by admin | Jan 22, 2019 | career change, Coaching
We’ve all been there (and many of you will be experiencing this right now); back to work after Christmas to an overflowing in-box, meetings that need to happen, projects requiring attention and deadlines looming large on the horizon. It can all seem incredibly daunting to the point of being overwhelming.
If you find yourself in this position (and let’s face it you’re not alone) there are a number of tactics you can employ to help ease the situation, depending upon how ‘overwhelmed’ you are feeling, of course.
If you are spinning in circles, unable to concentrate or feel incapable of doing anything productively, don’t try to tackle the whole to-do list at once. Instead, concentrate on the immediate things that need to happen today, tomorrow or next week (or even the next 5 mins if you feel particularly fraught).
‘A journey of a thousand leagues begins with a single step’ Lao-Tzu
Prioritize your concerns in order of importance, identifying what you have control over and what you cannot influence. If you have no influence over an outcome, let it go or at least distance yourself from it.
Take regular breaks of around 45 mins (our brains start switching off after this). If you’re working on something and you feel your heart beating faster, or your adrenaline spiking, then step away. Go and make a cup of tea or get some fresh air, change your scene then, when you’ve calmed down, return to what you were doing (even without feeling stressed we should take 15 minutes out, every hour and a half, to retain our equilibrium).
Turn off your email, and notifications on your phone, and do the work. If people try to interrupt, tell them you would love to help them in an hour or so (or whenever is convenient for you) when you’re not so busy. Once your concentration is broken it takes around 20 minutes to settle back into a task again, so don’t allow it to happen.
Create a list of your top 3 things to focus on: Must Do; Like to do; Amazing to do and tick them off as you do them. Our brains love to achieve, so setting manageable goals you can tick off will give you a good feeling and help you to feel in control.
Say ‘no’ to anything not on your agenda, unless it’s part of your vision for 2019 (not got one? Sign up for my FREE 2019 Planner) or it’s especially career enhancing. Don’t allow other people’s ‘wants’, ‘needs’ and ‘priorities’ to become yours!
Create the right environment for YOU to work in. If you’re more productive with music playing, grab your headphones. If you need quiet then find a quiet space to work in, block out the time in your diary and tell people you’re unavailable while you do the work.
Manage your thought process – if you think ‘I’m never going to get through all of this and then I’m going to get fired’, you’re going to have a very different experience to the person who thinks ‘OK, where can I start, which is most urgent?’
In essence we need to compartmentalize the overwhelming feelings we are experiencing; Is the world going to end? No. Can you do this? Of course you can. All it takes is to think differently, to change your emotional state and to keep your attention focused in the moment.
Nicola Lyle is the Managing Director of Fired Up Careers and an Executive Coach & Leadership Trainer. She started her career in the drinks industry where she worked for over 15 years in sales and customer marketing. She has been a qualified and practicing coach since 2005, was a trainer for the Ministry of Defence for 3 years in Germany and currently works as a leadership and management trainer working with Executives in a wide range of industries.
Nicola is hugely passionate about helping people to have the career that fulfils and empowers them to live their best life. She offers Executive coaching, group coaching programmes and occasional retreats. Just drop her a line, she’d love to help you get your career on track.
You can contact her at Nicola@firedupcoaching.org or find Fired Up Careers on Instagram or take a look at www.firedupcareers.org
by admin | Jun 17, 2018 | career change
More than 10,000 large firms have now supplied data in relation to earnings as required by the Government Equalities Office. There have been some interesting statistics come out of the data* including:
- 3/4 of all companies who submitted data pay men more than women
- Only 14% of the 10,000 reported a pay gap in favour of women
- Not only do 3/4 of men receive more pay than women, men also receive higher bonuses than women
- Men take the majority of higher paid jobs
- Education has a 20% high pay gap (in some cases men were paid twice as much as women)
- The Finance sector has the biggest bonus pay gap where women were paid 35% less than men
Some of this won’t have come as much of a surprise to the women reading this and some of it may well have done. A few years ago I worked alongside a male colleague who was doing exactly the same role as me, however I was under no illusion there was equality of pay. Guess what, I was ok with it. Yes he had a couple more reportees than me, it wasn’t that though. He had spent longer in the role and I recognised he was therefore more experienced and should be paid accordingly. I don’t believe this is always about gender either. I know of women who have been doing the same job and again, there has been inequality of pay.
So I wonder, what should set pay scales apart? Should it be the depth of experience in the role, the value of the results you deliver, or should there be complete parity across the board, no matter what?
In my humble opinion, the question should really be, regardless of gender, what value do you add? What are you doing to set yourself apart from the rest of your colleagues? Is it enough to turn up to work on time, do a good job and go home… or should we be taking the time to strategise our future and what we bring to the table?
If you’re happy with the status quo, to pick up your pay cheque and go home, this article isn’t really for you. The readers I’m talking to are those of you who are interested in developing yourself, growing, feeling a sense of achievement and striving to add value to whatever you do, whether for yourself or an employer.
Consciously Creating Your Future
Stop now and think about who you want to be today, and also tomorrow. What is your vision for your career? Where do you see yourself going? How much do you want to earn? Who would you love to work with? What would you love to do? What are your secret dreams?
More importantly, how are you going to bring these aspirations and dreams to reality? Is there a place for them in your current environment or should you be planning your next career move because sometimes, even when we are adding value and doing everything we can to support the business, there still isn’t equality and we’re not always getting paid our worth.
You may not have the answers right now, but simply taking the time to ponder these questions and be curious about what the answer might be, will set you apart from Mr/Ms Average and start you on your quest of adding value. Why? Because most people drift through their career journey with their eyes closed, simply reacting to whatever life/business throws at them. You on the other hand, will be consciously creating your future. Which one do you think brings real results?
If you would like a head start on where to focus your efforts for an aligned and fulfilled career, where you feel you are adding value and being paid your worth, please get in touch to book a Career Strategy session and discuss putting your career on the right path for you.
*Source: BBC News Gender Pay Gap: Six Things We’ve Learnt by Clara Guibourg
Nicola Lyle is the Managing Director of Fired Up Careers and an Executive Coach & Leadership Trainer. She started her career in the drinks industry where she worked for over 15 years in sales and customer marketing. She has been a qualified and practicing coach since 2005, was a trainer for the Ministry of Defence for 3 years in Germany and currently works as a leadership and management trainer working with Executives in a wide range of industries.
Nicola is hugely passionate about helping people to have the career that fulfils and empowers them to live their best life. She offers Executive coaching, group coaching programmes and occasional retreats. Just drop her a line, she’d love to help you get your career on track.
You can contact her at Nicola@firedupcoaching.org, or find Fired Up Careers on Instagram as firedupcareers or take a look at www.firedupcareers.org
