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BUSINESS BRAIN

Business Brain guru Vanda North explains how to juggle the tricky business of life.

People often comment that I have a full life and ask how I am able to manage all the parts. It is rather the same as when you watch someone juggling - it looks fairly complicated, but if you try it yourself, you know that it is even more complicated! So how do I manage? I have three important aspects, one, a special tool that I find indispensable in keeping me feeling on top of all the "stuff" of life: a Mind Map. Another is the UPO (Universal Personal Organiser) a life-management system created by Tony Buzan. Third, is a sense of purpose, knowledge of the vision and reason for my life.

In this article I will tell you how I manage all the parts of my busy life in the happy anticipation that some of the ideas will be a help to you.

A Day in the Life of .... me!

My life is divided into three main geographic sections: UK - where I have a flat and an office; USA - where I also have a flat and an office; and the rest of the world - where my suitcase and I make regular visits.

I also have three main attention areas: myself - keeping my life in line with my vision; my family and friends - time and attention for those closest to me; my "work" - the actions I do on a daily basis.

Wherever and whatever I am doing, the part that holds the most influence for me is the role of vision to assist with the prioritisation of the content.

What does that mean?

Let us start with the role of the vision.

It helps to know the answer to the questions, Why am I here? What is my purpose? This creates a context or reason for all the rest of the things or content of your life that fills every day, month, year, decade, decades and whole life. (I will be contributing an article in a future edition on this topic, as it has come to my attention that many people would like some processes to assist with the clarification, revamping or even finding of their visions. This has been an interest of mine for many years.)

So, "the role of the vision to assist with the prioritisation of the content" means that there will always be a lot of "content" and that can easily take up all of every day, even a whole life. When you have a vision, a purpose, a direction, then, just as the twist of the kaleidoscope gives a whole new picture with the same elements, so your perception and therefore your ability to prioritise what is most important is improved. In the following explanation of my prioritisation techniques, this will become even more apparent.

To begin the process:

From Night to Morning!

During the night all sorts of thoughts pop into your head: things that you need to do; things that you want to remember; additional things that it would be nice to do; where you placed something you thought you had lost; a brilliant idea for business; a part of a poem; a friend you want to contact; and numerous other things. By the time you wake up you feel as though you have done a day's work!

If possible, as I sip my morning tea, I begin my "Brain Purge Mind Map". This is where I just put down all those things that have been popping into my head while I can still easily remember them. I do this in my UPO (Universal Personal Organiser), on the day page. This life-management system, devised by Tony Buzan and a panel of experts, is based on all that is known about how the brain functions and what that means: the potential ideal life-management system and the da Vincian principles of scientific with artistic and artistic with scientific, as well as using and pleasing all the senses. More about the UPO as we proceed with my day.

Then, on top of this as you shower, have breakfast, travel to work, read the paper, etc., more things pop into your head. So by the time you get to your desk your head is feeling full again!

As soon as I can, I continue with my Brain Purge Mind Map. This means that all those miscellaneous thoughts, belonging to all categories of my life, get put down on a fast "Brain Bloom Mind Map" (see the example below). I always try to put them under some Basic Ordering Ideas (BOIs) to start to create some order. My Mind Map always includes a "miscellaneous" or "also" BOI, for those things that do not easily fit in elsewhere.

Next, I look at my schedule for the day and get an overview of the "feel of the day": How much flexible time do I have? Will I be more "with people" or "with papers"? Do the jobs require short or long time periods? Do I feel more or less comfortable with the tasks?

Then I look back to my Brain Purge Mind Map and use a highlighter to code the branches: a colour for myself; a colour for family and friends (green); a colour for work (blue); a colour for anything that is a priority - whatever the category (pink); and a colour for the items that bring my vision closer (yellow).

Next I go round and look for the three D's: Do; Ditch and Delegate. Is there anything that I can ditch? (Not really necessary to do at all.) Is there anything that I can delegate? (Give it away to someone else.) Finally, what do I have to do? (Often too much still seems to remain in this category.)

The remaining do items need to be organised in three ways: items that are a part of making your vision become a reality get a priority one rating (yellow); items that fit into the flow of the day and/or other actions that would cause the least disruption get a priority two rating; and items that match the curve of your energy, whether high or low in relation to how much energy is required by the things you have to do get a priority three rating.

The next step is to slot these activities into your day in order of priority and bearing in mind energy considerations and the flow of activities (make sure that at least one action is a step towards your vision) and do them...

At this point in your day, many unplanned things come into play, all of which seem to want to upset your good intentions from becoming a reality!

Ball Interference

When you are trying to juggle balls, lots of things may interfere! The light may be too bright or in your eyes; the background may be too jumbled and distract your attention; other people and other objects may get in your way; and you may doubt your ability and in some way fear failure.

Many of the same things may happen when you try to take control of your life. Let's look at ways to handle some of this interference.

People

It would be so easy to get everything done, if only it weren't for other people! Well, at least that is how it sometimes feels. I have found the following techniques useful in this regard:

Plan for interruptions. In that way they are not so upsetting and if you don't get them you may find that you have an unexpected oasis of time - most pleasing!

Question the real urgency of the matter they raise. I have often found that it may not be as important as it may have initially appeared. Agree on a reasonable date with the person.

Try saying "no"! I have discovered that I used to want to feel indispensable and so felt as though I had to say "yes" to everyone. Pick your priorities carefully and let some of the other matters go to others.

Ask for help; tell people the underlying thrust of your vision and solicit their suggestions and help. Get a team together. Many people's vision/purpose is to assist someone else to attain a vision they deem worthy, but not necessarily to do it themselves. Keep a sense of play and enjoyment in all that you do.

Time

As with juggling, timing is crucial! Also, as with juggling, it can look complicated until you know the pattern and the flow, after which it feels easy and effortless. I love the feeling when a day goes really smoothly. If I analyse what I do on those days I notice a few key elements:

I will have clearly set my priorities out and know what I want to achieve.

I will have set a block of time to achieve a goal (remembering to take appropriate breaks) and then tuck in without thinking of anything else. I will use a timer to measure the blocks of time.

Time often seems to expand when I work this way and I feel real satisfaction at the end of a day.

Clump activities together: do all the phone calls; write all the letters; and deal with the miscellaneous jobs in one go.

If possible work at a time that is best for you. For example, I love to write in the very early hours (3:00 am). I can get more done in a few hours at that time, than many hours later in the day. I then fall back to bed for a few hours of the best sleep and have the lovely sense of discovery when I wake up!

Take regular breaks to keep your energy high and allow you to be more effective in your work or study. I have a "Break Buffet" which means that I keep back little tasks and do them as a break - sometimes. If I am working from home these tasks might be to water my plants; fix something; tidy somewhere; sew on a button, etc. If I am in the office I'll make tea; tidy a drawer; speak to someone; clean out a file, etc. This way I am taking a break and also getting something useful done - it works very well. Sometimes, I delight in listening to a piece of music or doing stretching exercises. The important thing is that there is a good choice and you do what you feel like.

Feelings - including Fear

When people are given three balls and asked to try juggling them, many stand there and do nothing! When asked why, they give many reasons: some say that they feel embarrassed, some say that they are no good at ball games; some feel that they would look silly; some are afraid of dropping the balls; some do not like to risk; and others know they can't, so why try?... a whole range of feelings with fear of failure as the main one.

Again there is a direct relation with planning your life. It is easier to let the flow of content, the every day stuff, fill your day, week, month, year, decade and life. To stand and hold the balls is safe, but you don't learn to juggle that way! It is necessary to make a commitment and to risk a throw before you can start learning and positive action can take place. You have to become responsible to make what you want, become a reality, and this requires having all those feelings and still acting anyway!

I often feel the fear growing inside of me and have to take myself by the hand and say "Come on Vanda, you can do it. Take the first little step." The feeling of inner satisfaction when you know you have faced and overcome a fear is most gratifying and gives you the strength to try again the next time.

Environment

When you are about to juggle you will probably have already created the right environment, with breakables out of the way; a space where it is easy to recover the balls; a ceiling high enough to throw the balls; and cool enough to encourage all the bending and stretching you are about to do!

It is just the same with life management! Arrange you work space in a way that is most conducive to as happy a brain work place as possible. Wherever I am, there are a few things that make all the difference in helping me to create a positive work environment: some space, clear of anything else; clean sheets of paper and my coloured pens displayed invitingly; something of nature to see, either looking out of a window, a flower in a vase, a shell or stone, or even a poster of a scene in nature; fresh air supply and as much as possible natural light; and the possibility of some music in the background as I use music as a spice, the right sort at the right time, according to my mood and the work to be done.

Dropped Balls: Missed or Forgotten

Even with the best organisation in the world, balls will still be dropped sometimes. As with juggling there are two things to do: notice where the ball fell and what happened to make it occur; and pick it up and have another go.

The systems that I have set up and the UPO act as a great safeguard against forgetting things. But when I do forget I quickly look at why it occurred. What was taking my attention? What can I do to make sure that I do not let the same thing happen again? And how can I best rectify the situation I have caused by forgetting? Carry out these steps and move on to the next throw, don't dwell on the situation.

Crashed Balls: Conflict

When one ball hits another, they both go off in different directions. Although this makes for a spectacular show, it probably isn't quite what you would have wanted! There are two aspects here: can you avoid the conflict with prior planning; and can you create something new from the outcome if it has already happened?

As much as possible I try to think ahead by daydreaming through upcoming activity and observing any potentially difficult areas. Then I see if there is anything that I can do to create a route that may avoid unnecessary conflict.

If this is not possible then I look carefully at the situation and plan my actions so as not to repeat the scenario. I then move on to a positive, enjoyable activity.

Decisions: A or B?

Shall I throw this one or that one? Sometimes one can be in a dither over a decision and make a third choice of deciding not to decide at all! This can waste a lot of time.

Decisions become easier with a vision/purpose because usually one road will bring you closer to your goals than the other and this might make the choice easier. If both seem to be as good as each other, then it is a matter of which feels best. If I am unsure on a very complex issue, I will Mind Map out the options and the outcomes and then leave it, preferably overnight, in order to revisit it in a fresh frame of mind the next day to see what has become apparent during the incubation period. Having made my decision, I then plan the steps of action into my UPO so that it fits into my life.

Flying through the Air

When you finally do get all the balls to do what you want, the feeling is quite euphoric! A great feeling of success, yes, for only a relatively small thing, but it is all those feelings of little successes that give you the energy and motivation to keep on going towards the big successes. If you wait for the big one to celebrate, you will miss out on a lot of enjoyment in your life. Part of the great secret to happiness and fulfillment in life, is to enjoy the journey as much as the destination.

Second Stage

In the UPO there are four main life areas (in order of priority): yourself; your family and friends; creativity; and wealth. You must take care of yourself or else you cannot do much else! It was by monitoring my weight, sleep, mood, exercise and efficiency for four years that I realised that only one factor made a significant difference to my effectiveness - and that was exercise! I now exercise on a regular basis - I make sure that I make time for it as I know I will do and be better for it.

I colour these four sections of my life and can see by glancing at my monthly plan whether I am in or out of balance; and then do what is necessary to restore the area that is lacking.

Twice a year (I am fortunate that my birthday is in June, so that is my check date) I review/update/redo my goals and affirmations for the year and see how I am progressing. Again I then look at what I need to add or subtract from my schedule to meet those goals.

Conclusion

Life management is very personal and you must adapt it to suit your vision and way of doing things. In this article I have shared my way as that is a way that works well for me. I hope that it will stimulate your own thinking on the aspects that will suit you, identify the ones to amend to your taste and help you to find the find the opposite to the ones that make you go "Oh, no!"

The key point is that, assisted by the UPO, I manage my life not my time! Time and space are natural laws that are there to work with us, not to command us!

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