Has your world been turned upside down? Are you grounded from your travel and events? Are you now being transformed into a remote worker? It could easily feel like your secure base, human connections, and clarity of expectations have been involuntarily ripped right out from under you. These uncertain times can easily leave you feeling helpless, lonely, and unable to make the impact you want. But there is another way.
The power of the TIGNUM strategies is that they work equally as good at work, at home, and, of course, when you are working from home. This has been especially true for me because I’ve worked remotely for the last 17 years. I’ve deployed my human performance strategies to dial my focus in and out, to switch gears when needed, to re-energize my body and brain, to oscillate for mental agility, and then to effectively transition from working at home to shutting down to engage in things outside of work.
Ruling Your Impact doesn’t happen by chance; it’s the by-product of applying proven strategies. If you’re working remotely, here is a simple approach you can easily start applying tomorrow.
Start Your Day Right
When life was ‘normal’, you probably had to commute to get to work. In this new world without that commute, you might feel tempted to dive straight into work soon after you wake. This approach is a trap because you are reactive, not strategic, not fully focused (the purposeful placement of your attention), and your brain is not fully activated.
Instead, how about starting your day with Daily Prep (10 simple movements on TIGNUM X - formerly QOT) to invest in your own energy, activate your brain, reduce pain, and prepare yourself for a high impact day? Then, take a quick walk around the block where you perform your home to work-at-home transition. During this transition, you can identify your critical meetings for the day, read or listen to your ToBeVision (purposefully developed self-image statement), and prepare yourself mentally and emotionally for the day.
Throughout the day, focus on this Sustainable High Impact approach:
- Be proactive and strategic whenever possible
Even in times of chaos, there are predictable meetings and events that you already know about. Prioritize these ahead of time, be clear about who you need to be in these moments, and decide how you will show up at your best. - Take common, non-urgent decisions off the table
Anywhere you can systemize your day, you should. For example, write out what you are going to do when you wake up, what you will eat for each meal, what time you will eat (critical if you want to share a virtual lunch with your team or spend some time with family), what time you will go to bed, what your bedtime ritual will be, etc. When you clear your brain of these non-critical decisions, you are freeing up your prefrontal cortex to be a problem solver. - Be your best at your critical moments
The easiest way to do this (assuming you have already identified as many of these critical moments as you can) is to set clear intentions. Asking yourself a few simple questions has a profound way of setting you up for success and helping you create a clear and uncluttered mind. The three key questions:
_How do I want to be perceived?
_What do I want them to know?
_How do I want them to feel? - Build in purposeful pitstops to keep your physical, cognitive, and emotional tanks full
At TIGNUM, we call this 3D Recovery, and when you are on the go, you can visualize it like a true pitstop in a Formula 1 race. Since you will be at home, you’ll have some latitude that you may not have had in your typical work setting. Using a quick bout of movement (20 breathing squats, a 5-minute walk, skipping up and down the street, etc.) can be a great way to reset your brain and clear some of your emotional fatigue. Taking a quick 5-minute breathing (box breathing or equal breathing is perfect) or meditation break is a fantastic way to reboot your brain, rebalance your autonomic nervous system, and refocus your intentions for what is coming next. Take a virtual coffee/tea break with your colleagues, where you jump on a virtual call (video preferred) and you enjoy a cup of coffee or tea while you just chat and laugh (great for keeping social distance). Take a quick ten minutes and build yourself a beautiful, tasty, and healthy salad and then eat in peace and quiet to help you to be present. These are just a few small examples, so be creative with your own ideas and then share them with your team and family. - Learn, learn, learn so you can be a little better tomorrow
Practicing the mindset skill of reflection combined with curiosity, openness, and vulnerability is a great way to grow on the go. These current times are full of new challenges and no one has been here before. Therefore, give yourself the freedom to not be perfect, but rather to constantly learn and grow. This creates a valuable purpose for this entire crisis and it will help you become a better leader, follower, partner, and parent during the toughest of times.
End Your Day Fulfilled
Working in a new way, under entirely untested and new conditions, with potentially endless demands can be draining. It can also be very fulfilling and inspiring, but only if you end your day properly. Just as you started your day with a walk outside, it is a great idea to end your day by turning off your computer and making a list of where to start tomorrow. Take a walk and reflect on what you did well, what you learned, and how you have been challenged today. Then, take the last part of your walk to apply similar intention-setting questions to prepare for your loved ones as you close out your day.
The Winston Churchill quote, “Never let a good crisis go to waste” truly applies here. We believe that this current situation can create some of the most innovative thinking we have seen in our lifetime. Simultaneously, it can help you personally catalyze some new habits that will give you the performance resilience skills to Rule Your Impact. These new habits will be applicable to the next challenges you will face.
P.S. We are excited to announce that TIGNUM QOT (our mobile application) is transforming. Within the next week, the app's name will change to TIGNUM X. This new name is more representative of how fast the platform is growing and how much it can help you multiply your impact. We look forward to sharing some great developments like enhanced audio files, more tools, and a personal web-based hub.
