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Cluster Activities by an
Inward or Outward Focus
by Carly Anderson, MCC
During any given
day, we're moving between handling people situations,
to handling things that require thinking or reflective
time. One group of activities requires our energy to
be projected out, and the other group of activities
requires our energy to be focused inward.
To dramatically increase personal effectiveness, divide
your day into large blocks of time, focused on one or
the other type of activities.
Inward-focused Activities
These require solitary blocks of time for thinking,
imagining, creating, reflecting and concentrating on
detail work that requires accuracy. Inward-focused energy
is needed to write a letter, review a plan, research
a project, place orders or enter financial items in
a computer program.
When working an inward block of time, refrain from answering
the phone or email for those few hours (and turn that
"You've got Mail!" sound off). If need be, inform the
people around you when you'll be available again to
speak with them.
Yes, you can set parameters around when you're available,
and when you're not, and people will still respect you
in the morning! However, it may take practice as you
educate people how to work effectively.
Outward-focused Activities
These require our energy to be focused outward, usually
to interact with other people. Answering the telephone,
greeting people, listening to another person's point
of view, and meetings in general, are examples of having
your attention focused on conversations outside of yourself.
If you need to meet people out of the office or home,
organize a block of meetings in a row, to make the most
of your outward-focused energy.
If you then need to place orders and handle paperwork,
create an inward-focused block of time later in the
day. Or wait until the next morning, and handle the
inward tasks when you're fresh.
Clustering for Increased
Productivity
If you go from writing a letter to answering the phone,
then back to the letter, to attending to someone who
is standing nearby demanding immediate attention, at
the end of the day you may wonder what you actually
accomplished. When you're in the rhythm of clustering
activities into blocks of time, you'll be so much more
productive and feel so much more sane!
There's a feeling of satisfaction that comes from getting
things done, and a smile creeps across your face when
you've accomplished alot AND you feel more energized
at the end of the day.
Allow
Space between the Changeover
Moving from a block of outward-focused activities to
a block of inward-focused activities can take some adjustment
time, so build this in to your schedule. Take the time
to make lunch, or take a short walk on your own, so
you can start to quiet your energy down, and be ready
to handle the inward-focused activities.
It's less demanding to move from a block of inward-facing
activities to a block of outward-facing activities,
yet it's still worth taking the time to make the transition.
Prepare yourself to be fully present with people by
taking some deep breaths while declaring to yourself,
'I'm now ready to give people my full attention.'
SUMMARY
You'll be amazed at how much more you accomplish when
you consciously schedule activities based on either
an inward or outward focus. You'll need to educate those
around you on how to interact with you, especially when
working in open plan offices, or from a home-based office.
Taking the time to create this new habit will reward
you in so many ways.
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