In addition to working with nature, I also recommend we each individually look at working with our own nature.
This weekend in London it is HOT, likely around 30c peak temperatures. Hey, I love it, and it is important to work with it in this country with little or no air conditioning! As an example of working with it, I’m writing this on Saturday, as at 8 am Sunday morning (when this daily post goes out) I will be mid-way through a long bike ride and will have got up before 6 am and headed out by 6:30 am in order to enjoy the cooler part of the day.
Of course, it gets light here before 5 am at this time of year, so a 6:30 start on a hot day makes sense. Come back in late September though, and if it were a warm day for that season, I might start my ride more like 11 am to give the day a chance to warm up.
In the winter, I basically cycle less, but when I do (as long as roads aren’t icy and it isn’t raining much) I can go out any time during the short winter days, the temperature makes no difference. As Eddy Merckx famously said, “there is no bad weather, only bad clothing”. Had, I just realised that I wrote about this theme in a different way last November as winter closed in, see: “No bad weather“.
So, in this Covid world where so many are given the opportunity to adapt to different working patterns, one of the things we can do is to work with nature, to not simply work the same hours all year round, but to perhaps flex them according to season. Something to consider, if you and your organisation are not yet doing this?
In addition to working with nature then, I also recommend we each individually look at working with our own nature.
Using my early morning cycling example, some of you may have read me saying I’d be up before 6 am on Sunday morning and thought: “this guy is crazy, that is TOO early!”. You see, I am an early bird and bounce out of bed when I wake up. Others are night owls, go out late, stay up late, but then often struggle to get up in the morning.
Some of this is nature, some of this is learned behaviour. For example, simple sleep science is that almost all of us need at least seven hours sleep a night, but if you go to bed at midnight and your alarm goes off at 6 am so you can get your early commuter train to be in time for the regimented start to the business day (and perhaps all of that can change for you these days!), you are simply not getting enough sleep.
Often in my work with leaders, they push themselves very hard, sometimes without much awareness of the impact of this on their performance (including the ability to maintain psychological and even emotional balance, sharpness of mind and more).
If relevant, I will work with them on their physical performance through awareness of their own nature then some often simple shifts and changes around core areas such as sleep, nutrition, exercise, natural pace.
As one example, I have worked with many clients to arrange their weekly diaries according to their own natural pace and styles. Some people want and need long periods of uninterrupted focus, so they block out those times. Using that example, some work best on such work early in the morning, some late in the day. Imagine taking time to look at all the different types of work and meetings you do and coordinating when you do them by the time of day, day of the week, then monthly and seasonally? It is always powerful for the individual and those they work with.
In business we already have time periods we work with (fiscal and calendar quarters and years etc, office hours and more). However, I see only very limited tailoring of our work to fit a) nature (seasons, temperatures etc) and b) the nature and styles of individuals, as well as c) the nature and style of work of different teams within a business (a topic for another day, perhaps!).
So, as you read this, likely on your Sunday morning, I encourage you to muse on this for yourself and those you lead.
If, after that, you would like to learn more, book a call with me and we can talk this through. I am also happy to recommend to you a specific indicator tool that I have used for many years that I find wonderful for bringing actionable self-awareness to your own natural pace and styles.