How To Manage Change in a Fast Changing Environment.

This week the question I am answering is all about managing change in a rapidly changing, and uncertain, world. Something most of us are experiencing right now. 

 

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Script

Episode 149

Hello and welcome to episode 149 of the Working With Podcast. A podcast to answer all your questions about productivity, time management, self-development and goal planning. My name is Carl Pullein and I am your host for this show.

How have you been affected by COVID-19? Has the way you do your work changed dramatically? Are your productivity tools living up to your expectations? And how are things likely to change in the coming months? 

We do live in unprecedented times, changes to the way we live and work have not changed this fast in the Second World War and yet, as humans, we have done a remarkable job in adapting to new ways of living and working. We always will, That’s part of the human condition. We are exceptional when it comes to adapting. 

This week, the question I am answering is how to manage all this change so we remain focused on what is important, stay on top of our core work and deliver our work to outstanding levels of quality and on time. 

Now, before we get to the question, I wanted to give you a heads up on a new bundle in my Learning Centre. I have been asked numerous times over the last few years if it was possible to create a bundle of my courses that includes a personal one on one coaching element. Well, I have found a way to do and that bundle is now available in my learning centre. 

You can now buy all ten of my courses AND get three months of one on one coaching included. Now, I understand this bundle is not going to be for everyone. But if you are searching for a way to change the way you work. To prepare yourself for what comes in the post-pandemic world and want to start 2021 knowing you have the skills to adapt and create and produce outstanding work, then this bundle is for you. 

You will get everything you need to build your own productivity system. To create achievable goals and bring everything together so you are in complete control of your time and life. It is an amazing package and will save you over $400 off the full price. And once you have learnt the systems, you then get three months with me personally as your coach to implement everything you have learned so that at the end of the process you will have changed your habits, built an amazing system and be ready to face whatever comes in the new world in 2021.

Full details of this bundle are in the show notes.

Okay, it’s time for me now to hand you over to the mystery podcast voice for this week’s question. 

This week’s question comes from Joseph. Joseph asks: Hi Carl, in May this year our company told us to work from home until further notice. This was hard for me as I have always liked the camaraderie of working in my office. We are still working from home and my company has told us we shall be continuing to work from home until March next year. Do you have any tips and tricks on managing change because I am worried everything I have set up now will change again in March?

Hi Joseph. Thank you for sending me your question. 

I suspect a lot of people are facing the same disruption you are, Joseph. And it’s one of the inevitabilities of life that things will change. Change never stops. The difference now is the speed of change has gone from manageable to, for most, unmanageable and incredibly disruptive and it has left us with a lot of unanswered questions about the future. 

For one, will we ever go back to the way we worked before March 2020? My feeling on this is no we won’t. If we take the changes to the way people lived their lives before 1939 and the way they lived after 1945, the huge changes that occurred in societies across the world and the changes in technology that were developed for the war effort, filtered into our lives very quickly changing the way we went about our lives forever. And the same is happening now. 

Just six months ago, many companies believed it was impossible for them to allow their staff to work from home. Now, because of the varying degrees of lockdowns around the world, they discovered it was possible to allow their staff to work from home. 

Online communications have dramatically improved in just the last four months. Many people had never heard of Zoom before March, now almost everyone knows what Zoom is and have used it in one form or another. Microsoft and Google have upgraded their video communication tools to such a level that jumping on a call is quick, simple and very fast. 

The thing about technology is once it has been adopted, we don’t abandon it and go back to the way we were before. The reverse happens, we advance it. It gets better, faster and more tools come along that improve the experience. 

Think back to 2007 when the iPhone was first launched. There was no App Store, you couldn’t copy and paste and share files. Compare that today to the phones we all carry around with us. Sharing files is easy, doing a video call is as simple as clicking a button and the app stores offer us millions of apps to solve our immediate needs. 

So, there’s no way we will be going back to the way we worked pre-March 2020. But, that does not mean the office is dead. We will still have offices, but rather than being places we have to be between 9 AM and 5 PM, they will be places we go when we have a reason to be there. In-person meetings, or because we need to use something that is only available in the office for example.

So how can you build a system that will manage this disruption and be as future proof as you can make it? 

Well, the key to that is in the question itself. “Build a system”. It’s your system that needs to be flexible, and more importantly mobile. You see, when you no longer have a fixed place to work, keeping your files and documents in an offline format is not going to work. You are going to need access to those files wherever you are working from and that means embracing cloud storage. 

My whole system works around iCloud. As I am in the Apple ecosystem, it makes sense for me to keep all the documents I am working on in iCloud. Yesterday, I was working on a spreadsheet updating the outline for my Time And Life Mastery course. That file is in the cloud, and so when I went to a local coffee shop to spend a couple of hours in deep focused work, I did not have to worry about whether I had the file. It was in iCloud and I could open it up immediately on my iPad to work on it. 

When I got back home, it was there on my laptop to do a little more work on. There was no lag, no refreshing to do. It was just there. It’s something I no longer need to think about. 

Now, for you, you may work in the Microsoft or Google ecosystem. Whichever system you work in, look at those tools first. They may not meet your needs, and with cloud storage, you have other options such as Dropbox. Choose one that you like and feel confident with. 

Next, look at your todo list. Is your chosen to-do list available everywhere? You see, you may not always have your personal laptop with you and find yourself in your office using a different computer. Can you access your todo list from a strange computer? One thing I like about Todoist is I can access it through the built-in apps (my preferred choice) as well as through the web which means it does not matter whether I am using a Mac or a Windows machine, as long as I have a browser and an internet connection I have access to my todos for the day. 

The same goes with apps such as Evernote, Apple Notes, OneNote and Google Keep, all of these notes apps are available whether you are using a dedicated app or a browser. 

Making sure your tools can be accessed anywhere from any machine gives you the flexibility you will need to navigate the future way of working. 

How have you got your working environment at home set up? This is important because no matter what happens to the way we work in the future, one element that will become very common is more working from home. 

Now, here the key is where you do your work and in that respect, one of the most important items you will need is a good chair. Using your old wooden dining chair might be okay for paying bills and filling in your kid’s Judo class joining form, but for hours of sitting down and doing your work, they are going to do untold damage to your back and neck. Invest in a good quality chair. Seriously, do not go cheap here. Spend a little less on your computer and desktop accessories and a little more on your chair. 

That’s a lesson I learned a few years ago when I started doing a lot more work from home. It was only a few weeks before I was waking up with a very stiff back and neck. 

I listened to the warning signs and invested in a proper office chair. That solved those back and neck issues very quickly. 

Another issue you will soon find with working from home is you move a lot less. There’s been a lot of discussion on the so-called ‘pandemic weight’—the weight many people have gained because, while they are still eating the same amount of food they usually do, they are moving a lot less. 

You need to become very intentional about moving. I advise people to take at least an hour off for lunch and make part of your lunchtime a thirty-minute walk. You can do your chores—go to the shops, or if you are lucky and have a dog, take your dog for a walk. 

What I found very useful was my Apple Watch—any smartwatch will do this though. A smartwatch tracks your movement and your steps. Set yourself a goal of walking at least 10,000 steps each day. That way you are making sure you are moving.

You can also do your housework during your breaks. So rather than checking Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, do some housework. Clean the breakfast dishes, make your bed, sweep the house. Just do something that does not involve sitting down. Move. 

If you don’t have a smartwatch, then use your phone’s alarm to remind you to get up and move every hour or so. Your waistline will thank you for it. 

A funny thing here, as we generally wear less smart clothes when we work from home—well, at least the bottom half —we wear loose-fitting clothes which means we are often not aware our waistline is expanding. So, try to wear something that involves a belt. That way you can monitor your waistline. When things start to feel a little more tight than usual, it’s time to either reduce your food intake or move more… Or both. 

Finally, have a morning routine. One of the things about having to wake up at a certain time and prepare to go to our workplace is we all had a morning routine of some sort whether we were aware of it or not. When I worked in a language institute several years ago, my first class was at 6:30 AM. This meant for me to have a shower, shave and a coffee before I went to teach, I needed to get up at 5:30 AM. It was not an intentional morning routine back then, but it was still something I did every morning. 

Now, I am much more intentional. No matter where I am working, I wake up, make coffee, drink a glass of lemon juice and take my probiotic. Then I do a series of stretches for my shoulders and back before sitting down to write my journal and check my email. Once that is done, I take a shower and then prepare for the day. It takes around 45 minutes to do. So, whether my day starts at home or I go out to teach, I know I need to wake up 45 minutes before I start. 

Having that routine gives me a structure to the day. If I just rolled out of bed, sat at my computer and started work, I would be starting the day in an unhealthy way. Health is vital if you want to perform at your best, so create a morning routine for yourself that involves some quiet time for you and your health. It will put you in a much better mood and give you the energy to begin the day.

One more tip before we end. Every day I read blogs from McKinsey, KPMG and EY. These companies specialise in change management and have some excellent resources on the future of work. Being aware of how different industries are changing to meet the new environment will better help you see what is likely to come and help you to make better decisions about what will work best for you. 

Well, I hope that answers your question, Joseph. Thank you for the question and thank you to all of you for listening. 

Don’t forget, if you have a question you would like answering, then all you need do is email me: carl@calrpullein.com or DM me on Facebook or Twitter. All the links are in the show notes. 

It just remains for me now to wish you all a very very productive week.