Years ago, I wrote down some learning pointers from a book I read called the 50 Science of Persuasion. I thought it be cool just to consolidate some of them into a blog post as a recap. I realised many things I have written down in the past just remain dribs and drabs of information in my notebook. It’ll be good to actually put these into application. Human psychology can be a powerful thing to leverage, if you know how people (including yourself) think and behave in general. Here goes!
Active commitments – such as those written down or publicly declared – have a higher chance of being carried out.
Social proofs are powerful source of influence. (People tend to follow the most popular course of action or that of a credible/influential voice)
People tend to change their actions to be in line with norms, a.k.a “magnetic middle”.
Reduce no. of options. (Having too much variety may hinder people from making a decision)
People tend to favour alternatives that are compromised choices (2nd best option on the catalogue)
Universal norm of reciprocity.
Use a gift to extend persuasiveness.
Placing a burden or social obligation on someone increases the likelihood of cooperation – Ironically!
Favour recipients perceive favours more valuable upon receiving it and less over time. This is reverse for favour doers.
Employ the foot-in-the-door technique. (When given small requests first, people are more likely to oblige when followed up with bigger ones)
Use the labelling technique. (Assign a trait/attitude/belief to a person and making a request to him/her that is consistent with the label)
People’s preference for consistency grows stronger as they grow older. (For older clients/patients/people, focus on that which is consistent with their pre-existing set of values, beliefs & practises. Slowly adjust from there)
Someone who has done you kindness will be more ready to do you another, than someone whom you have shown kindness to.
When in need of assistance, simply point out that even the smallest of offering on their part is acceptable.
Being the brightest in the room may not necessarily be a good thing. Collaboration with others is important.
Joint decision making is not advised. The final say should go to the leader.
Watch out for the dangers of ‘captainitis’. Do not let expertise hinder you from receiving feedback/correction.
Group members in general may see a greater need to get along & be cohesive than to critically seek and assess alternative ideas. A dissenter may help to generate creativity and thinking within the group.
So these are just a few learning points I chose to feature out of the lot more of things I penned down. With this knowledge in mind, how can we better contribute and impact our businesses or spheres of influence? This is for you and I to think about.
[Note: This was written in late August and last edited on 12 September 2020. Decided to post on my blog as the different outlets I tried to pitch to rejected the piece. To me race is discordant and messy, could we not get by without it?]
Over the last few months, racially motivated police brutality has taken centre stage in the US once again, sparked by the murder of George Floyd, and extending to the violent injustice perpetrated against the Black community. Unrest has not ceased, with ongoing protests and riots. The recent shooting of 29 year old Jacob Blake has only further exacerbated tensions.
Singapore is not exempt from racism. Here at home, different skeletons have been brought out of the closet, highlighting issues such as Chinese privilege. It’s a good opportunity to talk about race while these issues are still relevant.
Discussions about racial tensions – even without racist connotations – is a can of worms waiting to be opened. It is a very nuanced issue carried over to our shores by the tides of colonial history, Eurocentric culture, and revisionist pedagogy.
The generally accepted definition of race today is the association of physical attributes such as, skin colour or hair texture to a distinct population. However, if the only thing that ties me to a race is an outward trait or feature, why can’t we stop using the term race altogether?
There is much conflation among the terms race, ethnicity and nationality and each carry with it their own set of complexities. But how does ‘race’ stand out?
Let me throw out a racial pop quiz for starters:
Is Latino or Hispanic considered a race?
What is the difference between the two?
Is Bengali or Punjabi a race?
Are they not all Indians?
How about Kiwis or Jews?
Is homo sapien a race?
How would you define race?
That last question received a perplexed reaction from a group of research scientists in 2003 when asked by the anthropologist Duana Fullwiley. This shows that even experts may not have a clear definition themselves. These researchers were studying how people of different racial groups respond to different forms of drugs and treatment. It was a popular belief that race was a result of variation in the human genome. Simply put, scientists believed that they could find a “Black gene” or an “Asian gene” responsible for differences between races.
However, according to the National Human Genome Research Institute in the US, all human genomes are 99.5% identical. Therefore, a scientist, given only your genome, would not be able to identify your race. We are fundamentally the same, despite our differences in skin colour and other distinct features. In fact, there is more variation within a particular race than between races.
I’m not a sociology student, but my interest on the subject got piqued when I began assisting my manager in the submission of foreigner work pass applications in the corporate secretarial firm I work in. This has allowed me to look into the profile of individuals of different ethnic backgrounds. Without this aspect of the job, I would have otherwise never known of countries like St. Kitts and Nevis, or St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
I enjoy looking at passport layouts of different countries. I learnt that Malaysian passports state their holder’s height, Indian passports have their holder’s home address on them, and the French passport has the two earlier elements plus the eye colour of the individual.
Another interesting thing I discovered is that Macau citizens have “Portuguese” written under nationality in their passports. I was initially puzzled to find “Portuguesa” – the feminine form of Portuguese – written under the nationality of a Chinese-looking lady with a very Chinese-sounding name.
I later learnt that Macau, being a former Portuguese colony, grants dual citizenship to its residents. This allows for easier access to benefits such as employment and education in Portugal. However, those born after 3 October 1981 were no longer entitled to Portuguese nationality, as negotiations were ongoing for the transfer of Sovereignty to the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The transfer took place officially on 20 December 1999.
To me, there seems to be a discordance to the way races are categorised. For example, a white person from Europe or the US could be broadly categorized as Caucasian – in fact, North Africans, West Asian and East Indian people rightfully also fall under this category. However, for other countries, race becomes synonymous with nationality, such as Chinese, Korean, Japanese and Indian.
Moreover, this concept is not so straightforward in certain Asian countries. In Singapore, the term ‘Chinese’ can be subdivided further into Cantonese, Hokkien, Hakka, and Teochew, among others. Indonesians have regional Javanese, Sundanese, and Balinese. Ceylonese are descendants from Sri Lanka. Kinh is an ethnic majority from Vietnam.
To understand race, we need to take a look at history. The concept of race first originated in the 17th century during the scientific revolution. This possibly stems from our inherent nature to classify or categorize things. The quest to unravel the origins of man also led to two schools of thought in the race camp: Monogenism and Polygenism. The latter theorize that human races are of different origin and share no common ancestor, while the former takes on something similar to the biblical narrative of men coming from Adam and Eve.
Race was further solidified with the rise of British colonialism and the Atlantic slave trade as a means to justify a racial hierarchy of one group’s superiority over another. Characteristics such as intellect, behaviour, athletic abilities and moral qualities were attached to race, with white people often at the top, over other groups, in terms of beauty and intelligence. Modern day anthropologists are trying to undo centuries of damage that generations of erroneous ideologies have passed down.
Race is an arbitrary concept, and countries differ in their racial categorization. For instance, in the US, race and ethnicity are used somewhat loosely and interchangeably. The US Census Bureau officially recognises five races; namely, White American, Black or African American, Indigenous or Native American (including Alaska Natives), Asian American, and Other Pacific Islander (including Native Hawaiian). Here in Singapore, our National Registration Identity Card (NRIC) reflects our race. Since 2011, it has allowed individuals of mixed race, a “double barrel” racial identity. There are currently 95 races categorised by the Immigration and Checkpoint Authorities (ICA).
A senior lecturer, who does not wish to be named, at the Department of Sociology in NUS that I spoke to, says race and ethnicity are what cultural studies term “floating signifiers” – something made to take on historical or contextually specific meaning. “There is no such thing as race, only ways of classifying people into races.” he adds. Race has evolved over time to mean different things in different periods, from something that is biological in nature to simply that of phenotypic traits of groups of people. We have in general confused terms of categorization with that of identification.
In our time, race is simply a social convention which deals with superficial aspects of the human identity. Which leads to the question whether it still serves as a useful one. Is race still necessary in the 21st century? Since it is arbitrary, could we not defer to use the term ‘ethnicity’ instead? By definition it has more to do with our cultural, religious or linguistic heritage and may serve as more useful identity markers.
The idea of abandoning the concept of race is not a new thing. Anthropologists Leonard Lieberman and Fatimah Linda C. Jackson mentions of the growing consensus of rejecting the notion of race, among academic circles from the late 1930s. In their 1995 paper: Race and The Three Models of Human Origin, they state 4 reasons – empirical (data on natural selection, migration and drift), definitional, availability of alternative concepts and humanitarian – for the rejection of race.
The issue for us is not whether to discard the current Chinese, Malay, Indian and Others (CMIO) model, – which has been widely discoursed about in our local context – rather the appropriation of the right terms.
Certainly, we cannot simply throw the idea of race away overnight. It would take a major overhaul of current societal practises and we would have to unlearn a lot of things including changing the way we say our pledge. “..regardless of race ethnicity, language or religion.”
Changing the terms will not solve issues such as racism, privilege and inequality. That still takes time and education. However, it may remove a layer of complexity that was never really necessary in the first place.
Lieberman and Jackson notes of the amplified awareness of the centuries-old use of race differences in the justification of colonisation and slavery. More so, with the civil rights movement in the late 1960s-early 1970s, in the US. It is disconcerting to know that after five decades, little has change regarding race there. It is perhaps, a good reminder to us, as mentioned in earlier parts, that we are fundamentally more similar than different.
And yes, to answer the question above, “homo sapiens” is a race, one that we all come from – the human race.
I’m seeing all the more need to get good at whatever I do in life. I can’t just be mediocre. After all, the world as we know it has been progressing into specialisation. Careers are specialised, businesses and industries are niche. Simply think of the medical field, we have doctors and experts in so many different fields, oncology, specific body parts, trauma, the list goes on. If you’re not specialised, you’re no good. Or so it seems.
As a person without a degree – and especially in an education driven society like Singapore – it can feel like I’m left behind in this rat race. I do find myself often comparing myself with others. Perhaps I’m not smart or good enough. I don’t have any specialisation you see. But I need to remember purpose.
Recently I’ve been reading a book called Range by David Epstein, and I like the word used on the cover: Generalist. I like the ring to it and the meaning behind it; a person who is competent in several different fields or activities. I shall adopt it for myself. I’m halfway through it now, but what I’m gleaning from it is that to be successful we need to develop range and move away from narrow specialisation. It calls to example late starters who were successful, such as Van Gogh, who seemed to have tried his hand at (specialising in) everything but failed miserably. From the start he couldn’t even draw properly. Yet in today’s world most people would have heard of his name and his works such as The Starry Night, even if we’re not into art or painting.
I chose not to pursue a degree for various reasons. Firstly I didn’t want to amass unnecessary debt for myself. Also I wasn’t really sure what I would want to do in university other than music (which I have neither credentials nor sufficient skills to get myself enrolled) After finishing my diploma, I realised how important it is to actually enjoy what you are studying and not just put yourself through it for the sake. I was miserable in my 3 years of tertiary studies then. Lastly due to life’s course, with National Service and my decision to go to missions, it seems like going to university would set me up for a very delayed start in “life”. Hence I chose to work instead, and thankfully was given a chance at a corporate job (though I must say I’m not fully enjoying it, but I guess this is life).
So purpose.
While I need to get better at my job, I need to remember purpose. What exactly am I placed on this earth for. I’m still not entirely sure, but I arrive at this conclusion: my priority for now is to develop my musicianship. Life does not get simpler as we get along, in fact it gets more complicated. We have to constantly relearn to come back to what’s truly important. When our plates pile up with many things, what are the essentials to keep and the non essentials to drop off (The term essential and non essential has been coming up a lot)
The thing is we have a finite number of days and hours on this earth and are we making the most of it? As I begin to see my life more in terms of seasons, I know I’m not in this forever. Hence with the time I have and in this station of life I need to make them count. While I don’t aim to specialised in the work I do, I need to recognise that I still need to be good at what I do. Everyone’s a “consultant” these days but do we really know our stuff? For the things we don’t know very well, we need to get a better grasp.
In May, I joined a Hangout call with the church back in Ukraine and we had a guest speaker with us. One whom I have enjoyed hearing preach in church on a few occasions in Singapore. This time round he was close, among just 8 of us, bringing an intimate word around the epidemic situation. The message talked about the Israelites who wandered in the desert for 40 years for what could have been an eleven day journey to reach the promised land. If you know the story, none of the people (other than Joshua and Caleb) of that generation entered in. The moral of the story is simple: Don’t take too long to learn what you need to learn. Don’t make an eleven day journey, a 40-year one. We don’t have time to waste!
This pastor also spoke of new beginnings and discovering yourself anew. He spoke of Moses who had many new beginnings; prince of Egypt, to a murderer, then a shepherd, a stutterer before Pharaoh , and the deliverer of the Israelites. He also spoke of Peter, who was a fisherman, then a disciple, a betrayer, the head of the new testament church, to finally, a martyr. This kind of ties in with my point above about having range and Vincent Van Gogh. The thing is you can still rediscover a “new you” at 40. Always wanted to write a book? It’s not too late to start. Want to quit that dead-end job to pursue a dream. Why not?
It’s a good time to stop, pause and reflect on what are things you need to drop out of your life to focus on what is essential in your life. And to get good at whatever it is. Don’t take too long to learn what we need to. Don’t procrastinate. Also, that it’s okay if we haven’t really figured it out in life yet. Who “makes it” anyways? We can yet discover a new “us”, even when we think “we’re way past that”.
I assume by now, most of us would already be aware that we are in the midst of a global pandemic. Most of us would be stuck at home on quarantine, lockdown or whatever synonym/term your country may call it — Singapore is under a partial lockdown, coined as the “Circuit Breaker” period.
We are only into our second week of stay home orders by the government for the majority of Singaporeans, other than essential workers in certain sectors such as, healthcare, military, food, telecommunication services. Of course, there were many companies that have implemented work from home arrangements much earlier. But other than that, I think we are a little late to the party.
For me personally, I am being put on no-pay leave due to cost cutting measures in the company. As much as that “kinda sucks”, I’m actually pretty happy with the arrangements. When the Circuit Breaker measures were announced, I was initially looking forward to working from home. This is the life most of us would dream about right? Not needing to wake up early and squeezing onto a packed train. The daily travelling time and costs that would be saved. The liberating thought of not being under constant supervision. Your bed being always close by.
The perks are endless.
Being a person that general loves being at home, this was a dream come true. But being someone with many side quests, being put on no-pay leave meant that I could finally see to some of my personal projects that have been left hanging, free of concern. Thankfully financially-wise, my family is not in such a bad shape and the government has also given out some generous handouts, so it’s not much cause for worry at the moment.
As great as staying home can be, the downside could be the constant rubbing of shoulders with your family. I’m also starting to see many who are ranting on social media about how bored or stifled they are. How they miss doing certain activities, and what they would do immediately, once these stay home curfews are lifted.
How We Should Respond
Whilst we are all going through an unprecedented time, and granted, we are still adjusting and making sense of this period, I think we should always strive to make the most out of every situation we’re faced with.
For me personally, the word for this season is “withdrawal”. Begin to come away and reflect on your life and the direction it is heading towards. Think about certain habits we can start and those we could do away with. Make plans for your life. We might not get another such opportunity once this all blows over and the busyness of life swings back to full gear.
I’m sure many might have come across the picture online that states that we have no excuse for coming out of this period without a side gig, having learnt a new skill and so forth. I agree with this. As much as this is a period for withdrawal and reflection, we should capitalise on the time we have at hand to build.
Work on that hobby you never had time for. Read a book, workout at home and get in shape, sign up for some online courses. I understand if you want to use this time to relax, maybe catch up on sleep, binge watch your favourite drama or play video games. I know these are some things that will help keep certain people sane during this period, and I get it, these are stressful times. But if possible, don’t let it be the only thing you do.
Build, learn, grow.
This period shouldn’t simply leave you bored. There are definitely things to do.
I just finished doing a writing course on Udemy. I’ve signed up for online bass lessons on a popular bass education site with a few others, and have started practising again. I’ve just finished listening to the audiobook “Sapiens” by Yuval Noah Harari, and am currently reading a physical one. I’m working on an original song, learning about investment, brushing up my Ukrainian and working out as much as I can. As much as I may be spreading myself too thin, I’m making sure I redeem the time that I wouldn’t normally have outside of work to catch up on things that I am passionate or interested in.
Sure, not all may have the time, resource or space to do this, as their priority right now could be looking after family. Some could be struggling to survive and put food on the table. I understand these are real needs arising from the crisis. But for those who have the time, do what you can, don’t be idle or lazy. At the very least, “withdraw” and take stock of your life.
Let’s all come out of this season stronger, with clarity, and hopefully, greater restfulness.
Not the best photos from Cat 3, but here’s some snippets
So I got to see John Mayer last year. This year I was extremely blessed to witness Bon Iver (Justin Vernon) live on 17th January 2020. Ps: I can die happy now seeing and hearing my two favourite musicians live in the flesh. I’m just waiting now for Switchfoot to come to Singapore again.
It took me a while to actually take a liking to Bon Iver music. For the longest time, the only song by him (I know Bon Iver is the band’s name but I’m just going to use Bon Iver and Justin interchangeably) that I listened to and liked was Re:Stacks. Similar to how I’m rather technology resistant, I take time to warm up to new music as well.
All I can say now is that Bon Iver has surpassed John Mayer as my favourite secular music artiste. Sorry John.
The unique thing about Bon Iver songs is that he has a rather unorthodox way of songwriting and the lyrics are almost never so straightforward. It always seem to have some abstract meanings and metaphors behind which the listener could put their own interpretations to. Many of his milder songs, have this tranquillising feel, with some almost wholly sung in his distinct falsetto and double vox recording voice. He is also very experimental in his music, with many of such unique sounds and “phrases” layering his songs. For instance, look up the songs iMi and Hey, Ma.
The other thing I like about Bon Iver is that he has a (short) list of his own created words. I mean aren’t there enough words created to express yourself? The audacity and genius of this guy to come up with his own vocabulary is just mind blowing. Check this page out which talks about some of his created words and their presumed meaning behind.
It’s interesting to know of the back story of how Bon Iver was conceived too. It all began in a hunting cabin, during a period where Justin seemingly lost everything; his girlfriend, his former band and was diagnosed with mononucleosis hepatitis. It was there, he recorded his first album, For Emma, Forever Ago. A minimal yet brilliant and intimate album which showed us the genius of Justin, and which pretty much threw him down the path of stardom. This serves as an example to us that even in the valley moments of our lives, something great can come out of it.
The set at the Star Vista Theatre started off with the first (proper) song of his new album i, i,iMi. In fact, much of the setlist were songs from his new album, which made sense considering its to promote his new music.
Unlike John, Justin isn’t much of a talker. He broke the “silence” after a couple of his songs with a “Thank you all so much.” Following that, he interjected with little awkward small talks in between every few other songs. I felt connection was lacking with the fans and audience, but through the little said, there’s this genuineness that came out of Justin, and somehow, it is endearing.
As my brother who was there at the show with me said, “He expresses himself better in song.” Which is absolutely true. Every artiste is different, likewise with Bon Iver.
The crowd at the Bon Iver show was much tamer compared to John Mayer’s. Also, they were seemingly the most law abiding audience I’ve encountered. There were hardly any people filming, unlike JM’s concert where everyone had their phone’s whipped out. Even I felt kind of bad to be secretly filming, but then again I wasn’t passing on this chance to keep some mementos. The audience was also a little dead, but granted Bon Iver songs are not exactly sing-along-able.
The encore fittingly ended with RABi which is the last song of the new album, putting a nice conclusion to the show. According to him, the meaning behind the song is what if there was nothing else to look forward to after life. What if this was all there is to it, and the point of it all is to just enjoy every moment of it. While I don’t agree with what he said, I understand where he is coming from.
Overall, I was happy that some of my favourites like Creature Fear, Salem and Naeem were played. A little disappointed though that 29 #Strafford Apts and Beth/Rest were not. I felt this wasn’t his best performance, there were quite a few wrong lyrics sung, but I’m still mighty pleased with the opportunity to witness – I would say – one of this generation’s greatest musician and songwriter live.
I would say that the purpose of paying money to watch your favourite singer sing is not only to enjoy the experience, but to find inspiration and be spurred on further in your goals and pursuits.
Justin, I just hope you’ll “find time for the Lord”(lyrics from his song, Sh’Diah)
We were all created for great things. Whether you’re a Christian or not, or believe that a God out there created every individual with destiny – and although it may not feel like it or look like it for you currently in life – you have to find it in yourself to believe that you have the potential for so much more.
Sometimes, I like to look at my baby photo to remind and encourage myself that I was born for a reason. I may not like certain things right now in life or the direction that it’s going. I may have made many mistakes along the way. But there’s still time to make changes and a difference as long as I be intentional about it. I’ve not been writing for a while now and lately have been feeling in a rut. But even as today is the first day of the new year 2020 and it’s time to make resolutions once again, I believe these 4 keys could help us work towards GREATNESS.
CONSIDER PEOPLE YOU LOOK UP TO
Consider the people you look up to; a mentor, a former teacher, your dad. People who you know or knew personally that have gone before you and succeeded, people who have character or personality traits that you desire to have. Maybe it’s a disciplined lifestyle, or one who is daring to try new ventures. Perhaps it’s a person you know who exudes great confidence or unwaveringly consistency.
Consider these people and what makes them great. Strive to emulate these good qualities about them.
THINK ABOUT THE PEOPLE YOU ‘ENVY‘
While this point may not sound all that good, but I’m sure there are people in your life whom you envy. A rich or talented classmate, a successful movie star. People who seem to have it all, or are who are effortlessly brilliant in what they do. What sets them apart?
For me, someone that comes to mind is Sungha Jung, a Korean guitar prodigy. He makes playing finger-style guitar look like child’s play. But what I don’t see is perhaps the hours upon hours of practise this guy puts into mastering his craft. Your ‘envy’ of someone should push you on to pursue greatness.
However don’t stay in a place of envy. Ask yourself what do they have that should spur you on. Remember that you are uniquely you and that you should pursue the qualities that make that person great and not to try become that person. Neither are you competing to be better than that person. You are in a competition with no one but yourself.
IMPROVEMENT OVER BUSYNESS
In the past, I used to view success as the number of hours I put into something. However it doesn’t matter as much if you aren’t intentional enough in studying, learning, practising during those hours. I could spend 8 hours working everyday, but if half the time I’m day dreaming or idling, those hours aren’t as well spent. I now view my measure of success as improvement rather than just ‘productivity’ or clocking in the hours.
“It’s not enough to be busy. So are the ants. The question is what are we busy about?”
Henry David Thoreau
You couldn’t get that solo part right before? Work on it to get the timing, speed and precision of it down. Couldn’t hit that desired timing for your run? Work to shave down those seconds. A focused 6 months could do more damaged than years of just mediocracy. Improvement is key, because small steps in the right direction will lead to great things. So set structure in place in your life to make sure you work on improving weak areas in your life.
MOVE OUT THE THINGS THAT NEEDS MOVING OUT THE WAY
More often than not, we have To-Do-Lists that we never get round to completing. As humans, we often find ourselves trying to find new things/hobbies to fill our schedules or engage us, but the backlog still exists!
Is there any tasks you need to ‘Marie Kondo’ out of your life? Does it spark joy that your list is still outstanding? Stop procrastinating and get down to clearing the things you need to clear off your To-Do-List.
This year I got the opportunity to write a commentary for one of the national papers. The long story short is that it all started with the right connection and a little determination to see it through. The main learning point I took away from this is this, take action.
Is inertia holding you back from finishing that article? Is it learning an instrument or reading up about investments something that you are putting away for ‘a better time’? There is no better time to do it than now. Move things that need moving out of the way so that you can carry on with new endeavours and plans.
CLOSING
In life, not all of us have been dealt with good cards. We may not be born with a silver spoon in our mouths, have the right role models in our lives, or be the most talented one in the room. What I know is all of us, in our own way are meant for greatness and it is how we use the cards that we have been given that matters.
Sure, others may have a head start, but that shouldn’t deter us from pursuing greatness. Consider those we look up to or people we envy. Learn from these people. Work on improvement rather than being busy. And lastly, clear things that need moving out of the way. In other words, take action. While I may not be ‘great’ yet as how the world may view greatness, but I believe these everyday learning points hold much truth and potential in them.
This is going to be my mantra for the office life. I can’t say that it already is. But working in an office job for almost 6 months now can be draining, monotonous and sometimes unfulfilling.
I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t want my 9 – 5, to just be passing time and waiting for month’s end to collect my pay cheque. Even if my job is the most boring job in the world, I would like to find purpose and meaning in doing the boring work. Because I believe that doing the boring stuff in life – the things most people are unwilling to do – will open the doors to better opportunities some day.
So I thought about some things I can do, which I find are good ideas to get myself in a good head-space and set myself up for success each and every day.
Start The Day By Planning Your Day Ahead
The moment you come into the office, and if you work in rather tensed office environment (PS:mine’s a little tensed), chances are you’ll feel the unspoken pressure to jump right down to work to make it seem like you’re busy and not slacking off. You’ll get distracted immediately trying to respond to emails, that list you have to update, photocopying that document or doing the nitty-gritty things that in the sum of all things do not really matter.
This in my view really kills work flow and productivity, because you are not working towards your goals. You are simply busy circling your plane in the air round and round, without a place to land.
Instead of just trying to be busy doing ‘stuff’ without direction, be intentional to start each day (or maybe the day before you leave) to create a to-do list, and one where your tasks are listed in decreasing priority, with the most important at the top. Think through and reflect about the bigger picture of what you are trying to achieve in your job, whether is it a project you are handling, a deadline you have to meet or simply where you want to go with this job. Work towards that step by step with a killer to-do list each day!
I wrote an article a few years back about time management skills I learnt as a crew chief in the Air Force, I believe these tips are still useful to supplement this write up as well.
Visualize How Your Day Will Go
I am currently working with a personal trainer who so happens to be an old friend of mine whom I recently reconnected with.
He is someone you would call Mr. Optimist or Mr. Confident because he is full of positive vibes and living life to the fullest doing what he loves. He tells me from the time he wakes up till the time he lays his head back down on the pillow, he tries to live in every moment and slay each day.
His key to keeping it up the whole day is to start by visualizing how his day will go, to visualize himself succeeding. I believe this is a key used by many successful people in life as well. Visualization is a powerful tool, but of course you will yourself define what success means. You could also visualize your day in line with your to do list.
Pace Yourself
As the great philosopher Patrick Stump once said,
Pace myself and let go, start it over again in Mexico.
Though he isn’t really a philosopher, neither does that sentence really make any sense (it’s the first stanza to the song I Don’t Care by Fall Out Boy), but pacing oneself is very crucial. I don’t want to end up flat by the time I leave the office each day.
Often times I find myself feeling tired while staring at the computer too long, or while busy working on a particular job. Tell yourself it’s alright to slow down, it’s alright to pull back a little. Just like when you are running a marathon or even doing a simple 3 km run, there are moments you speed up, and times you slow down to catch up on breath. It’s probably impossible to sprint all the way in marathon, even if you are a Kenyan (Maybe I’m wrong)! Take each day on as though you are running a marathon and pace yourself!
Switch it up a little every now and then. This is something I do especially when I’m doing some really tedious and boring. I switch my job and tackle some other thing like do a bit reading, of course giving my self intentional time frames.
Be Intentional To Give Room For Breaks
Last point’s simple and that is to be intentional to take breaks in between. Though you may be on the clock the moment you get to the office each day, schedule breaks even during your working time.
I’m sure there are many who will have no issue doing this.
But as I mentioned earlier working in a tensed environment – one where you feel like your manager’s eyes are always on your movements both physically and online – might pressure you to just keep up the appearance of working. Be free to take breaks, love yourself a little more, care less what others may think and focus on being productive!
Conclusion
I’m writing this from the perspective you have an office job in which you kind of love and have room to grow in. I understand there are office jobs where you work as a telemarketer or as a data entry clerk. It’s a little hard to take these tips into consideration (besides the last point), because you’re not really gearing up for success, rather just to do bare minimum while counting down the hours to go back. You don’t really need to visualize or plan out how your day will go, because it’s mostly the same repeated thing over and over.
Well that’s fine too, you can still work towards being the best data entry clerk there is out there. As I mentioned earlier, find purpose in the boring things because you never know how these things may open doors for you or will find helpful for a future role.
Although I don’t profess to be most self driven or highly motivated person as I set out to be in this article, I believe taking ownership in what we’re given to do is really important. As I recently came on board full-time in this company (had been working as a temp staff for 5 months), I was given roles I could really call my own, it does give me a little more edge and drive to do well. And of course think of ways how I can improve my productivity and effectiveness in the office.
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