Myron’s Maxims – this weeks discovery

Posted on October 4, 2024 by Stephen Mordue

I came across this concept last week – Myron’s Maxims – and thought I’d have a delve into it and do some thinking!

Myron Rogers is an expert in organisational development and systems thinking, known for his work in helping organisations manage change and complexity. He is particularly recognised for his application of systems theory to organisational leadership and change processes. He explores the importance of understanding organisations as complex systems and looks at how change emerges from the interactions and relationships within systems.

He is best known for articulating Myron’s Maxims, a set of principles that guide organisational change and leadership but also tell us a lot about life – and for this article – social work! Here they are….

– People own what they help create

– Real change happens in real work

– Those who do the work, do the change

– Connect the system to more of itself

– Start anywhere, follow everywhere

– The process you use to get to the future is the future you get.

Let’s look at them….

People own what they help create

Here he emphasises the importance of participation and co-creation in achieving lasting change. This resonates for me in life and social work practice. We know co-creation of strategies for change or care planning lead to better outcomes for people and they engage better with self-created options. And we know that in life in general we do better when we do things with other people – or at least doing things with other people is an important component of our well-being. The other being time on our own!?

Real change happens in real work

This suggests that transformation comes from actual, hands-on practice, not from abstract plans. Christine, my wife, is always saying to me, ‘ok then – just do it!’. And she’s right I often procrastinate in the thinking stage. There comes a point where you have done enough thinking and know enough so you then must do something. That’s where the real change takes place. Eileen Munro made this same point in her review of children’s services – you need to figure out when you know enough and then actually do something. I’m not saying that’s easy, but it is essential.

Those who do the work, do the change

This reinforces the idea that people directly involved in the work are best positioned to create meaningful change. We can’t have someone else go to the gym for us. We must go. We can’t do the work for people we are working with. They must do the work. That’s the only way to make true change happen.

Connect the system to more of itself

You need to be focusing on leveraging existing networks and relationships within a system to foster change. The idea is that systems (whether an organisation, community, or even an individual’s life) are made up of interconnected elements. When you strengthen these connections, you enable better communication, collaboration, and shared understanding, which ultimately leads to more sustainable and effective outcomes. In social work, consider a case where a client is facing homelessness, unemployment, and mental health challenges. Instead of addressing each issue in isolation, the social worker connects the client to a network of services—housing support, employment counselling, mental health services, and peer support groups. By linking these different services (parts of the system) and encouraging them to collaborate, the client receives more comprehensive support. This holistic approach, which “connects the system to more of itself,” ensures that the various agencies don’t work in silos but come together to address the client’s needs in a coordinated and integrated manner, leading to better outcomes.

Start anywhere, follow everywhere

This maxim encourages a flexible approach to change, allowing it to emerge from any point within the system. Making a starts the hardest part I’m fond of saying but simply doing something creates momentum and motivation. And then follow where the momentum takes you. Consider a case where a family is referred to a social worker due to concerns about a child’s behaviour at school. The referral might initially focus on helping the child with behavioural interventions. However, as the social worker engages with the family, they might uncover other underlying issues—such as financial stress, parental conflict, or untreated mental health challenges in one of the parents. Rather than rigidly sticking to the initial issue (the child’s behaviour), the social worker “follows everywhere” by addressing the broader context, helping the family with financial resources, referring parents to counselling, and working with school staff to support the child holistically.

The process you use to get to the future is the future you get

This highlights the importance of the methods and processes used in shaping the desired outcome. You fall to the level of your systems rather than rise to the level of your goals. Systems, planning, and routine are everything. What you look for you see. Be careful what you look for and always have a system or plan.

Myron’s Maxims and Living a Good Life

Myron’s Maxims emphasise the importance of ownership, process, and interconnectedness, all of which are key to living a fulfilled and meaningful life. The principles acknowledging that people own what they help create and that real change happens in real work. They highlight the value of personal involvement in shaping your own path. A good life is not just about outcomes but also about the processes we engage in daily—the relationships we build, the systems we connect with, and the ways we contribute. The idea that the process you use to get to the future is the future you get underscores that living intentionally, fostering positive connections, and remaining flexible in adapting to life’s challenges are essential for achieving long-term satisfaction and purpose.

Myron’s Maxims in Social Work Practice

In social work, Myron’s Maxims align perfectly with empowering individuals and communities. People own what they help create speaks directly to participatory practice in social work, where service users are active partners in decision-making, helping them take ownership of their lives and outcomes. Real change happens in real work resonates with the importance of practical, hands-on interventions and ongoing reflection. The maxim those who do the work, do the change highlights that transformation in clients’ lives occurs when they are deeply involved in the process, rather than simply being passive recipients of support. Finally, connecting the system to more of itself and starting anywhere, following everywhere encourage social workers to view their interventions holistically, understanding the client as part of a wider system and recognising that change can begin from any point in a client’s journey. Ethical, collaborative, and systemic. Thanks Myron!

Common student questions answered

Posted on July 10, 2024 by Admin

As we come to the end of the academic year and another group of social work students are set to graduate, I’ve been thinking about common questions I’ve been asked over the years. Here are some of my responses.

Diary Management
Paper diary or electronic calendar? Which is best?
By far the best option is electronic. Let’s be honest how many of us don’t have a smartphone these days. If you’re using a paper diary and you put it down somewhere and forget you’ve lost it all, but most electronic calendars are stored in the cloud so you’ve got it wherever you are and you can’t lose it. Add to that functionally. You don’t get something done one day you just move it into the next day. I use the time slots on Google Calendar for time sensitive stuff and the daily entries for stuff I hope to get done in the gaps! Start getting used to diary management now and it will be much easier when you’re in practice.

What should I be looking for in a good diary?

Let’s talk paper diaries first if you want to go in that direction! I don’t think, as a student, you can get away with anything less than a page a day. You’re going to have a lot to keep track of assignments, tutorials and lectures, never mind your social life. ‘Page a day’ means you’ve got space for the things you’re doing and room to make quick to do lists for the day. Maybe even look for something that has a diary page and a note page facing each other. Personally, you can’t go past Molskine for quality and there are similar budget versions available. As for electronic calendars – accessibility is everything. You need something that’s useable on your desktop and on your phone. My personal favourite is Google Calendar.

What sort of things should I be putting in my diary?
Easy answer! Everything! Everything that is demanding your attention should have a diary entry. Most people just use their diary for things that have an actual time attached to them; lectures, seminars – that kind of thing. You should be putting everything else in your diary – allotted time to go to the library, time to draft your assignment, time to write your plan. That way you get a sense of everything you need to do, not just when your appointments are! And I’d suggest you diary longer than you think you’ll need. Invariably we underestimate how long things will take. And when you finish a task early you can start on another one!

Proof Reading
No matter how much I proofread I’m still missing things! Help?
You probably just need to slow down. It’s easy to miss stuff when you’ve written it because you know what it needs to say so you ‘see’ what should be there not what is there. It’s often the small words that cause the problems. ‘It’ and ‘is’ are easy to miss as are missing words. You brain is very clever and will ‘see’ the word even when it’s not there. I always feel that reading it out loud is a good tactic. This makes you actually say what’s there and it’s harder then to automatically fill in the missing bits and gaps. Do you struggle with punctuation? Again reading it out loud might help you figure out where the commas go as you will often naturally pause or take a breath where a comma should be. Reading out loud will also help you spot sentences that are simply too long… you’ll run out of breath!

What’s the best approach to proof reading?
Proof reading isn’t easy and you’ll often miss common errors as your brain fools you into seeing what’s not there. What’s the best option then? Get someone else to proof read it for you. It’s even better if they don’t know much about the subject matter as they can then tell you whether it makes sense to the casual reader. Other people will more easily spot errors, as they don’t know what’s coming so are actually focussed on reading it properly more than you will be when it’s your own work. If you have to proof read yourself slow down or read it out loud.

Time Management
I keep running out of time for everything. What’s going wrong?
You’re probably not planning effectively. People who write about productivity say that you can’t plan and do at the same time. So plan then do! Start your week planning what you need to achieve this week (or even better end the previous week planning the following week) and start each day with considering what you need to achieve that day. Every so often look ahead a month and work backwards from things you need to achieve putting all of the steps into your diary. This is based on the old adage “how do you eat and elephant”? The answer… one bite at a time. When you have big tasks to complete, like an assignment, break it down into achievable steps. For example, “go to the library to get books”, “read the books”, “collate notes”, “write assignment plan”….you see how it goes. And put all of these things in your dairy. This will help you hit the end goal.

How do I manage my time to meet deadlines?
The first thing to do is to set yourself a deadline that is before the actual deadline. That way if you do hit a problem you’ve got built in capacity to give yourself that little more time. This reduces your stress response to the situation. When you are stressed you are less productive – so you need to avoid that. Break the task down into smaller steps and put these in your dairy. Always give yourself more time than you think you’ll need. As humans we have a tendency to overestimate the time small tasks take so we put them off, and underestimate big tasks so always end up running out of time. Apply the two minute rule for small tasks. If it’s going to take less than two minutes just get on and do it. If you need to diary it for later diary up to 50% more time than you think you need.

What’s the best strategy to make the best use of my weekends!?
Plan! And not just your academic or work stuff but also your household and social stuff. There’s sound evidence that if you plan something and put it your calendar you are more likely to do it. If you get up on a Saturday morning without a plan I guarantee you’ll get to Saturday afternoon having achieved nothing. Focus on your home and social life in the same way as you would your study or work life. Make sure there’s something in there for you. You can’t work and study all of the time. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy – as the saying goes.

Effective communication
Should my emails to my tutor be formal or informal?
I would generally err on the side of formal. Also, make sure the email is useful and clearly sets out what you are after. Don’t just email and say, “can I have a tutorial please”. Email and say “Can I have a tutorial please to look at the assignment that’s due in on 17^th December. It would be useful to meet next week and I’m available on…….” With all of that information one email back from the tutor might be enough rather than it taking lots of emails. Your tutor will be busy so anything you can do to help with your request will improve the chances of a helpful response. Start ‘Hello Stephen” and end ‘Thanks Debbie Jones, First Year BA”. This is really helpful as if your course is big the tutor may not know who just ‘Debbie’ is and may well teach into more than one programme. Let clarity be your watchword!

What are the most important things when it comes to communication?
Well, that depends on the communication activity. If we are talking about in writing then brevity and clarity are important. When emailing in a professional context, to your tutor for example, they will have a lot of emails to get through. My guess is they will read the first line or two and then if it’s a long email just scan to the end. So, put the important stuff at the start, but also keep it short, as that will mean there’s more chance of the recipient actually reading to the end! Sometimes if I’m asking for support from someone and I’m not sure if they will have the time to read a lot I give them a brief outline and suggest that I can give them more detail if they feel we can progress things. In face-to-face communication body language is important. Various pieces of research say that it’s the primary way we communicate. So how you present yourself is just as important as what you say. Make time for the face-to-face communication so that you are not distracted. Maybe think through in advance what you want to say so you get the words right and get the tone right.

How to I communicate effectively in emails?
You need to make the email effective for the person on the other end. Be clear about what you are after and offer a solution or a range of options to the person you are sending it to. If you want to meet, tell them what you want to meet about and what timescale you want to work to. Tell people the dates you are available. If you want a response to something from the person that’s time sensitive for you then tell the person when you need a response by. Personally I’d tell them a date a couple of days before you actually need it to account for slippage. Be clear and succinct. No waffle! People get hundreds of emails and often don’t read all the way to the bottom of long emails.

Working in groups
When we work in a group at university one person always dominates. What can I do about it?
I’m assuming you’ve been given a task like a presentation to prepare and deliver as a group. Group work is not easy as personalities are powerful things! I would formulate the group in a formal way with someone acting as Chair who facilitates the group. They are not in charge they just steer things. I’d also have someone taking notes so you know what has been agreed. People who dominate often just want their view validated so it’s helpful to listen and acknowledge what’s been said positively then ask the others to contribute. If it gets difficult start the meeting by saying we’ll go around the group and feedback where we are up to. Or, we’ll go around the group and make suggestions before deciding. This is also a useful tactic for including quiet members.

When we work in groups one person never pulls their weight. What can I do about it?
You can try and tackle this yourself by discussing it with the person but I suspect you’ve already done that! I would alert the module leader of your concerns in a timely fashion. It’s not much use telling the module leader just before you need to present whatever the group have been doing. When working in the group take notes with clear timescales identified. Even if the person not pulling their weight isn’t there identify tasks for them and email the notes and tasks. Ask them to respond to say they’ve got the email. Keep including them because if the module leader is to do anything they will need evidence that you’ve tried to include the person. If the work you are preparing is to be graded as a group you may have to just ‘bite the bullet’ while the module leader deals with the situation, as you don’t want to compromise the group mark.

Struggling academically
How do I make the best use of my tutor?
Make sure you take up all of the tutorials you are entitled to. Prepare for them. Your university will probably have tutor guidance telling you what you can expect from your tutor, so, within those parameters figure out what you might want to ask for guidance on. Always have something to ask so that you engage the tutor or they may think you are not interested and draw the tutorial to a close. If the tutorial is about something specific, like an assignment, then again the important thing is to prepare. Have a list of what you have read, prepare an outline of what you are going to write and have some questions prepared. Be clear about the learning outcomes and if you are unsure make sure you ask.

How do I plan an assignment?
The first thing to do is read! Have you read the set reading? You need to do this to at least have an overview of the subject in question. Make notes as you go. Make sure you note where you have written it down directly from the book or where you have paraphrased so you know how you need to reference it if you use it. Keep a reference list as you go. Then and only then you should start with the learning outcomes and the task. There’ll also be a question to consider probably! Break the question or task down into its parts and consider what you are being asked to do. Consider words like ‘describe’ and ‘critique’ as they require different things. Where you are asked to describe you are simply going to provide an overview or a narrative. Where you are asked to critique you will need to start by explaining one position and offering alternatives, all from academic literature, to show there is more than one opinion. Once you’ve broken down the question consider what you will write and construct a plan. Your plan is probably going to follow the task if the assignment sets one out. Once you’ve created your plan then look at each learning outcome in turn and make sure that there is an element in your plan that covers each learning outcome. If you miss a learning outcome the assignment will not pass so this is a crucial step.

How do I make sure I’m doing what I need to do in assignments?
There are a few things you can do to be sure. Firstly listen in class. Tutors will often guide you to teaching that is relevant to assignments. Then make sure you read the set reading or chapters referenced by the lecturer. Then you need to plan clearly. Make sure your plan addresses the task and the learning outcomes. Make use of tutorials to ensure you are on the right path. Then, stick to your plan. Don’t go off at a tangent and, if the subject matter is emotive or has personal resonance, don’t make it personal. In a sense your view isn’t important. What’s important is that you understand the view, or range of views, in the literature. Penultimately proof read effectively… then proof read it again… then get someone else to proof read it. Then! Go back over the learning outcomes and task and make sure you have absolutely addressed all things!

How much reading is enough!?
Read as much as you can. Then read more. Then read more! You can’t read enough. The reality is that the students that do the best are the students that read the most. Your module guides will direct you as to the key texts but also read around the subject to get different views. Delve into journal articles on your subject matter as this will give you the absolute latest in terms of thinking and research. Use the Internet carefully. Make sure the sources of the information you are using are legitimate and ideally peer reviewed or you risk using sites that have a bias. This is particularly important if you are going to reference it in assignments. Reading widely will improve your vocabulary and therefore your writing.

7 small steps that could lead to big things

Posted on October 2, 2022 by Admin

Last week I stumbled across a great Twitter thread by Dr. Nicole LePera (@Theholisticpsychttps) while I was pondering self-care, well-being and reflection… you know the usual stuff I ponder. She is a Psychologist, Author (How To Do The Work) and a podcast host. She listed 7 things that she felt were great small steps that could lead to big changes. And as you know, I am a fan of such things.

She started by suggesting ‘self-witnessing’. I love this phrase! She says it’s helpful to observe yourself without judgment but with curiosity. This is reflection pure and simple I’d suggest. What did I do? Why did I do it? And what can I learn from it? A much better approach than mulling something over, dwelling on it, and then just sitting with it. We must analyse and ponder and then make some change if change is required. We may also not need to change because we might find something is outside of our control anyway and we just have to accept it and move on.

Secondly, and this this another crucial step, have boundaries around your time. Absolutely! In her book ‘Time Management from the Inside Out’ Julie Morgenstern observes, “Good time management is not about buying a great calendar or planner. It is not about learning tricks to move faster, or about doing everything with mechanical efficiency. It’s about creating days that are meaningful and rewarding to you and feeling a sense of satisfaction in each and every one of your tasks.” You cannot manage time – you can only manage what you do with it – and one of the things you can do with time if you have no boundaries is waste it. The other option would be to set your intention to something that would be useful to you, set some time aside for it, and get to it. You also though do need time to do nothing, slump in the chair, or lie down and rest, but be cautious as this can become counterproductive if not done with intent and you find yourself drifting through a whole day doing this.

Then, be aware of the company you keep. You might have heard the phrase ‘energy vampires’? People who just sap the energy from you. You may have people in your life who encourage you to do things that don’t fit with your identity and your goals. You need people in your life who support where you’re heading. Some can drag you back. You may need to ease them out of your time and life. You may need to just remove them straight away.

LePera then goes on to say, ‘Move Your Body’! Sound Advice! Exercise is a gateway habit. People who exercise are more likely to do other positive ‘life’ things and make healthier choices. And it makes you feel great. It doesn’t matter what you do in your life taking regular exercise will enhance it. Even those involved in roles where they predominantly use their brains will find they can do that better through exercise. The organ in your body that uses the most energy is your brain – so there’s a physical preparedness required for mental work.

Next, surround yourself with the voices of helpful, supportive people. This might be people close to you or people who you can tune into through podcasts, YouTube, blogs and the like. This, in LePera’s words keeps ‘inspiration flowing in your ears’.

Her penultimate suggestion is to give back. There is oodles of evidence that if we feel like we are contributing, feel like we are giving back then we feel positive. Circulate that positive energy.

And finally, another phrase that she uses is, ‘become your own wise inner parent’. Self-talk is crucial to our well-being. But the right self-talk. You need to love yourself, hold yourself, tell yourself how great you are. Because you are. Yes we have to live and learn and acknowledge the things we need to work on. But, right here, right now, for this moment you are all you need to be. We’ll work on tomorrow, tomorrow. David Allen (my favourite writer on getting things done says we can do anything, but we can’t do everything. He is absolutely right. As human being we are amazing and capable of taking ourselves to all sorts of ‘places’. But we need to take small steps in order to not overwhelm ourselves. We can’t do everything, but we can do something and LePera’s ideas give us some great starting points!

Getting into ‘flow’.

Posted on September 21, 2022 by Admin

January 24^th 1975: The Koln Opera House

An Hour with Keith Jarrett | Music | WNYC

Keith and Vera stood on the stage just looking at the piano wondering what could possibly be done. It wasn’t the right one and it was in poor condition. Keith had briefly played it and found it to be out of tune, ‘thin’ at the treble end, and lacking in substance at the bass end. The pedals which can be used to create softer sounds or sustain the notes weren’t working. This was a disaster!

Vera Brandes at 17 years of age was the youngest concert promoter in Germany at the time and had secured a performance at The Koln Opera House from non-other than Keith Jarret. Keith Jarret had played Jazz piano with the greats like Art Blakey and Miles Davis during the 1960’s and during the 1970’s had moved into playing solo jazz piano or as part of quartets. It was safe to say that securing Jarrett to play a gig for the 17-year-old promoter was a bit of a coup. And here they were stood in front of this problematic piano late in the afternoon on the day of the gig. The problem had arisen due to some obvious confusion over the piano. Jarrett had selected a Bosendorfer 290 Imperial to play for the performance. It is the company’s largest piano with an eight-octave range and is their flagship instrument. The extra bass strings create a richer sound due to the harmonic resonance. What was in front of Jarret and Brandes on the stage was much smaller Bosendorfer baby grand that was a rehearsal piano and in poor condition. Due to some confusion the wrong Bosendorfer had been set up on the stage. The problem of the wrong piano couldn’t be corrected by installing the correct one because, if you know pianos, you know that moving one then acclimatising it to the environment before then tuning it is a time-consuming process. So, if the gig was to go ahead it had to be on this piano. The piano tuner did the best he could.

It gets worse. Jarret had arrived from Switzerland after a long drive from Zurich where he had performed a couple of days previously. He was tired having not slept well and was in a back brace due to back problems that left him uncomfortable and in pain. Confronted with this substandard piano it took all of Brandes’ persuasive power to convince him to still play. He agreed to go ahead so Brandes and Jarrett headed off to get something to eat. In the local Italian restaurant, there was a mix up with the order which meant Jarrett only managed to eat a few mouthfuls before they had to leave to return to the venue.

The concert took place to an audience of 1,400 people at 11.30 after the evening performance of the opera as that was the only time that the opera house would indulge the promoters request to stage the gig. So, late in the evening, in pain, hungry, playing a piano that wasn’t to the standard required Jarrett sat down to play. The recording of the performance became the best-selling solo album and the best-selling piano album in jazz history. That’s remarkable in itself but it becomes even more remarkable when you find out that Jarrett took the decision before playing to largely improvise the performance! How can someone faced with this situation deliver what was to be one of, if not the, performance of his career? Flow.

Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi is the father of the concept of flow (Csikszentmihalyi, M (2002) Flow. London: Rider (The Random House Group)) describing it as a state of being where you are completely absorbed in the task you are doing to the extent that nothing else seems to matter and you are finding joy in every moment. Concentration, he suggests, becomes so intense that there is nothing left over to draw you into thinking about anything else. In a state of flow people were able to ‘tune out’ external stimuli in order to focus on task and in doing so became more efficient at the task.

There are a number of things that help to create this flow state – all of which are ably demonstrated by Keith Jarrett’s ability to deliver his stunning performance. The first is mastery or competence. The literature in this area uses them interchangeably. Simply put a good starting point is that you know what you are doing. There is a relationship between what you need to do and what you are able to do. These things need as far as possible to match each other. The thing you are being asked to do should not appear unachievable when stacked up against your knowledge or your skills set. You may not have knowledge of something but may have the skills to go and figure it out. Or you may have knowledge of something but not the skills (yet!) to do it. Either is an opportunity for growth so may mean you still have some element of mastery in the required area.

For Carol Dweck, a psychology professor at Stanford University, how masterful you feel in such circumstances can be dependent on whether you have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. If you have a fixed mindset you might look at a problem and think ‘I have available to offer what I have, and that is all – no more’ which may lead to you not considering what you do have and what you could develop. People with a growth mind set do exactly that. They think ‘I have some of the things to do this task, I can work on the other things I need, or go and find them out, because I am capable of new things’. People with a growth mindset can still be Masters of a task even when they don’t know or have available to them all the skills they need. They will be master of themselves and adopt a ‘can-do’ attitude to finding out. Obviously, there is a tipping-point here where if something is predominantly outside of your area of knowledge or skills you may need to question why it is you are being asked to do it. In reality we are never masters of all we may want or need to be masters of. We are always going to need to develop in some way, but we need to feel like we can develop.

Jarrett, in improvising The Koln Concert can get into a state of flow because he has Mastery of his instrument and the technical aspects of music. In the case of an improvised Jazz piece, he also has complete autonomy.

Freedom/Autonomy: How to articulate autonomy and an increase in quality level? - Phusis Partners

Autonomy is the next thing that helps us develop a flow state. The more autonomy that someone has the more they can achieve a state of flow and, remember, the more you achieve a state of flow, the more efficient and productive you will be. When talking about motivation Daniel Pink tells us that control leads to compliance, but autonomy leads to engagement and it is that engagement element that will contribute to flow. The usual approach to the management of people in the workplace is to assume that to get them to do things you need to give them a prod. I’d argue that, while people do sometimes need prodding, if you set up the right sort of environment, if you are clear on the task and the outcome, and you have people you have selected or trained who are masters in the area you are asking them to operate in, they will figure out how to get the task done to get to the outcome you want on their own if you leave them alone – thank you very much! People who feel they have the skills to do what they are required to do and are left to do it autonomously will be happier people. Managers note.

Daniel Pink introduces purpose as another element that supports motivation and flow. This relates to Csikszentmihaly’s view that to get into flow we need to find joy or pleasure in everything we do. So, in order to get into flow, the question to ponder is what is your purpose here? Keith Jarret’s purpose was clear and links to another theoretical idea called Self Determination Theory that interacts with this idea of flow. Self Determination Theory suggests that alongside autonomy and competence we need relatedness or connectedness. It’s clear that as a performer and artist Jarrett’s purpose is to perform and entertain. He was at the top of his game in 1975 when he stepped onto the stage at The Koln Opera House and his purpose was to entertain but also to show his mastery which people wanted to delight in. He wanted to also connect and relate to his audience and they to him. To achieve flow, we need to do the same. Ask “how does what I am doing relate to others that are effected by it”.

In achieving these things, we achieve Csikszentmihaly’s state of flow and, as he says, in doing so we are on the way to an improved quality of life and a state of well-being. Achieving this state takes personal responsibility and the right environment which can only be achieved in partnership with others. In terms of work this partnership has to be with our employer, at home with our family and friends. And it needs to be two-way. The same responsibility needs to be evident in return. This is a whole life concept. We need to create an environment where these things, mastery, autonomy, and purpose, are possible.

Effort begets Motivation

Posted on December 9, 2021 by Admin

It’s really hard to stay motivated and focussed isn’t it. I find I’m on about a 3 or 4 week cycle with many things like exercise and nutrition. I have maybe 2 to 3 weeks of intense focussed helpful activity and then into the third week things slide and then in the fourth week things have morphed into disaster. No run and lots of crisps. Familiar?

EFFORT MAKES ALL THE DIFFERENCE - Forging Fitness in Norfolk

There is a huge disconnect in our psychology somewhere that means we know exactly what we need to do but often don’t do it. I know what to eat, I know that exercise is good for me but doing it routinely day in day out takes huge effort!

I’ve always thought, and still do, that change has to come from within. We have to want to do something different. As Daniel Pink says in his book ‘When’, keep engaging in the same habits you’ll get the same results. Different habits, different results. We’re approaching the new year, a time of resolutions and ‘this is my year’ talk. The reality is that starting to change on January 1st is no better a time than May 18th, or October 7th. The days are all the same. I’d argue that January isn’t a good time to try and change anything particularly around nutrition (there will still be left over festive goodies) or exercise (it’s cold out there, and dark!) When we start to do something like this and don’t continue we feel guilt and revert back to old behaviours because they are comfortable.

If what you are doing isn’t working maybe it’s time to try something different.

What’s interesting is that there is a view that effort begets motivation. Now, I’ve always thought that I should do things to prepare myself to stimulate motivation and then get on with the task at hand. This turns that around and says that actually by just doing something, however small, you will generate motivation.

There’s the story of the man that did one press-up. I’m not sure if this is a true story or an allegorical tale but either way (I found it online) the man in question wasn’t getting anywhere with his exercise routine and wasn’t feeling motivated so asked himself the question, ‘what could I do to get started’. One press-up. So he got up the next day got on the floor and did one press-up and fuelled by this success he thought – well now I’m down here I might as well do another and another. The success of the small effort led to a motivation fuelling loop.

This has a name and it’s called ‘The Power of Small Wins’. When we do something, however small, we feel good and we get a little dopamine rush. Dopamine is our feel-good hormone. Feeling good motivates us on to do something else. Effort begets motivation.

It’s the same when we feel overwhelmed and don’t know what to do. Overwhelm is very demotivating – I don’t know what to do so I’ll procrastinate and do nothing. We have a predilection for the easy. So when overwhelmed do something, however small, and this has a snowball effect. You will gather pace, enthusiasm, and motivation.

Effort begets motivation… be a snowball!

How To Roll The Hugest Snowball Possible - Your Essential Guide

Sleep deprivation is an epidemic – 1 in 3 are not getting enough sleep

Posted on November 18, 2021 by Admin

Sleep deprivation is an epidemic – 1 in 3 are not getting enough sleep. If this was some sort of disease or virus I’m certain governments, organisations, and individuals would start taking action. But they don’t. Sleep is seen as something we can divert our attention from because there are just so many other things demanding our attention until late in the evening or early in the morning. Matthew Walker points out that sleep is a biological necessity not an optional lifestyle luxury

We are sleep-walking towards disaster.

“Routinely sleeping less than six or seven hours a night demolishes your immune system, more than doubling your risk of cancer. Insufficient sleep is a key lifestyle factor determining whether or not you develop Alzheimer’s disease. Inadequate sleep – even moderate reduction for just one week – disrupts blood sugar levels so profoundly that you would be classified as pre-diabetic…” (Walker, 2017, p. 3)

Walker also undertook a study that showed that by only reducing sleep to 6 hours a night for one week gene’s were effected negatively. He measured change in gene activity and found that 711 gene’s were distorted in their activity and half of those gene’e were genes associated with tumor promotion, long term chronic inflammation, stress and cardio-vascular disease

What gets in the Way?

We are Bi-modal sleepers. Before the industrial revolution we used to go to sleep when it got dark and then wake up for a period of time through the night then go back to sleep. But now we can put the lights on and stay awake well into the dark hours
The light from our devices, our mobile phones and tablets disrupts melatonin release which is the chemical that helps us get to sleep. This can suppress our desire to sleep for up to 90 minutes. The light from devices close to us is equivalent to day light and therefore increases the length of time it takes us to get to sleep
Maybe you’re a night owl – you can read more about that in this blog

Maybe the quiet of the bedroom means your mind starts wandering about and finds you all sorts of things to think about – some you might not have thought of for years and others that may be quite current. Family issues, money, work – all of these things can play on our minds in the silence of the bedroom.

Sometimes (like me) you might get to sleep and wake up in the early hours and the ‘churn’ begins – you start to think of what is to do the next day – what might you have forgotten – how might you approach this or that.

Caffeine plays a role. Lots of things have caffeine in them. The half life of caffeine is about 5 to 7 hours depending on the person so that cup of coffee from six o clock or that coke from 7 o clock is still in your system when you go to bed – and sugar can have the same effect giving you a bit of a buzz

Alcohol can mean that you get to sleep easy enough but it’s not good quality sleep – Matthew Walker says that after alcohol you are sedated rather than asleep so your brain and body can’t do all of the things they do while you are sleeping

Some researchers have proposed that the brain does not measure the time we have spent awake, rather, it tracks how hard the brain works while we’re awake, and adjusts the amount of sleep we need accordingly. Research in support of this theory has found that individual areas of cortex can briefly switch off when overworked, even while the rest of the brain is still awake. This temporary shutdown of individual brain areas is termed “local sleep” and thought to be a mechanism that allows the brain’s cells to recover. While a person might not notice it, such a localised shutdown can profoundly affect someone’s performance – for example while driving a car.

For some possible solutions to some of these problems have a look at this earlier blog.

Stick to the process

Posted on July 9, 2021 by Admin

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Stick to the process even if you need to replan. Sticking to the process and having a plan are two different things. The process is the order in which you do things, the plan is how you are going to do those things in the order that is required.

My youngest son works on a farm. When it comes to farming there is indeed a process. It would be no good simply deciding to plant crops whenever you fancied. Or getting the ploughing, seeding, and fertilising in the wrong order. You have to do what you have to do in the order you have to do it at a particular time.

Understanding Manufacturing Process Controls in Your Factory - QualityInspection.org

The first thing is to establish what the process is. This is where you you take the task, the goal, and break it down into all of the steps that it will take to achieve the goal. Now you have a process. In many of the jobs we do there will be processes mapped out. Remember this and get someone to tell you the process if they haven’t already and this will save you a huge amount of time. As a friend said to me recently, “It’s so time consuming not knowing what you are doing”. Unless you are a trailblazer doing something completely unique someone will already know the process. Find that person. Get them to tell you.

Then make a plan. The farm my son works on has a plan and sometimes the plan works and sometimes it rains. When it rains they have to replan the plan. This is fine. One of the benefits of having a plan is that replanning a plan is fairly easy because you have a plan. If you don’t have a plan then you have nothing to replan because you have no idea what you were meant to be doing in the first place. You were just drifting about like a rudderless ship just going wherever the wind and sea takes you. You need to grab the rudder and steer the ship.

When it rains on the farm they can’t work the land. This means that they have to do other things, they can’t just go home! They then plough or seed or fertilise twice as much land tomorrow, working late, or work an extra day. This is how life is.

More Days of Heavy Rain - Conservation in a Changing Climate

The crucial part is having a plan. Have you got a plan?
What came to mind when I asked that question? That’s probably the thing you need to start with. ‘You tend to mention what has your attention’ (or you tend to ‘think of’ in this example). That thing is eating away at your psychological energy to get that thing and other things done. Having a plan helps you settle the thing that is not yet complete in your head and in your system. Then if that’s the thing you need to do you can get on with it. If you don’t need to do that thing yet – then you have freed up psychological capacity to do other things because you’ve sorted the attention seeking task out.

Unmanaged, incomplete tasks drain psychological energy.
Managed, incomplete tasks don’t drain psychological energy (or at least not as much)

Planning is the cornerstone of a productive less stressful life.

Procrastination!

Posted on June 10, 2021 by Admin

My favourite meme that I have seen about procrastination is that it is ‘The art of ruining your life for no apparent reason!’ Whenever I say when I’m speaking to people about being organised it always raises a smile. It’s one of those statements that resonates with us all! But why do we procrastinate when we know it’s so unhelpful!? There are a number of reasons.

The Job Looks Too Big

If a task looks too big we are unlikely to have a single slot in out busy lives in which to undertake the task. If we can’t find a slot we put it off until we absolutely can’t put it off any longer and then we have to work late or pull an all-nighter. This is not a good approach! The secret is to break the task down into its constituent and smaller parts. The steps you will need to take to complete the big task. This makes it easier to slot each step into a pocket of time when we’re planning – allocating time to task. This means we chip away at the big task by doing each steps and this fuels motivation because we really feel then that we are getting somewhere.

The Job Looks Too Difficult

Sometimes we don’t have (or feel we have) the skills or the knowledge to do the task – or there’s ambiguity in the instructions. We put off asking for advice or acquiring the knowledge because we don’t want to look like we don’t know what we’re doing – then eventually – we look like we don’t know what we’re doing because the task didn’t get done! Always seek advice. That’s a much better strategy than putting the task off.

The thing we need to do is not causing us ‘imminence pressure’

“Oh that thing! That’s ages off yet!” Bet you’ve said that! We all have. And then all of sudden ‘ages off’ is tomorrow!

Planning brings the future into the present so we can do something with it and consider the enormity of the task at hand. We can then break it down into its parts and diary the parts. Sometimes we underestimate how long something will take – we do this a lot with big tasks the psychologists tell us – and then when we have to do it at the last minute we find we haven’t got enough time. Going through the process of breaking the task down helps us work out just how much time we actually need.

We don’t have what we need to get started

When this happens it’s usually because we’ve not planned effectively. The point at which you set about starting the task is not the time to make sure you have everything. You need to plan and organise so that you have what you need available to you at the point in time set aside to do the task.

You can’t plan and do at the same time – they require different sets of mental skills – time spent in planning is paid back when we get to the doing.

Tim S Grover in his book Relentless says this that seems to resonate with peopl…… Do the work. Every day you have to do something you don’t want to do. Every day. Challenge yourself to be uncomfortable, push past the apathy and laziness and fear. Otherwise, the next day you’re going to have two things you don’t want to do, then three and four and five, and pretty soon, you can’t even get back to the first thing. And then all you can do is beat yourself up for the mess you’ve created, and now you’ve got a mental barrier to go along with the physical barriers.

Those who can achieve flow procrastinate less

Those who plan overcome procrastination. They have less ‘Boundary Moments’ – the point at which a decision is required. You’ve made the decisions in advance so can get to the doing of the next task without thinking ‘what next’. The less obstacles we put in our way – the fewer times we have to make a decision about what to do next – the less likely we are to procrastinate.

Self Care Shorts: Recommended Books

Posted on June 9, 2021 by Admin

There are many books that cover the areas I talk about but these are my particular favourites that I have found helpful…. have a look!

And obviously my own!

‘How to Thrive at Work’ is aimed at everyone while ‘How to Thrive in Professional Practice’ is aimed at Social Workers. Both are very similar in content so if you are going to buy one – buy one or the other.

Right Gear, Right Place, Right Task

Posted on May 25, 2021 by Admin

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The key skill I advocate for people to engage with for being productive – and by that I mean living your best life (not just work!) – is planning. You will consistently fail to put yourself in the right place at the right time for the right task if you don’t plan meticulously.

Planning means that you are where you need to be when you need to be there and in the right gear for the task. Being in the right gear also helps you to relate effectively to those around you. As well as knowing the ‘what to do’ and ‘why to do it’ of self-care we need to think about the when and where of self-care. We also need to be mindful of the impact we have on the self-care of others – both positive and negative. Remember, when I say self-care I don’t just mean the stuff you do to rest and recover. I also mean the self-care you engage in by being ready for tasks. In the right frame of mind and in the right place. Free from distractions if that’s what you need!

I keep mentioning gears – so let me tell you about this model that I heard about from….theGiANT Liberator Podcast hosted by Jeremie Kubicek and Steve Cockram. Find it here.

The Gears idea is not my idea. It is there’s. Although I’ve modified it slightly as I didn’t quite agree with a couple of points (despite their worldwide success!)

They suggest we spend our time in one of 5 gears – like the gears in a car. And it’s crucial to be in the right gear at the right time and in the same gear as those around us. So let’s have a look at what they say about the gears – slightly interpreted by me!

1st Gear: Rest and recuperation

In a car first gear gets you going from a stationery position. First gear helps you get started. Going into first gear will also slow you down (ask anyone who has gone to change into 3rd gear in a car and hit first instead!) And first gear give you lots of control. When you want to do a tricky manoeuvre you need to be in first gear. So this is the gear to be in to get started or to move into to slow down to rest and recover.

It’s so important not to see self care as a ‘fall out’ option – it’s not something we need to do when we’ve ran out of energy, resolve, or personal resources. It’s something we do to maintain those things as best we can and we have to go to it before we hit problems – it’s a whole life thing. So getting into first gear regularly is very important.

We need to rest physically and mentally as good rest restores our attention to task. The problem with rest is we don’t do it often enough. Caroline Webb suggests we need a pit-stop strategy. We need micro pit-stops – a few minutes here and there for a quick recharge. Then a medium size pit strategy maybe at lunch time to replenish resources for the afternoon. And then a macro pit strategy for evenings and weekends. What are you going to do when you have a pit-stop to recharge?

Being outdoors is good for beating stress. Research has shown that from a psychological perspective it can be more effective than indoor exercise particularly around managing every day hassles and feeling mentally well balanced. Being outdoors in the early morning sunlight primes the process for sleep at the end of the day. Walking for 30 minutes beats stress and means you’ve already had some great physical exercise without barely trying. Walking mindfully, and deep breathing, is good for you. Research with social workers who engaged in mindfulness showed a reduction in sickness and stress levels…. suck in that fresh air!

The Lessons Being a Childless Woman Has Taught Me About Families

2nd Gear: Family and friend’s time

How we spend our time resting can be both a solo activity and an activity with others – rest is sometimes about actively engaging (trips out, going for a walk with others) as well as taking yourself away (journaling, meditation, walking on your own). Spending time with family is so important for our well-being and relationships. Been in 2nd gear when you’re with your family and they are in 2nd gear is essential.

In 2017 researchers Izenstark and Ebata wanted to see if time outdoors led to better attention on tasks and a strengthened a family bond. They selected mother-daughter pairs where the daughter was between 10 and 12 years old. Firstly, they were tasked with going for a walk outside or around shopping centre. Their ability to attend to a task was tested before and after the walk and then they were asked to play a game together that required teamwork.

Those who benefited the most were the mother-daughter pairs who had walked in the natural setting rather than in the shops. Positive interactions between mother and daughter improved after the outdoors walk. Attention was improved for the mothers during the nature walk and during both walks for the daughter. The nature walk created a positive impact on both cohesion and closeness. The mothers and daughters were unanimous – the nature setting was more relaxing or as psychologists call it – Softly Fascinating.

How to get on with your work colleagues - Lincoln College

3rd Gear: Social Connections (Friends Family & Colleagues)

I’m thinking here of the time you spend with colleagues particularly, not doing the work but socialising. Time spent socialising in work settings or during breaks at work is really important. The relationships we have at work have an impact on overall quality of life but also on the psychological safety we feel in those places. That’s the ability to feel comfortable enough with a group of people that you bring your authentic self to the work you do. You feel comfortable sharing all of your ideas and are part of the team. That chat making coffee or at the water cooler is so important.

The connections we share beyond our most intimate family and with our friends are also important for our well being. The secret in the workplace is to not let people in 3rd gear get in the way of you when you are in gears 4 and 5.

Sitting in Front of the TV May Be Worse for Your Heart Than Sitting at a Desk | Live Science

4th Gear: Work Tasks

The ‘Work Tasks’ I’m thinking of here for 4th Gear are all of those things that you need to do that maybe connect you to other people or get things organised for the day. Your planning time, quick conversations with colleagues or your manager to check things out, emails, phone calls. Short tasks that you need to do to get things moving forward or to keep things moving forward. But not your ‘Deep Work’ tasks. They are for 5th Gear. You should start your day in planning mode – visualising you day, checking you have all the things you need to hand for all of your tasks, and at the end of the day making sure all is in order for tomorrow. This helps you connect at the start of the day with tasks you need to do and then disconnect from work at the end of the day – so you can leave it behind.

5th Gear: Deep Work

Deep Work is the work that needs your absolute focussed attention to the elimination of all distractions. Work that requires you to be in ‘flow’. Crucial here is right place and right time for the right task. You can’t do Deep Work if you are wondering whether everything is sorted for later or tomorrow or tonight or if there are unmanaged emails – that’s why you have to move through the gears in order. You can’t do Deep Work effectively if you are constantly being interrupted.

Gear Problems

Our relationships with people and tasks work best when we are in the right gear at the right time for the right task – and in the same gear as those around us and when in social environments or communal environments (workspaces or with family friends and colleagues) we are in the same gear.

Imagine you’re in 4th Gear – working on your planning or short tasks or 5th Gear Deep Work. Maybe you’re writing a report or you’re deep in reading something – getting stuff done – and someone enters your workspace in 3rd Gear (Social Connections). ‘How was your night’ ‘Did you see that thing on the TV’ ‘You’ll never guess what happened to me on the way in’ ‘do you want a coffee’. You have a choice – either stay in 4th or 5th gear and try your best to stay focussed (difficult!) or you change down to 3rd gear and match them causing you to stop work. Now – there are positives and negatives in every situation – I don’t knock work based conversations for beating stress – but there is an impact. This is particularly difficult in organisations that allow us to work flexibly. I’m a 7.30/8 person for getting into work – so by the time some of my colleagues arrive at 9/9.30 I’m at least in Gear 4 or even Gear 5. They are in Gear 3 hell bent on getting me to engage. The problem with human nature is that we don’t like to ignore people, so we change down and stop what we are doing – this means we take a productivity hit because of the actions of someone else. We need to be mindful of this.

Later in the day….. Imagine you need to be in 5th Gear because you’ve got some deep work to do – that report to write – and the chatter keeps dragging you back to 4th Gear or 3rd Gear. The irony is it’s often someone off-loading – often about how much they have to do and how they wonder how they are even going to get it done! They are not getting on with their task and now they’ve stopped you! Right place for right task! If you need quiet find quiet. My hope, as one of the consequences of this last year is that organisations can see that people do get stuff done when in other places. Deep work needs quiet. For some quiet is at home. Or maybe we need some sort of isolation booth in the office for people to deep work in. One thing is for certain, noisy open plan office environments are not good for deep work. They are good though for collaboration and idea exchange and professional support – so I’m not knocking them…. Right place for the right job.

Another example….. you get home and everyone else is in 2nd gear – family time – and your head is still at work in 4th gear – working mentally on all of those unfinished and unmanaged tasks – collision course! Right place for the right task – this is your time and your family and friends time. Maybe you’re at home and you feel the need to check your work emails dragging yourself into 4th Gear when you should be in 2nd gear or 1st. We need to think carefully about the message this sends to the people around us.

So, we need to move through the gears

You start the day coming out of a period of rest – you will have been asleep (Gear 1) – you may even do some Gear 1 activities when you start your day – quiet cup of coffee, or read a book, maybe some yoga. You may well then move into Gear 2 and connect with those around you before heading off to work where you will hit Gear 3 and maybe pass the time of day with colleagues. You will then need to move into Gear 4 – planning, emails, short tasks and then eventually you will settle down into Gear 5 Deep Work. You will move between 4th and 5th Gear throughout the day and slip into 3rd Gear for lunch. At the end of the day you will come down to Gear 4 and deal with short tasks that have accumulated while you have been Deep Working. You will change to Gear 3 as you bring your working day to an end, then into Gear 2 as you connect with family and friends and then Gear 1 as you rest. You might, on an evening or a weekend, drift between Gears 1, 2, and 3, but what is crucial is right gear for the right ‘job’. Right gear allocated to the right time, and being conscious of the gear those around you are in.

Structure is everything to generate flow. Flow is the art of being in the moment to the exclusion of everything else – with your family totally, with your colleagues totally, one your own totally for deep work or for rest. Planning and routine are the dominant forces in this area

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