3 tips for making good use of your prime times

When are your prime times? What are the times of the day when you have most energy? When do you feel most creative? Here are three tips for making good use of such times.

* You can clarify your prime times.

“Now I can identify my peaks and troughs during the day,” said one marketing manager. “My best time is between 8.00 and 11.30 in the morning. I dip during the afternoon, but then come alive again at 9.00 pm. Previously I used to berate myself for ‘not being creative’ during those downtimes, but then I learned to follow these natural rhythms.”

Energy is life. Sometimes we have lots of energy, sometimes we feel drained. Sometimes we need to rest and recover to become revitalised. Are you at your best in the morning, the afternoon, the evening - or a combination of these times? Try completing the following sentence that invites you to identify your prime times.

The times of the day when I have most energy – my prime times – are:

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* You can make good use of your prime times.

“I became very protective of those times,” said the marketing manager. “But I faced a dilemma. My desk is located in an open plan office, but I find it difficult to do creative work in the midst of such activity. So now I get into the office at 7.30 am and leave a note about my whereabouts in case of emergency. Then I spend the first hour by myself doing creative work in a ‘cave'. Sometimes I am interrupted by urgent requests, but frequently it is my most productive part of the day. I have also asked my team members to let everybody know their prime times. Whilst we must all aim to be professional at all times, it is good to know when individual people are at their best.”

Rollo May, the American existentialist psychologist, believed people could become more effective by identifying and making good use of such times. Writing in the first edition of The Ageless Spirit, he explained:

"I stay in my studio each day for four hours, but the last hour and a half isn't worth very much. It was hard for me to accept, but what can I do? All I can do is make the most of the creative time I've got. So for two and a half hours I'm moving marvellously; the rest of the time I'm simply fiddling around. But I find joy in fiddling too. I have to accept the fact that I'm not a God. I have to accept my destiny. I have to accept the fact that I can only do creative work for a few hours a day, but that does not diminish one iota the joy I get from those two hours."

Rollo May believed it was important to ‘catch the wave’ - otherwise it was gone forever. How can you do this in your own way? Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to make good use of my prime times are:

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* You can get into the habit of capitalising on your prime times.

Peak performers develop good habits - which includes making good use of their best times. “But that is so difficult,” somebody may say, “especially when other people are interrupting your rhythm.” Agreed, but the alternative is to allow those golden times to disappear into thin air. The key is to develop a creative rhythm. Develop a pattern of protecting and using those hours, even if it is only twice a week. Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to develop the habit of capitalising on my prime times are:

*

Capitalising on your prime times helps to channel your positive energy. You are then more likely to perform great work.

3 tips for living the vital life, rather than the vanilla life

Gordon Mackenzie, author of Orbiting the Giant Hairball, inspired many people to revitalise their creativity whilst working with corporations. He believed it was vital to retain the juiciness of life. If you don’t watch out, he said, life can become like one of the peaches you find in supermarkets. From the outside it looks perfect. When taking a bite, however, the peach tastes like concrete. People work best when they generate their creative juices. This comes from living the vital life, rather than the vanilla life. Let’s explore how to make this happen.

* You can recognise what it means to live the vital life.

Start by describing what the vital life is for you. One person wrote: “The vital life for me is: doing creative work, cooking fresh food, listening to Van Morrison, mountain biking, skiing, walking by the sea, meeting friends, getting enough sleep and driving with the roof down.”

Gordon Mackenzie encouraged people to stay fresh. Spending 30 years working for the Hallmark Card Company, he managed to ‘orbit’ successfully around the ‘hairball’ of organisational bureaucracy without getting strangled. He wanted people to continue to explore. One chapter consists of just one sentence: “Orville Wright did not have a pilot’s licence.” Explorers know what it means. How can you keep your senses alive? Try completing the following sentence.

The vital life for me is:

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*

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* You can avoid living the vanilla life.

One person said: “The vanilla life for me is: sitting in boring meetings, staying in soulless hotels, hotel food, spending more than 3 nights a week away from home, listening to ‘observer critics’, flying on business trips, spending a day without music.” What is the vanilla life for you? How can you avoid some of these experiences? Try completing the following sentence.

The vanilla life for me is:

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*

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* You can live the vital life in the future.

“I am fed-up with plain vanilla,” said one person, “Now and again I want to add a bit of tutti-frutti.” Sounds exciting and, providing it doesn’t hurt anybody, extremely encouraging. Try completing the following sentence.

The things I can do to live the vital life in the future are:

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Gordon Mackenzie died in 1999, soon after the publication of ‘Hairball’. He urged people to continue gaining enriching experiences. The final two sentences of his book are: “If you go to your grave without painting your masterpiece, it will not get painted. No one else can paint it. Only you.” Gordon created his masterpiece and lived a vital life. He certainly wasn't vanilla.

3 tips for getting the right balance between consuming & creating

People are living systems - so they must get the right balance between consuming and creating. And that is not just about food. For example, if a person consumes too many ideas without creating something, they may begin to feel stodgy. If they consume masses of bad news about the environment, they must create something that improves the world - otherwise they will feel weighed down. In order to live healthy lives, living systems must balance ‘getting things in’ with ‘getting things out’. Let’s explore how to make this happen.

* You can clarify the things you want to consume.

Start by considering what you want to ‘take-in’. One person said: “I began by listing the physical and psychological things I want to consume. On the physical side, I want to eat good food, use renewable energy, spend time in the fresh air, etc. On the psychological side, I want to get stimulating ideas, watch exciting sport, read uplifting articles, work on energising projects and spend time with encouraging people. The hard part was figuring out how to do this in my daily life. Some things were easy to cut-out, such as watching trash on the television, but others took more thought.” So what do you want to take into your mind, body and soul? Try completing the following sentence.

The things I want to consume are:

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*

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* You can clarify the things you want to create.

What do you want to create or ‘give-out’? You may want to encourage other people, cook tasty food, build good relationships, write inspiring articles or whatever. Creativity takes many forms - such as solving problems, producing something new or giving pleasure to other people. Great design, for instance, is simple, satisfying and successful. Sometimes you may simply get satisfaction from nurturing your garden, playing music or helping other people. Describe what you want to create - or give to others - in your life and work. Try completing the following sentence.

The things I want to create are:

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* You can get the right balance between consuming and creating.

People often know intuitively whether they have got the right balance in their lives between consuming and creating. Try answering the following questions. On a scale 0 - 10, to what extent do I think I have got the right balance between consuming and creating? What are the specific areas where I think I need to improve the balance? What are the specific steps I can take to make this happen?

“I found the psychological side relatively straightforward,” said one person. “I find it relatively simple to get stimulating in-put and do creative work. On the physical side, the first step was to start with the daily essentials. For example, to switch our electricity account to green energy - which takes 10 minutes on the internet – and to shop locally. The next stages will be more difficult, but it is a challenge I want to tackle.”

Consider what you can do to get the right balance between taking-in and giving-out. Taking this step can provide the foundation for sustainable growth - for both yourself and other people. It can also help you to stay healthy. Try completing the following sentence.

The things I can do to get the right balance between consuming and creating are:

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You can find many more ideas on this theme in at:

http://www.thestrengthsway.com

3 tips for making good use of the fallow times

“I often experience a sense of flow in my work, such as when doing a rewarding project,” said one person. “But after completing the job I sometimes go into the doldrums. It’s obviously because I have lost the sense of purpose I had when doing the task. Wanting to fill the vacuum, I am tempted to jump into the next project, even though it may not be too stimulating. How can I recapture that sense of purpose?”

Peak performers learn how to use the ‘fallow’ times. These are the hours, days and months that come between feeling frustrated and enjoying a sense of flow. Making good use of these times can help to shape your creative future. Let’s explore three steps for making this happen.


* You can recognise the importance of the fallow times.

People love to experience what Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi called ‘a sense of flow’. When you are doing something stimulating, you feel stretched and ‘time seems to go away’. Reaching your goal is satisfying – but afterwards you may feel frustrated. You want to climb the next mountain, pursue the next adventure or whatever. It is then useful to remember the agricultural tradition of allowing a field to lie fallow. The pasture can rest, recover and become revitalised. Creative artists also know the value of ‘giving themselves permission’ to be fallow. Providing these are used properly, fallow times can be fruitful times. The first step is to recognise and capitalise on these periods. How can this work for you? Try completing the following sentence.

The things I can do to recognise the fallow times
and then give myself permission to be fallow are:

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* You can make good use of the fallow times.

“During the fallow times I surround myself with positive things,” said one person. “Getting up in the morning, I play my favourite music. This provides a stimulating start to the day, rather than listening to politicians arguing on the radio. I spend time with friends who give me energy, rather than negative people. ‘Everything is food’, say the Zen Buddhists, so I control what I allow into my body. Because I am in a vacuum, I must set the agenda - even if it means choosing to ‘do nothing’ - rather than allow others to set the agenda. Surrounding myself with positive influences means I am eventually more likely to find a meaningful purpose.”

How can you make good use of such times? You do not need to put everything ‘on-hold’. One approach is to continue working at the ‘day job’ - whilst also gathering information about possible future challenges. At the same time, however, it is vital to surround yourself with positive influences. Try completing the following sentence.

The things I can do to make good use of the fallow times are:

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* You can recognise when it is time to move on from being fallow and go into flow.

Providing you do the right things, eventually a stimulating ‘project’ will emerge. How will you know it if it right to move? Ask yourself: “Does this contribute to achieving my personal or professional goals? Does thinking about it give me positive energy? Will pursuing it give me a sense of fulfilment?” If the answers are “Yes,” seize the opportunity. If you are not absolutely sure, but feel tempted to spring back into action, make sure it is a challenge you respect. Otherwise, like a mountaineer who does not respect the mountain, you may suffer a catastrophe. Making good use of the fallow times means you are more likely to choose the right project. Embarking on the adventure, you can then flow, focus and finish. Try completing the following sentence.

The things I can do to recognise when it is time to
move on from being fallow and go into flow are:

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You can find more tools for being creative in the free download The Strengths Pack - which can be found at:

http://www.thestrengthsway.com