Getting Back to Work After the Diwali Break – 3 Simple Strategies

OK, now that it’s Tuesday already (where did time go!!), most of us are getting mini palpitations at the thought of getting back to work tomorrow.

If you are not, then bravo!! You are one of the chosen, truly fortunate few. And honestly (though it pains me to say this), you may read this post further for academic interest only.

Moving on, and addressing the majority who are feeling ‘blue’, ‘sad’ about plunging back into the ‘routine’….

Of course, it’s not just about the Diwali break. This time, by a fortunate alignment of the lunar calendar ((that dictates the dates for Diwali) and the Gregorian calendar (that all of us follow), Diwali fell around the weekend. Most of us have had 4 straight days holidays – from Saturday to Tuesday. This post, in general addresses the issue of “office waapsi” (if I may use the term) following any similar fortunate long break lasting over 3 days.

The week leading up to the coveted long weekend is all frenzy and excitement. There are a million things to do, a thousand emails to be sent, at least a hundred approvals required from the boss and of course, there is the fun ’employee engagement’ activity that HR has planned in the midst of all this.

I am sure you agree with me that in the last week before the break, time seems to fly. Colleagues are busy creating ‘to do’ lists during their to and fro travel to ensure they don’t miss anything.  Little by little, bit by bit, things fall in place. And though there is no research to support this, I strongly suspect that the #1 task on the ‘to do’ list for the last day at work is the “out of office- vacation email responder”.  Raise your hand if this is true for you.

But all things must end. Before you know, it’s time to get back to work, and that’s when the world starts turning blue. You remember all those tasks that you had pushed back to”after we get back to office” but now wish that you had tackled already.  This post is all about helping get back to the thick of things with a bang.

3 Simple Strategies- How to Get Back to Work After a Break

1. Change your Mindset:

According to the book “The Secret” by Rhonda Bryne, you attract what you think. And indeed this is true. If you think about the stress and the overwhelming amount of work you will be swamped with you when you get back to office, that is exactly what you will attract.

While I am not denying that there will naturally be several things that you would need to attend to, it is best not to get overwhelmed. Instead of dreading getting back to the office, think positively that you are now refreshed and energized after the break to tackle things more efficiently. Look forward to meeting challenges head on and resolving issues.

Think of this as your super power and you are the super hero. What’s to stop you now from getting back to office in high energy mode? You are raring to go!! See how those dark thoughts disappear.

Bonus: With this strategy, you are also not spoiling the last few hours of your break by worrying and thinking. You get to enjoy your break 100%.

2. Have Your Priorities Ready Already

There are several tasks each of us do. But there are always some tasks that are more important than others. Identify such tasks.

Once you are back in office, multiple things demand your attention. Hence it is crucial have your priorities set. While prioritizing is a good habit to follow in everyday working, it becomes critical when you head back after a long break. Once you know exactly what to critically accomplish when you are back in office ( a written down list definitely helps), it is easy to work from the list and accomplish those tasks in quick succession.

Here, I would highly recommend Brian Tracy’s – “Eat That Frog” – the book that helps you understand the critical tasks in your job, and how you should prioritize.

When to create the list:

Create your list of priorities any time during your break.

Yes, some of us absolutely do not want to work during our break. But perhaps, taking out 30 minutes and writing down your priority tasks at work is doable. Especially when these 30 minutes (or less) can save you loads of stress in office next day.

Of course, the other option – create this list already on your last day at work.  Keep in your diary, for ready reference, the moment you walk back in. Go over the list as you are starting your system and you are ready to go!!

3. Be Kind to Yourself

Know that despite your best efforts, things may still be chaotic, when you head back. You may have followed strategies 1 and 2 above, but maybe everyone in your office didn’t. Maybe your boss didn’t.

So it is possible that you are being pulled in different directions. (Hence all the more reason to have your written priorities, as in point no. 2, so that you don’t miss anything critical).

Just be kind to yourself. Understand that it is alright to take a day to settle. If you get further stressed due to the chaos, it kind of beats the entire purpose.

And know the person on other side, (your client, vendor etc) is going through the same thing (back to office after a break) or is aware that you are back to office after a break. They will understand if your responses are slightly delayed. So don’t beat yourself up. It’s OK.

Go on now, arm yourself with these strategies and welcome back to work!!!

Do let me  know in the comments what you think of these strategies and which one you applied.

 

 

 

 

 

The Advantages of Listening

The din and roar is too much. I can barely hear myself think, let alone talk.

And mind you, most of this communication is not even oral (spoken). I am talking about social media as well. As a  race, we humans have become addicted sharing and documenting our entire lives online. We are constantly posting what we do, what we say (and want to say), what we like, don’t like etc online. So in a way, we are all talking. But the question that begs to be answered is:

“who’s listening”

That’s the topic I’d like to touch upon today in the post- The Advantages of Listening”

1. When you Listen you Learn More

When you talk, you only repeat what you know. When you listen you learn something more. Life is all about learning and applying what you learn to improve your life/job/relationship etc.

Listen carefully!! You may hear something that you didn’t know before and be able to use that to your advantage. Let’s take inspiration from the wise old owl:

“The wise old owl- the more he saw, the less he spoke,

The less he spoke the more he heard,

Why can’t we call be like the  wise old bird”

 

2. When You Listen, You Receive Feedback

This is the premise any form of market study is based on. What do researchers do?  They listen to what people are saying. They identify the gaps in the market from peoples’ conversations and go back to the drawing table to analyse the feedback and come up with an amazing offering to fill that gap.

So corporates are spending million of dollars worldwide to listen. And you have an opportunity to do it for free. Keep your ears open. You will surely pick up useful feedback. Use the feedback constructively to improve yourself in all areas – your job, yourself, your relationships etc, .

3. Listen to Understand and not to Respond

Most of us are guilty of already formulating our responses, when we listen to someone, especially when it is feedback. We tend to get defensive. If we listen to respond and not understand, we are missing out the point.

The idea is to get feedback and use it constructively. It is all a matter of perspective. When someone gives us feedback, we tend to look at it with this mindset”OMG, they are finding fault with me”. Instead, try this perspective, “OMG, they actually care about me and want me to improve. What a golden opportunity!!”.

See how there is shift in attitude and perspective.

4. Listening Conserves Energy

Listening is a passive process. Speaking (especially, when you need to explain something or counter what the other person is saying), is a process that expends so much energy. So why would you do that? Listen and conserve energy and use the energy for better stuff.

5. Listening Builds better Relationships

This one is a no-branier, isn’t it? Think of your spouse, mother, friend, anyone. Wouldn’t they feel awesome if you actually listened to them instead of cutting them off to give your own opinion. “No, you can’t do that ..you have to study”, (maybe spoken to your son). “No mom, I know what I am doing” (words that cut off your mom).  “Don’t tell me what to do” (Maybe, but hopefully not, words to your spouse).

Respect the relationships in your life by listening to them. Respond or reply with your decision. But not before really listening and understanding what the person is saying. Listening makes the other person feel appreciated. And mutual appreciation is a building block for great relationships.

I’d like to end with this quote that I really like:

“A parrot talks way too much but can’t fly high but an eagle is silent and has the will power to touch the sky.”

Are you a parrot or an eagle?

Happy Listening

Lessons Learned from Running- Navratri 2019

In the Navratri of 2019 (from September 29 to 7th October 2019), I had a wonderful idea to do a ‘Navarun”. The concept of a “Navarun” is very simple. You run all the days of Navratri, wearing the specific color of the day. (There is an allocated color for every day of Navratri).

Why Do It

It’s like someone asked “why do you climb the mountain?” And the simplest answer is “Because it’s there”. There is really no other reason why I wanted to do it except that I wanted to do it.  To reveal something about myself, I am a bit of a fitness enthusiast. I like, (for most part) to be physically active and to eat healthy and frankly I am quite proud of the healthy choices I make every day.

So this idea was also part of my “healthy mindset”, and my desire to do something. My desire to mark Navratri 2019 with a sense of achievement.

Also to be noted, I had done the “Navarun” in 2017 and that was extremely satisfying. Hence I deiced to ahead this year as well.

This blog post tries to put forth the lessons I learned along the way. (actually literally, because thoughts for this post would  pop into my head as I was running “along the way”)

Lesson 1: Get Started: 

This is a big one. You may think all about the goals you want to achieve. You will have them in your mind. You will constantly dream about them, but you never start. Some of the thoughts running through your mind may be:

• The time is not right.
• The conditions could be better.
• I cannot do this now

Hence the first important step you need to take is to JUST START. Trust me, things will fall in place.

In my particular instance, on the first day of Navratri, I was at Marol, did not have my shoes, and, mom and I went to the temple. But that didn’t deter me. I did not think “Oops, I have missed the first day, so it cannot be done now”. My thoughts were “Yes, I missed the first day, but there are 8 more days to do what I want and I will do it”. Sometime, a simple shift in the way of looking at things helps tremendously.

So if there is a goal you have, don’t wait. Get started now.

Lesson 2: Be Well Prepared- Mentally and Otherwise:

It’s true that anything that we achieve, we achieve twice- one mentally in our mind and one actually achieving the results. You have to mentally prepare yourself that you can do this.

For me, every singly day, I would tell myself that it is 9K, I did it yesterday and I can do this today. The thought of giving should not even be hovering close to you.

Once you are mentally prepared, it is equally important to plan and be prepared for various points. For instance, I would plan the clothes to wear, the water bottle to carry, the playlist to run to, at which point to change the playlist..And so on and so forth.

The more meticulously you plan, the more advantageous it is to you.

The take home here is that at work and in life, there is no substitute to meticulous planning and being well prepared. It is Abraham Lincoln who said” If I have six hours to cut a tree. I’ll spend the first 4 sharpening my axe”. And that is absolutely the way to go.

Lesson 3: Listen to Feedback and Make Helpful Changes

As I ran, I was learning everyday how my body reacts to the run. I would make tweaks to the plan next day,  based on the feedback of how my body behaved during the run today. Everyday, I listened to what my body was telling me as I was running and this feedback is absolutely invaluable to success.

Here are some examples of the feedback I worked on:

• I understood that the initial kilometer, kilometer and a half was the toughest, perhaps because the body was not yet warm. This was also the time when the target of 9K would seem  daunting. And thoughts would begin to creep into my mind as to why i ever undertook this task. And again, this would be the time, I firmly pushed those thoughts away, because I knew this was just temporary and because I wanted to achieve my goals.

The lesson from here is that when you start something new (a new job, a new position, a new project, even a new relationship) it is daunting and scary and more importantly something you are not used to. It is critical to power through those initial moments of self doubt, absolutely believing that you will emerge a winner on the other side.

• I also observed that fatigue tended to set in when I was close to completing my goal. The last one kilometer or so seemed absolutely interminable and I would keeping at the “distance covered” tab and gasp disbelievingly.  It is human tendency to leave things loose and this is what separates the winners from the also-rans. Winners completely things with the same passion and enthusiasm with which they started a project.

In a corporate scenario, do not leave loose ends. Complete tasks and projects assigned to you even if the original assigner is not following up. You never know when it may resurface. So even if something is 99% complete, it is still considered incomplete. Finishing things up is critical.

• Oftentimes I observed that as I was nearing the end of the run, I was able to perform efficiently when I didn’t have the music on and when I simply focused on my breathing.

This lesson can of course be interpreted in two ways. It depends upon you as an individual Perhaps you are someone who can run better with music. Go on then!! That’s you!!

However, my interpretation is thus. As you come to fag end of your goal, when you are just few steps (few actions/few weeks) away from achieving your goal, perhaps, it is best to completely shut out all distractions and focus solely on the task at hand. Something as simple as preparing for a meeting – maybe take time out and st in the conference room. The idea is that working away from distractions can amp up productivity greatly.

Lesson 4: Make Adjustments in your Path (if Needed):

Life is not scripted. Unexpected things will happen Learn to take them in your stride, adjust your path, but do not lose sight of your goal.

One Saturday, Abhinav missed his school bus and I had to drop him to school. It took me a minute to adjust to the situation. I changed into my running clothes and decided that I would drop Abhinav by auto and complete my run from juhu. This decision of course had several advantages. I ran a new route. I started and hence finished earlier.

The point I would like to stress here is this. Since I already had my basic plan in place-my clothes, bottles, in the last minute, I could quickly tweak it to make the new adjustment.

Hence the motto “Always Be Prepared”. You never know what will happen next.

With that I close this post. I hope you enjoyed reading. Do leave comments if you have something to say.

 

 

Diwali 2018- When Life Smiles..And we have Off From Work

A few months ago (I don’t remember exactly when) I read ‘The Secret’  and I completely believe in it. I absolutely positively believe that the “Secret” is true and I have seen magical results. Of course old habits die hard and sometimes, just sometimes I let my emotions (anger, frustration, grief) get the better of me. But by and large, my life has greatly improved since I started following the principles of the “Secret”.

The subject of this post is something else- Diwali, actually, as per the title. And the introduction is something else. The reason for this introduction was to drive home the point  that I always thought and dreamed and visualized that Diwali 2018 would be perfect. And it is turning out absolutely perfect.

For the first time, we got 6 days continuous off from work. Those from my immediate circle of friends and family would know that the chances of that happening is rarer than a month of Sundays and further rarer. In 2018, it was our good fortune that the stars aligned in such a manner that Diwali fell in the initial part of the week and kind of spilled over to the weekend. And also the fact that the powers-that-be were perhaps in a mellow mood when approached (timing,Einstein!!) that we managed this coup.

OK, once we have a break, the next pressure is to ‘go somewhere’. But where. No one knows. We tried this, that and the other place. But it was too late. We then decided to stay right here. Best decision ever!!! In the days leading up to the  ‘Big Diwali Week’, I would often visualize how we would spend. I would visualize going to various places, eating at different restaurants, catching up on my reading, making checklists, organizing my cupboard, my life, getting A and K to practice music (hahaha, yes I have told I have impossible dreams, buy heyy, i don’t mind having them!!).Have crossed out most of these items.

Indeed, it has been (will continue to be) and awesome Diwali 2018.

The Diwali Party

I always ha this vision of decking the house up with lots of lights, soft lights, yellow flowers,music and friends and food going around. Did that. Called friends for a Diwali party on Saturday 3rd Nov. House decorated as described above. Traditional dressing was the theme. Food flowed (shout out to Pranay’s boys), and conversation flowed even faster, and everyone enjoyed. And then we had a card game, which we didn’t even complete. Party wound up at 3.30 am, and I would call that fairly successful….

Day 1 of the Holiday Wednesday 7th Nov 2018

Of Beaches and Guests

On wednesday, Binnu, Sumita and Sumita’s dad came to visit us. Lunch time flew by but the guests remained. Sleep was hovering around my eyelids and eventually, I had to take a break. But conversation flowed well. Post nap, we decided to go to Cat Cafe. K as usual wanted to go to Juhu beach. So we did. In fact, we went to Juhu beach (and not Silver beach). There were millions of people near the water. Hence the sandy shores were relatively people free. Played frisbee, sat there for a bit, watched a magical sunset.. a lusty orange enveloped the sky as the sun said goodbye and seemingly went to bed within the sea. Of course, we know that the sun says goodbye, not to sleep but to emerge elsewhere and keep on shining and doing its job.

Meow Meow…Keep out of my Coffee Now!!

 

Update on 13/10/2019 (almost a year later!!)

I see that I have not completed this post, and not published either.

But will hit publish today