Welcome Professionals…

…I am currently spending a week of vacation in a hotel with an all-inclusive offer on food and drinks. The supercharged buffets inspired me to write this week’s blog post. In this hotel you can eat and drink all around the clock. Since everything is paid for already, you just have to reach out for something and have it right away. Besides the three main meals in the restaurants, you get access to a host of snack bars which are spread across the hotel and pools. Before I even realized it, I found myself overeating on fastfood, softdrinks and ice cream.

I discovered that it takes quite a lot of will-power to go to the lunch buffet and just have a salad and some grilled fish despite of all the fragrant temptations. It takes a long term target (health), some core principles (skip sugar and fast carbs) and a mid-term plan (eat light to be mobile enough for the tennis match in the afternoon) to make wise food choices. This has quite some parallels to our business life it occurred to me.

In business we have a host of opportunities to fill our day. Before we know it, our day will be spent with checking emails and sitting in ineffective meetings. Emails and meetings are the sugar and fast carbs of business. For the short term, they make us feel busy, but there is a great risk of missing our long-term target if we indulge in them. Our days will be crammed with ballast and we will feel reactive and unflexible.

Only a clear long-term target, some derived key principles and a mid-term plan will enable us to withstand the distracting temptations and focus on deep work. I personally have made good experience with re-visiting my long-term targets once a month in a planning session and putting the mid-term plan into my calendar. My key principles are always with me in on a notes page in my briefcase. I shared them with my assistant so that she can operate in line with them when booking my time.

What is your sugar in your business day? How do you stay focused on your business targets and away from the temptations? Let me know.

Malte

Thursday Night Flight is brought to you by Malte Müller Professionals. Sharing best practices for top management consultants on topics like communication, client handling, problem solving, appearance, and fitness. Check out www.mm-professionals.com for more material and free resources!