Senior facilitator Peter Morris, talks about effectiveness, efficiency and resilience during lockdown … and more generally.

Being in lockdown, I’ve thought a lot about being effective, efficient and resilient.

Perhaps because temptation is great and no clear light burns at the end of the tunnel.

Working from home has meant that the barriers between work and other parts of my life are more blurred. I actually have more time on my hands because I do not have to travel to work, though sometimes I feel that I get distracted with other stuff.

And during lockdown the imperative remains to be effective, efficient, resilient and consistent.

Being effective is about doing the right things. If you work in a company or government agency, what is ‘right’ might be spelt out in corporate plans and annual reports. Your manager can also give insight into the most important things to be working on.

I like to define and focus on what is important to me. My ‘to do’ list is broken into the categories I have defined as important.

Being efficient is about doing things right; making the most of your time. There are a range of tools and techniques for being productive:

• Identify when you work your best and do your hardest work in that time. I work best first thing in the morning so this is when I like to develop workshops and complete complex project management tasks.
• I use a timer to break my work into 30 minute blocks. This habit is based on the Pomodoro technique and really helps me focus and be productive.

When I thought about being resilient in lockdown it’s clear that the basics remain the same even if application is different. Let me share some examples:

• I normally exercise getting to and from work by bike or walking. Now my exercise is more intentional and I deliberately get out for a walk or ride before starting work.
• Moving to and from work provided a natural barrier to separate work from other parts of my life. Now that I am working from home I have to be more disciplined in where and when I work.
• Social connections. I get energy from social interaction with work colleagues. Now this interaction is less natural, although virtual platforms have given me a great substitute. I take time to ensure I am connecting with people and I am happy to have a chat in addition to getting through the business.
• Eat and sleep well.

Finally – and this is important – we need to recognise that all of us are under pressure. We need to be gentle with ourselves and others because all of us are yet not perfect!