1 00:00:04,320 --> 00:00:06,680 Speaker 1: Welcome to How I Work, a show about the tactics 2 00:00:06,760 --> 00:00:09,039 Speaker 1: used by leading innovators to get so much out of 3 00:00:09,080 --> 00:00:09,479 Speaker 1: their day. 4 00:00:09,880 --> 00:00:11,080 Speaker 2: I'm your host, Doctor Amad. 5 00:00:11,680 --> 00:00:15,960 Speaker 1: I'm an organizational psychologist, the founder of innovation consultancy Inventium, 6 00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:19,759 Speaker 1: and I'm obsessed with finding ways to optimize my work day. 7 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:23,800 Speaker 1: Today's mini episode is a little bit different because I 8 00:00:23,840 --> 00:00:27,000 Speaker 1: want to introduce you to a project that I am 9 00:00:27,120 --> 00:00:29,880 Speaker 1: launching this year that I will love you to be 10 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:32,880 Speaker 1: a part of. So let me give you some context. 11 00:00:34,000 --> 00:00:37,880 Speaker 1: So back to twenty nineteen. I definitely didn't start the 12 00:00:37,960 --> 00:00:40,760 Speaker 1: year thinking that it would be the year that my 13 00:00:40,880 --> 00:00:45,159 Speaker 1: life would change dramatically, but that is exactly what happened. 14 00:00:46,040 --> 00:00:48,240 Speaker 2: So the year started uneventfully enough. 15 00:00:48,440 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: I was CEO of the innovation consultancy that I founded 16 00:00:51,400 --> 00:00:54,160 Speaker 1: over a decade ago, invent Him. I was married to 17 00:00:54,200 --> 00:00:56,960 Speaker 1: a man who'd been my partner for about thirteen years, 18 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:00,680 Speaker 1: and I was the mother of the most divine nearly 19 00:01:00,840 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 1: five year old girl, Frankie. But by the end of 20 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,120 Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, I had separated from my husband. 21 00:01:08,240 --> 00:01:09,800 Speaker 2: I was a single, working mum. 22 00:01:10,000 --> 00:01:13,280 Speaker 1: I'd also step down from being CEO of Inventium, which 23 00:01:13,400 --> 00:01:15,880 Speaker 1: was a choice that I made because I wanted to 24 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:19,319 Speaker 1: go back to being a full time maker, and Inventium 25 00:01:19,400 --> 00:01:20,160 Speaker 1: was in the middle of. 26 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:21,880 Speaker 2: Undergoing a big strategic. 27 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:25,680 Speaker 1: Repositioning which we are very close to launching and stop 28 00:01:25,680 --> 00:01:27,120 Speaker 1: it all off. I was about to move to a 29 00:01:27,200 --> 00:01:31,119 Speaker 1: new home in a brand new suburb, and as if 30 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:34,160 Speaker 1: that wasn't enough, my ex husband and I had decided 31 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:37,959 Speaker 1: to bird's Nest, which is where our daughter would spend 32 00:01:38,000 --> 00:01:40,120 Speaker 1: one hundred percent of her time in the family home, 33 00:01:40,360 --> 00:01:45,600 Speaker 1: and myself and my ex would sub in and out 34 00:01:45,680 --> 00:01:47,800 Speaker 1: until I found a new home to live in. So 35 00:01:47,880 --> 00:01:51,040 Speaker 1: this resulted in not spending more than four nights in 36 00:01:51,080 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: a row in the same bed. 37 00:01:52,480 --> 00:01:53,800 Speaker 2: Four or five months. 38 00:01:54,200 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: So by the year's end, my psychologist kindly described me 39 00:01:57,800 --> 00:02:01,720 Speaker 1: as having diminished capacity, and to me that felt like 40 00:02:01,880 --> 00:02:06,760 Speaker 1: quite the understatement. So while I'd actively chosen every one 41 00:02:06,760 --> 00:02:10,160 Speaker 1: of those changes, it was still stressful, and I found 42 00:02:10,160 --> 00:02:12,960 Speaker 1: myself going from the highest of highest to the lowest 43 00:02:13,000 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: of lows over the course of hours, depending on what 44 00:02:15,320 --> 00:02:18,320 Speaker 1: life threw at me. Now, as you know as a 45 00:02:18,360 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: listener of this podcast, a large part of my work 46 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:23,520 Speaker 1: involves teaching people how to find focus at work and 47 00:02:23,560 --> 00:02:26,800 Speaker 1: optimize their time and back when I had stability in 48 00:02:26,840 --> 00:02:29,320 Speaker 1: my life, I practiced what I preached. I went to 49 00:02:29,360 --> 00:02:31,320 Speaker 1: bed at the same time every night and woke at 50 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:33,360 Speaker 1: the same time every morning, five point thirty am. 51 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:34,440 Speaker 2: Even on weekends. 52 00:02:34,880 --> 00:02:38,600 Speaker 1: I rarely checked my email before lunch as my out 53 00:02:38,600 --> 00:02:42,640 Speaker 1: of office auto responder informed people, and I trained myself 54 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:44,800 Speaker 1: out of doing the just check of my phone or 55 00:02:44,800 --> 00:02:47,480 Speaker 1: email when I felt stuck on a big project. And 56 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,000 Speaker 1: I was good at keeping focused on the big projects 57 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:53,360 Speaker 1: that mattered. But what I found when so much of 58 00:02:53,400 --> 00:02:56,359 Speaker 1: my mental energy was put towards coping with the enormous 59 00:02:56,440 --> 00:02:59,400 Speaker 1: change in day to day stresses, I found that bad 60 00:02:59,440 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 1: habits start to creep back in. So I observed myself 61 00:03:03,040 --> 00:03:07,079 Speaker 1: craving the just check relief that email provides and giving 62 00:03:07,120 --> 00:03:11,160 Speaker 1: into it sirens song far too frequently, and for me, 63 00:03:11,240 --> 00:03:15,040 Speaker 1: I became inconsistent with my sleep waking schedule, and when 64 00:03:15,080 --> 00:03:18,680 Speaker 1: I came home at night, I too frequently found myself 65 00:03:18,720 --> 00:03:21,560 Speaker 1: collapsing in front of Netflix because my mind simply had 66 00:03:21,600 --> 00:03:25,239 Speaker 1: no capacity to engage in anything requiring mental energy, such 67 00:03:25,240 --> 00:03:28,799 Speaker 1: as reading, which was my previous go to nighttime activity. 68 00:03:29,639 --> 00:03:33,080 Speaker 1: So I knew I needed to change and to be 69 00:03:33,120 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 1: honest I felt quite ashamed of the gap between the 70 00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:38,360 Speaker 1: teachings that I was sprouting and how I'd started to behave, 71 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,760 Speaker 1: And in amongst the angst, an idea for. 72 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 2: A project came to mind. 73 00:03:43,760 --> 00:03:46,200 Speaker 1: So a new decade was about to clock over, and 74 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:48,560 Speaker 1: it now has, of course, and I decided that twenty 75 00:03:48,560 --> 00:03:51,960 Speaker 1: twenty would be my year of Better. I would get 76 00:03:51,960 --> 00:03:54,440 Speaker 1: things back on track, and well not just back on track, 77 00:03:54,480 --> 00:03:55,760 Speaker 1: but even better. 78 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,280 Speaker 2: Than they were before. I thought that this could be 79 00:03:58,280 --> 00:03:58,720 Speaker 2: the ear. 80 00:03:58,600 --> 00:04:01,520 Speaker 1: Where I'd try new things, form new habits, and reach 81 00:04:01,640 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: new heights. So through my work I come across many 82 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:08,600 Speaker 1: ideas and strategies that look interesting when it comes to 83 00:04:08,640 --> 00:04:11,720 Speaker 1: improving one's life, and I often make a note of them, 84 00:04:11,840 --> 00:04:14,000 Speaker 1: but then life happens and then I fail to do 85 00:04:14,040 --> 00:04:17,839 Speaker 1: anything with them. But in this project, my Year of Better, 86 00:04:18,480 --> 00:04:21,839 Speaker 1: I'm committing to trying as many new strategies as possible. 87 00:04:22,120 --> 00:04:24,240 Speaker 1: So every week or two I'm going to pick a 88 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:27,600 Speaker 1: new strategy and test it through running an experiment on myself. 89 00:04:28,320 --> 00:04:28,880 Speaker 2: So I set a. 90 00:04:28,839 --> 00:04:32,200 Speaker 1: Baseline, apply the strategy, and then evaluate the impact of 91 00:04:32,240 --> 00:04:33,520 Speaker 1: the conclusion of the experiment. 92 00:04:34,400 --> 00:04:37,320 Speaker 2: So an experimental approach is the key to this project. 93 00:04:37,440 --> 00:04:40,080 Speaker 1: Because as a psychologist, I think that the way we 94 00:04:40,160 --> 00:04:41,120 Speaker 1: think about. 95 00:04:40,920 --> 00:04:42,320 Speaker 2: Change is all wrong. 96 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:45,800 Speaker 1: Like we assume that to create change we need things 97 00:04:45,839 --> 00:04:47,000 Speaker 1: like will power. 98 00:04:46,800 --> 00:04:49,320 Speaker 2: And grit and dedication, and we. 99 00:04:49,240 --> 00:04:51,480 Speaker 1: Assume that we need to create a plan and stick 100 00:04:51,520 --> 00:04:54,599 Speaker 1: to it, and then we put enormous pressure on ourselves 101 00:04:54,600 --> 00:04:58,120 Speaker 1: to adhere to said plan, and then when we fail 102 00:04:58,279 --> 00:05:00,960 Speaker 1: to stick to it, we beat ourselves up and often 103 00:05:01,000 --> 00:05:03,599 Speaker 1: feel worse than we did before we try to change. 104 00:05:03,880 --> 00:05:07,000 Speaker 1: So this leads to a vicious cycle whereby we then 105 00:05:07,080 --> 00:05:10,840 Speaker 1: start to doubt our ability to change. So to make 106 00:05:10,920 --> 00:05:13,839 Speaker 1: change easy, we need to remove the pressure and shift 107 00:05:13,960 --> 00:05:18,800 Speaker 1: our focus. So change typically starts with the goal might 108 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 1: be lose five pounds by Christmas, run a marathon, maintain 109 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:25,280 Speaker 1: a daily mindfulness practice. And what goals do is they 110 00:05:25,279 --> 00:05:28,120 Speaker 1: create pressure and they put us into a state of failure. 111 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:32,480 Speaker 1: Before we've even started to change our efforts, we're already behind. 112 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:34,560 Speaker 2: We're five pounds behind. 113 00:05:35,600 --> 00:05:39,360 Speaker 1: Instead, we need to shift our focus to learning, and 114 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:43,880 Speaker 1: we do this through adopting an experimental mindset and process. So, 115 00:05:44,000 --> 00:05:46,599 Speaker 1: like any good scientists, we need to develop a hypothesis 116 00:05:46,680 --> 00:05:50,560 Speaker 1: or an educated guess, carry out an experiment, and impartially 117 00:05:50,600 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: observe what happens. So instead of losing five pounds by Christmas, 118 00:05:54,520 --> 00:05:57,599 Speaker 1: we might hypothesize that exercising every day will lead to 119 00:05:57,600 --> 00:06:01,200 Speaker 1: weight loss. We then design an experiment whereby we implement 120 00:06:01,240 --> 00:06:04,000 Speaker 1: that intervention an hour of exercise a day, set a 121 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:06,719 Speaker 1: time frame for the experiment, say eight weeks, and observe 122 00:06:06,760 --> 00:06:11,040 Speaker 1: what happens. So an experimental approach takes the pressure away 123 00:06:11,120 --> 00:06:13,880 Speaker 1: and puts you into a state of learning rather than performance. 124 00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:16,920 Speaker 1: So instead of feeling pressure to achieve your results, your 125 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:20,840 Speaker 1: focus becomes simply on learning whether the intervention you're trying 126 00:06:20,920 --> 00:06:25,160 Speaker 1: will work. So experiments take away the inevitable guilt of failure. 127 00:06:25,600 --> 00:06:29,320 Speaker 1: If an experiment doesn't work, that is, produce the desired change, 128 00:06:29,560 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: you can simply move on to the next experiment. And finally, 129 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:36,520 Speaker 1: experiments provide a sense of progress through metrics. Because experiments 130 00:06:36,520 --> 00:06:39,880 Speaker 1: start with baseline measure followed by a post experiment measure, 131 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,680 Speaker 1: you'll be able to reserve progress in the form of data. 132 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:46,480 Speaker 1: And that's the crux of what this project is about. 133 00:06:46,960 --> 00:06:51,279 Speaker 1: It's about adopting an experimental mindset to creating what will 134 00:06:51,279 --> 00:06:56,000 Speaker 1: hopefully be long lasting change in your life. Now, at 135 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:59,240 Speaker 1: this point, you're probably wondering what will these experiments consist of. 136 00:07:00,000 --> 00:07:03,800 Speaker 1: But for a strategy to be considered experiment worthy, it 137 00:07:03,839 --> 00:07:08,200 Speaker 1: needs to pass specific criteria. There are five criteria that 138 00:07:08,240 --> 00:07:10,080 Speaker 1: I've come up with. So firstly, it needs to be 139 00:07:10,080 --> 00:07:13,120 Speaker 1: science backed. As you know, I'm a science geek at heart, 140 00:07:13,200 --> 00:07:16,360 Speaker 1: and I'm not overly interested in trying something unless there's 141 00:07:16,360 --> 00:07:19,760 Speaker 1: evidence behind it, So for every experiment, the strategy will 142 00:07:19,800 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: be evidence based. Criteria Number two, it needs to be 143 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:25,320 Speaker 1: testable within one to two weeks. So while there are 144 00:07:25,400 --> 00:07:27,400 Speaker 1: lots of things that can and should be tested over 145 00:07:27,440 --> 00:07:29,840 Speaker 1: a longer period of time, I'm more interested in things 146 00:07:29,880 --> 00:07:32,040 Speaker 1: that will provide a rapid sense of progress. 147 00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:34,040 Speaker 2: Number three, it. 148 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:35,920 Speaker 1: Needs to be simple to do so, given one of 149 00:07:35,920 --> 00:07:38,680 Speaker 1: the barriers to change is that it is hard, I'm 150 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:41,200 Speaker 1: going to attempt to remove this barrier by finding things 151 00:07:41,200 --> 00:07:43,200 Speaker 1: that are fairly straightforward to implement. 152 00:07:44,480 --> 00:07:46,240 Speaker 2: Fourth criteria is that it's free. 153 00:07:46,320 --> 00:07:48,160 Speaker 1: I don't want finance to be a barrier to change, 154 00:07:48,160 --> 00:07:50,240 Speaker 1: so every experiment will be free to try. 155 00:07:50,840 --> 00:07:53,240 Speaker 2: And finally, they're going to be novel. 156 00:07:53,800 --> 00:07:55,760 Speaker 1: So there are a lot of strategies written about in 157 00:07:55,800 --> 00:07:58,160 Speaker 1: the media that are now very much in the mainstream, So, 158 00:07:58,240 --> 00:08:01,320 Speaker 1: for example, meditation and mindfulness strategies that receive a lot 159 00:08:01,360 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 1: of airtime, and to be honest, it probably would have 160 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:06,400 Speaker 1: tried them if you wanted to. So instead, I'm going 161 00:08:06,440 --> 00:08:08,960 Speaker 1: to be finding less well known strategies that will improve 162 00:08:09,040 --> 00:08:12,360 Speaker 1: your life. And this is where you come in. So 163 00:08:12,600 --> 00:08:15,280 Speaker 1: I'm not sure if you've set New Year's resolutions or goals, 164 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:17,400 Speaker 1: or if you're on a mission to improve yourself in 165 00:08:17,400 --> 00:08:20,240 Speaker 1: twenty twenty, or maybe you're just on a constant mission 166 00:08:20,280 --> 00:08:22,120 Speaker 1: to do this and maybe that's why you listen to 167 00:08:22,120 --> 00:08:24,600 Speaker 1: this podcast. So if this sounds like you, I would 168 00:08:24,680 --> 00:08:26,160 Speaker 1: love you to play along at home. 169 00:08:26,800 --> 00:08:28,320 Speaker 2: So if you're game what I will do. 170 00:08:28,480 --> 00:08:30,760 Speaker 1: I'm going to send you a new experiment to try 171 00:08:30,800 --> 00:08:33,920 Speaker 1: every week or two. It's going to be simple, grounded 172 00:08:33,960 --> 00:08:36,960 Speaker 1: in science, and it won't require too much time to implement. 173 00:08:37,720 --> 00:08:39,720 Speaker 1: You'll need to complete a quick pre and post survey 174 00:08:39,760 --> 00:08:42,000 Speaker 1: so that we can track change, and if you've got 175 00:08:42,040 --> 00:08:43,319 Speaker 1: anecdotal feedback to. 176 00:08:43,320 --> 00:08:44,720 Speaker 2: Share, that would be awesome. 177 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:46,600 Speaker 1: And by the end of the year, I can guarantee 178 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:49,480 Speaker 1: that if you stick with it, you will be better. 179 00:08:50,200 --> 00:08:53,400 Speaker 1: So you're under no obligation to try every strategy, but 180 00:08:53,440 --> 00:08:55,640 Speaker 1: I think it's fair to assume that the more you try, 181 00:08:55,760 --> 00:08:58,360 Speaker 1: the more you will gain from this project. So we're 182 00:08:58,360 --> 00:09:00,360 Speaker 1: going to be getting our hands dirty doing things such 183 00:09:00,360 --> 00:09:04,680 Speaker 1: as creating a failure resume, spending time deliberately being bored, 184 00:09:05,040 --> 00:09:07,679 Speaker 1: and spending a week saying yes to everything, and so 185 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,599 Speaker 1: much more so. If you are keen to be a 186 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 1: lab rat in my lab becoming Better, just go to 187 00:09:15,360 --> 00:09:19,199 Speaker 1: my Year off Better dot com. That's my Year of 188 00:09:19,320 --> 00:09:21,760 Speaker 1: Better dot com and I'll put that url in the 189 00:09:21,760 --> 00:09:23,280 Speaker 1: show notes and sign up. 190 00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:24,560 Speaker 2: It's completely free. 191 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:27,920 Speaker 1: All I ask is that I can aggregate your data, 192 00:09:27,960 --> 00:09:30,400 Speaker 1: which'll all remain anonymous, just to see which strategies are 193 00:09:30,400 --> 00:09:32,800 Speaker 1: having the biggest impact, which I will of course report 194 00:09:32,880 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 1: back on. So if you're up for it, I'm very 195 00:09:36,000 --> 00:09:39,240 Speaker 1: much looking forward to having you in my lab. 196 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:42,040 Speaker 2: So that is it for today's show. 197 00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:46,040 Speaker 1: If you're enjoying how I work, and perhaps if you 198 00:09:46,080 --> 00:09:48,320 Speaker 1: know people that you think would be interested in joining 199 00:09:48,520 --> 00:09:51,080 Speaker 1: in this project of my Year of Better, why not 200 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:54,000 Speaker 1: share this episode with them or share the url my 201 00:09:54,160 --> 00:09:57,959 Speaker 1: Year of beetter dot com and I will see you 202 00:09:58,000 --> 00:09:58,520 Speaker 1: next time.