this 4 minutes not only focuses your attention about what’s important to you, but also shifts your thinking over time.  You’ll start to recognize patterns and start to be more honest with yourself.  *Adapted from HarryKraemer.org

4.  Reassess your body rhythms: 10 mins.  

It’s easy to adapt to routines without even thinking about how we fare with them, and studies show that our circadian rhythms change as we get older.  Take a few minutes to reassess when you feel your best, both daily and weekly.  When do you feel most creative?  Most energetic?  Most focused?  Most peaceful?  Hack your schedule to fit into these natural body rhythms as much as possible.  If you’re most creative in the middle of the day, talk to your boss about breaking away for 2 hours at lunch and getting in early to make up for it.  If you know you slump at 3pm, stop scheduling meetings with your boss or customers at that time.  If you’re a morning person, don’t knock out emails first thing - instead do a more focused task like reading or writing.  Trying to force your body into doing something that goes against its natural rhythm will not lead to productivity nor your best output.  You know you best.  You do you!  

Try these 4 quick things out as a way to press "reset" before getting back to work in the new year.  Warm wishes for a prosperous and meaningful 2017!