Businesses lose long-term thinking by staying trapped in short-term urgency. Block calendar time to reflect without devices, apply the 80/20 rule to focus on what matters most, and cut activities like constant escalations that drain time without strategic value.
Chapters
How do we get into that idea of long-term thinking when we're so boxed into thinking about the next day, the next week, the next month, and the next accounting cycle? How can you develop that self-awareness to start planning beyond that immediate requirement that you have?
It's a really relevant question, actually, because just this week I sat with the team and actually reflected on that, which is it's so easy to just spin the wheel. And there's so much going on in everyone's day to day. I think we could all fill multiple days in one day's worth of work and keep going. I think you've got to force yourself to take a moment to step back. And I think that what works for me is you carve out the time. So in your calendar, you block out the time, you're unavailable, you turn off your devices, and actually it's just taking a moment. And then you take a step back and think, and you think, right, what are we actually here to do? Where can you make an impact as an individual in terms of the remit that you're covering? And what is the plan of getting there? And actually the other component is on everything that we're working on, there's no debate, A, that there'll be a Pareto rule of 80/20. So why are we focusing then? Normally it's organic to focus quite equally on things as they come in. And then what are the topics that are really going to make a difference for the company that we work for and ultimately for the consumer? And then the second component is where, and I think of this for myself, where am I not spending a disproportionate amount of time that actually when you take a step back and you think and you plan and you assess, you say, this is where I should be spending the time. I have to do that far more regularly than I do because you do get sucked into topics, into things, into escalations. And so I think that's such an important muscle to continue to just bring to the forefront and to develop because with that focus, I think then you just become a lot more efficient in where you spend your time.
