admin

Have you ever heard the saying “control your day before it controls you”? Well, there is a good reason for this. When you learn how you can choose to spend your time more wisely you have more chance of success. Events will occur throughout the day and it is how you chose to respond to these events that matters the most.

We offer a 3 Hour workshop that looks at the importance of Time Management. We teach the importance of using Time Management tools and share tried and tested methods to work smarter not harder!

For those unable to book or attend our sessions I thought I would share some tips and information here.

1. Create a schedule and stick to it.

If you have lots of tasks with equal priority it can sometimes feel overwhelming. By making a to-do list you can easily refer to, it helps you to stay focused and can provide added momentum when you tick something off the list and feel a sense of achievement.

If you currently use a “to do list” why not take it to the next level and start adding timings to each task. You can do this simply by adding them to an outlook calendar and there are also lots of printable sheets to assist that can be found online. By adding timings to a to-do list it can help provide clear focus and help you stick to the task in hand. This really helps me as without a timed to do list I often jump from one task to another struggling to complete any!

2. Dealing with distractions.

When working in a busy environment there can often be lots of distractions. If you are working to a timed schedule it can be easier to avoid distractions. For example, if other employees try to distract you to chat, you can advise them you are in the middle of a time critical task right now but can speak to them during your break. You will find they are accepting of this response and you can continue with your to-do list. Most of the time they may just want to chat about the weekend or the latest TV show so don’t feel bad about this, there’s always time to fit in social interactions.

Social Media sites use the same techniques as gambling firms to create psychological dependencies and ingrain their products in the lives of their users. This can be like an addiction and users may find it difficult not to get lost in Facebook every time they pick up their phone. You may find your mind wander so you pick up your phone and browse online. If this is the case for you, schedule in time for Social media and keep to these time slots only.

The only time I would advise you to break this is when you receive an email with the subject line “Treats in the kitchen”, when you receive that email you need to act fast as you know they won’t still be there in an hour’s time!

3. Learn to say No

We can all be guilty of agreeing to things we don’t actually want to do. It could be as simple as unjamming the photocopier because you sit near it and nobody else seems to be able to manage it. If when asked to fix the copier next time, you said you were unable to as you were in the middle of something important, I’m sure your colleagues would be able to deal with it themselves if they had to. This not only leaves you to focus on the task in hand but you may also find, over time they stop asking you! Can you imagine never having to stick your hand in again with the fear of being burnt on the rollers!

4. Don’t Decide, DO

Procrastination is the biggest killer of dreams! We can all waste time deliberating, but if we start straightaway we usually find the task is easier to take on and we reach the end goal quicker. Don’t allow your brain time to pick holes in your plans or find reasons not to go ahead. Just get stuck in and reap the rewards at the end.

5. Decision fatigue

Researchers believe the human brain has a limited mental resource each day. Once it is used up we experience decision fatigue. Decision fatigue can have a mentally and physically draining impact rather like the lack of sleep. Decision fatigue can leave people struggling to make decisions and some may suffer with brain fog. Even a series of small decisions can cause a drop in quality decision making.

This seems quite surprising when as a society we are always demanding more choice. We want more TV shows, more clothing lines in stores, more variety in the supermarket, more choices on the menu when eating out, and so on. Have you ever been to a restaurant with a very limited menu? You have around 4 choices of main course and it seems really easy to choose. In contrast when arriving at a restaurant with pages of endless choices the decisions can be quite overwhelming and take a lot longer.

These days just ordering a coffee can be a daunting task with so many different blends before you even get started on the milk!

So how can we try and combat decision fatigue?

Focus on what really matters

Make sure the urgent and important items are prioritised and ticked off the list first. Schedule any important meetings or tasks that require decisions for mornings when you are most alert.

Start by defining daily decisions and see which ones you can streamline. One of the first decisions we make on a daily basis is what outfit to wear. Mark Zuckerberg along with Steve Jobs and Barack Obama decided to take this decision away. They all own a series of the same suit, jeans and T-shirts so each morning they can retrieve any from their wardrobe without having to make a choice.

“I really want to clear my life to make it so that I have to make as few decisions as possible about anything except how to best serve this community” — Mark Zuckerberg

If you don’t want to wear the same outfit every day you could select this the night before and leave it out ready for the morning. That way you can wake and dress with one less decision, reserving that brain power for more important items. There are also other decisions we can make in advance.

Most people’s second decision is what to have or where to go for breakfast. Meal prepping is a good way to take away meal decisions, you could save yourself 3 decisions every day by doing this. When I have a demanding work schedule in the week ahead, I always spend my Sundays preparing. I make batches of food I can just pick up and eat or quickly reheat. I organise my outfits for every day and line them up in order, I even prepare any items I need to take with me. When I do this my week always goes smoothly and seems like there is less pressure. When I don’t prepare, I can sometimes feel unable to juggle everything and this can lead to me skipping meals which can have a big impact on my mood and energy levels. Eating a balanced diet with regular meal times and sufficient water, plays a big role in how much focus and energy we have so skipped meals can be very detrimental.

Once you get into a routine of doing these things continually, they become a habit.

“…Allow the extraordinary power of habit to take over. At that point, we’re free from the need to decide and the need to use willpower.” – Gretchen Rubin

My advice would be to start small, make little changes and notice the benefits. Look at it as managing your choices, rather than managing your time.

If you would like to look into this topic further and find out more of our tips why not book one of our Time Management Sessions. We currently deliver these in our Training Rooms in Halifax and can be booked to deliver in house workshops.

Launched in April 2017 the apprenticeship levy was introduced by the government with the aim to raise £3bn a year to fund better training.

All businesses with a paybill over 3million each year now automatically pay into the Levy through the PAYE process. The deductions are 0.5% of payroll and the government tops this up with a further 10%. That means for every £1 you pay, you have £1.10 to spend.

Although deducted like a tax these funds remain in your Levy Account which you can manage online and then spend. Although titled “apprenticeship” the funds can also be used for existing colleague upskilling through tailor-made higher apprenticeships. These Advanced apprenticeships now go as high as Level 7 which is the equivalent of a Masters Degree and cover topics such as strategic management.

Since the launch

In 2015, the government set a target to have 3 million new apprentices by 2020 and the introduction of the Levy was expected to assist with that goal. It appears upon initial reports that it may have had the opposite effect. There were 375,800 apprenticeship starts reported for the 2017/18 academic year, compared with 494,900 in 2016/17 and 509,400 in 2015/16, a decrease of 24.1 and 26.2 per cent respectively. One of the main reasons for the decline seems to be that employers are overwhelmed and sometimes confused by the new Levy process.

Benefits of utilising the Levy

Apprentices can be a great way to create new career pathways to ensure career progression within teams and staff retention.

The benefits of offering advanced apprenticeships to employees can be very beneficial to every business. If you have long-serving employees who have reached the highest level of pay for their role it can be difficult to think of new ways to incentivise them. If we use Hertzberg’s Theory, you will see we tend to look after the Hygiene Factors first and foremost and can often overlook the real motivators.

Employees who have access to training and development are shown to feel more valued and therefore more committed to the business. Current recruitment trends show that individuals are taking more control over their careers and if they see no progression internally, they will seek what is available elsewhere. A great way to stop this within your teams is to ensure there are clear career pathways and routes for progression within the business.

Incentives

Businesses with a payroll of less than 3m will not pay into a Levy however they can still gain access if they wish to hire an apprentice and or enrol existing employees on an advanced apprenticeship programme. The government will fund 90% and therefore you will only need to pay 10% of the cost of the training. This is a very significant saving, and so far there is no indication of how long this offer will remain available. As an example, you could qualify a new manager and provide them with additional knowledge and guidance for a reduced cost of £500 rather than the usual £5,000. The payments are broken down over the full duration of the apprenticeship programme and can be as little as £20 per month.

For small businesses with under 50 employees, the government will fully fund all apprenticeship training for any 16-18 year-olds joining the business. That means you will pay nothing towards the cost of the training and qualification.

Employers who recruit 16-18 year-olds will also receive an added bonus payment of £1,000 per qualifying apprentice within the business.

Expiry

All funds in the Levy account will expire within 24 months. That means everyone who started paying into the Levy at the beginning of April 2017 will only have until April this year to spend it before it expires.

What are your thoughts?

Have your say in the comments below …

I have recently been studying CBT which is short for Cognitive Behaviour Therapy. CBT is used to treat Mental Health Conditions such as Anxiety and is proven to be as effective as Medication. Although I have been interested in CBT for a long time now I have never looked at Cognitive Distortions in depth until this year.

So what are Cognitive Distortions?

Cognitive Distortions are the mechanisms by which people with habitual negative thinking styles, depression and other Mental Health problems perpetuate their own problems. Most people will not even realise they are using these distortions! Even the most well-balanced individuals occasionally engage in these thinking styles from time to time.

I thought it would be useful to share some of the most common examples so that you can assess if you are unknowingly using any. I have added 5 that are quite common below;

1. Always Being Right

Now I think we all know someone who uses this even if we don’t ourselves. People using this cognitive distortion believe that to make a mistake and admit you are wrong is to fail as a person. They must always be right! They will always try and convince others that their point of view is correct and will place being ‘right’ over being happy!

There are a few downfalls with this, not only will it damage your relationships with others, but it will also prevent you from learning and developing. If we always think we are right and know the answer we never open ourselves to new possibilities that enable us to learn and grow as a person.

2. Heaven’s Reward Fallacy

This is the idea that if we make sacrifice’s now, we will be rewarded in the future. For example, that one colleague that arrives early and empties the dishwasher every morning. Hey, they even clean the kitchen after everyone has made a mess at lunch. They haven’t been asked to do it, they just assume they should and if they do, it will be beneficial because it will be noticed, and they will receive recognition or reward for this!

You might think it’s a good thing if that one person cleans up every day but it’s actually not with these beliefs attached, they may instead begin to feel wronged and bitter! My advice would be only do things because you want to do them (not for a reward). You will find more often than not the desired or expected reward/recognition never materialises and this can lead to upset and resentment.

3. Fallacy of Fairness

This one really hit me when I read this as this is my biggest cognitive distortion and I hadn’t even realised it! I always believe everything in the world should be fair and everyone has the same agreement of what fair is! It seems very naïve now I write this but I was very stuck in this view and it has caused me a lot of upset over the years! If only I had known then, what I know now!

In reality, we all have different views on what is right and fair. It all depends on our upbringing, past experiences, personal beliefs and values.  Just because we feel something is unfair doesn’t mean that everyone else around us thinks this way too. We instead just need to focus on our values and what is right for us.

4. Polarised Thinking

Also knows as ‘Black and White Thinking’ or ‘All or Nothing’ the inability to see the shades of grey in a situation. Someone engaged in polarised thinking will see things as one of two ways, good or bad. For example, they will see people as nasty or nice and will refuse to see them as a unique mix of personal qualities (i.e. a normal flawed human being).

It can be easy to demonise people based on one mistake or personality trait, but this only causes upset within ourselves. We should instead try to accept people as they are and choose to find the positives to focus on.

5. Catastrophising

You may have experienced this in extreme situations. For example, when boarding a flight some people tend to think about the worst-case scenarios and focus on things that can go wrong! This leaves the person in a constant state of anticipation thinking disaster is about to strike!

It is more beneficial for us to focus on the positives rather than negatives. If disaster is going to happen, it will happen no matter how much we worry about it beforehand.

So what can you do if you do have any Cognitive Distortions?

Firstly, just being aware that these are quite common and affect more of us than we think can be a help in itself. It’s very easy to believe our thoughts to be reality all the time but by having the awareness that sometimes our minds can wander into negative territory can help us to gain more control over our thoughts and in-return feelings. We don’t have to believe everything we think.

Challenging Cognitive Distortions is often carried out with the help of a CBT Practitioner or therapist, however, we can try to help ourselves. The best way to tackle them is by questioning. Yes, questioning ourselves! Next time you become aware you are dealing with a cognitive distortion try to ask yourself these questions:

What kind of cognitive distortion are you using now?

Do you have any evidence to support this thought?

Do you have any evidence that goes against this thought?

What would you say to a friend in this situation?

Can you think of another way of looking at this situation?

Do you think this will matter in 6 months’ time?

If you could replace this thought with something more realistic what would it be?

Cognitive Distortions if left unchecked can go on to cause conflict in the workplace. If you would like to discuss this in more detail contact Optimal PBS at enquiries@optimal-hr.co.uk or call 01422 471271.