Publishers seem to be increasingly keen to bring out titles in the growing organisational and personal wellness space and there are a lot of books about resilience at the moment. Increased levels of stress are the inevitable fall-out from the recession with most organisations looking for more output from fewer resources. The issue is not so much about eliminating stress as about coping with it. Resilience is about having a toolkit to cope and a suit of armour.
In this very thought-out and useful volume on the subject, the author, a human resources specialist, provides an all-too familiar analysis of the way modern organisations work: too many projects running simultaneously, excessive meetings, becoming a prisoner of email, analysis paralysis, overcomplicating tasks, involving everyone in everything, taking work home.
His remedies here are practical and start with planning the week and the day based on outcomes that describe the specific outputs, decisions and responses that you want to provide focus. The plan should be tracked throughout the day.
Set aside specific periods of time to do specific activities, for example, limiting reading emails to two or three sessions a day, to avoid constant interruptions. Similarly, the advice is to educate others on when you are free or busy to respond to queries.
It is wise to accept that interruptions and distractions happen so you need to prioritise. Questions you should ask here include: What will be affected if I take on this activity now? How does this task fit with the big picture objectives of the organisation? To what extent does this activity motivate, stimulate or satisfy my needs? How realistic are the proposed timescales?
Hoverd advises readers to learn to push back more, encourage others to answer their own questions and delegate tasks to them, keeping the monkeys off your back. As he notes, staff are more adept at delegating to their bosses than the other way around.
Put time into what you can change and influence, not what you can’t. If you don’t, it is easy to become disappointed, feel powerless and experience failure. You should also be realistic about what can be achieved and how long activities should take.
Hoverd’s suggestions for how to avoid the over promise/underdelivered syndrome (OPUD) include adding 10 per cent extra time upfront to each project, negotiating timelines rather than merely accepting what is possible and how long it will take and keeping others informed of changes.
To avoid the stresses of over-run, back-to-back meetings should not be scheduled. Frenzied activity results in loss of concentration and more frequent energy dips.
Allow regular breaks during the day to recharge your batteries, restore your focus and sharpen your concentration. Having a defined ‘close’ to your working day, where you move into your personal and social life with energy and ease, is vital.
Hoverd emphasises the importance of the three core ingredients in building your energy reservoir: namely activity, sleep and nutrition.
Having a small amount of balanced food throughout the day is important and will maintain higher energy levels for longer.
Avoid caffeine and sugar as much as possible and don’t eat heavy meals in the evening as this will affect your digestive system and your sleep. Turn off technology such as smartphones at least one hour before going to bed as part of a regime to avoid stimulation.
There are plenty more pieces of practical advice here including breathing exercises and practicing mindfulness.
When you are under pressure, take a few moments out from decisions, actions and judgements to observe what is there, accept everything that is happening is valid and remove pressure from yourself to ‘get it right’. Write down what you have observed and noticed.
The consequence can be a significant rise in the quality of your work and the way you engage with others, Hoverd says.
