How to work in Difficult times, a collection of psychology and time management techniques to help people enjoy work a bit more and get a bit more done. key areas: - Being Frustrated/Annoyed at things happening to you - Feeling Overwhelmed - Too much work to do - Dealing with Other people - Feeling pressure, stress, anxiety

1. Pete Gowers/Mark Wilson
How to work in difficult Times
- The art of Control
• Accept the things I cannot change
• Have Courage to change the things I can
• Have the Wisdom to know the difference
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2. How to work in difficult times?
1. Frustrated/Annoyed at things happening to you
2. Overwhelmed - Too much work to do
3. Other people
4. Feeling pressure, stress, anxiety?
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3. 1. Frustrated/Annoyed at things
happening to you
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4. 1. BUSINESS 2. TECH/SCIENCE
3. PSYCHOLOGY 4. PHILOSOPHY
Quote Quiz
“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide
your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your
mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you
control your own destiny.”
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5. 3. PSYCHOLOGY
“The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide
your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your
mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize that you
control your own destiny.”
Albert Ellis
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6. Things that have an impact on you…
/ your day
• Other people
• Your boss
• The past
• Your immediate reactions
• What you do / Your actions
• Ford strategies
• Your workload
• How you feel
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7. Locus of Control
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Things you cannot influence
Things you can influence
But not control
Things you
can control
Other people
Your immediate reactions
The past
What happens when your well-being depends on
controlling something you can only Influence at best?
Ford’s Strategies
Your boss
Your Workload?
What you do?
How you feel

8. 2. Overwhelmed - Too much work to do
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9. 1. BUSINESS 2. TECH/SCIENCE
3. PSYCHOLOGY 4. PHILOSOPHY
Quote Quiz
“When you die, your inbox
won’t be empty”
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10. 1. BUSINESS
“When you die, your inbox
won’t be empty”
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11. Techniques that can help
(with too much work)
• Task Lists
• Manage your boss
• Deal with procrastination
• Simple Time management
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12. Task Lists
• If you have too much to do, then pretending
you’ll do it doesn’t help anyone, especially you.
• If you don’t know how much you have to do or
what your priorities are then you are stuffed.
• A task list can be anything, outlook tasks, paper,
excel, word or even an email
– What it can’t be is your inbox, that’s impossible to
prioritise.
• Remember workload is infinite. In the end all you
can do is your hours, work hard and prioritise.
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13. Managing upwards: Help your Boss to
Help you
• You may want your boss to fix workload for you, but only
one person really knows what you have to you.
• Then you need to have 1x1’s to agree what you’re doing
and what you’re not doing.
• If you produce a task list and discuss with your boss the
priorities and agree what you can’t do.
• If you are in conflict with your boss, then that’s trouble. if
you ever don’t agree with your boss, there are 2 options.
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― You
― If things are high pressure then they can be shorter and
more frequent, even daily stand ups if needed.
― Then they can own the things you can’t do.
― Convince them of your way.
― Do it their way.

14. Procrastination – A Definition
• Are you busy, but maybe not on the right stuff?
– Look at yesterday did you do the highest value
stuff?
• Do you struggle to start because you’re
overwhelmed?
“Putting off something that it is in your interests to do,
at a time when it is in your best interests to do it.”
(Windy Dryden)
We might also add, “for the sake of something that is
less in our interests.”
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15. 1. BUSINESS 2. TECH/SCIENCE
3. PSYCHOLOGY 4. PHILOSOPHY
Quote Quiz
“the beginning in every task is the
chief thing”
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16. “the beginning in every task is the
chief thing”
Plato
4. PHILOSOPHY
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17. Work out why and then go for it
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Cause Action
Guilt or shame that you haven’t
done the task already
The task is something you resent,
maybe you do other things to
prove your autonomy in the
world
You can be overwhelmed by
everything you have to do and
put off everything as a result
You can be afraid of the task, that
it will be unpleasant, not being
able to do it or not able to do it
to a standard you’d like
Accept where you are today
and plan for the future
Maybe your activities are
not in your interests and
you may choose to change
them
You could just need a list
so you can focus on just
one thing for now
Choose to accept the fear
as natural and do it anyway,
accept you can tolerate
unpleasantness

18. Simple Time management
YOUR DAY
Meeting 1
Meeting 2
Meeting 3
Meeting 4
Meeting
5
Meeting
6
Task 1
Task 2
Task 3
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19. 3. Other People
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20. 1. BUSINESS 2. TECH/SCIENCE
3. PSYCHOLOGY 4. PHILOSOPHY
Quote Quiz
“Insanity, doing the same thing again
and expecting a different result.”
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21. 2. TECH/SCIENCE
“Insanity, doing the same thing again
and expecting a different result.”
Albert Einstein
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22. Working with others
• Do you want people to like and value you?
• Does what you’re doing now get you all the
recognition and appreciation you want?
• Remember Einstein
“Insanity, doing the same thing again and expecting
a different result.”
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23. Remember - Locus of Control
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Things you cannot influence
Things you can influence
But not control
Things you
can control
Other people
Your boss
What you do?

24. Compliments
• People like genuine compliments, think of the
impact it has on you.
• If you want more: Look for ways to genuinely
compliment others.
– Did you do that with co-workers/subordinates
today?
– How about with your boss?
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25. Focus on what’s been achieved
• Task lists are essential, but they are list of
thing you haven’t yet done.
– Do you celebrate success?
– Recognise yourself as well as others or it’ll be a
long year until you look back.
– Have a what’s better list or do 3 blessings, what
went well and why.
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26. Three Good Things
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZOGAp9dw8Ac&feature=related
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27. Managing Conflict
• Everyone clashes with other people
• Priorities, ways of working, communication
style, or just disagreements
• Find the common ground
― People are different, individual – this is a good thing
― Truth : No one comes to work to intentionally do a bad job
― Align on how you do work, guidelines and establish
working norms
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28. 4. Feeling pressure, stress, anxiety?
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29. 1. BUSINESS 2. TECH/SCIENCE
3. PSYCHOLOGY 4. PHILOSOPHY
Quote Quiz
“When everything seems to be going
against you, remember that the airplane
takes off against the wind, not with it. ”
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30. 1. BUSINESS
“When everything seems to be going
against you, remember that the airplane
takes off against the wind, not with it. ”
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31. Feeling rubbish?
• Are you ruminating? Did it go home with you?
• What do you feel rubbish about?
– If you don’t know try brainstorming possible reasons
• In and out of work
• Then try scoring them.
– Once you have an idea you can:
• Problem solve – do something different.
• Get Help, brainstorm sources, you have the answers for you.
• Distraction
• Cognitively Reappraise
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32. Scoring what may be happening
• Boss didn’t like report
• My partner was grumpy this morning
• I don’t have an up to date task list
• Someone cut me up on the road this morning
• I haven’t had a holiday in a while
• I didn’t sleep well last night
• I feel isolated in my job right now
8
4
6
5
4
7
9
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33. Accepting the worst
• Do you think you’ll be fired?
• Will you be physically hurt?
• Will you be bullied?
• Is the worst case is some people with be
disappointed and upset with you.
– Realise that you can accept that scenario and the
fear goes, then you can focus on delivery and even
doing so happily.
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34. ABCD Video

35. 1. BUSINESS 2. TECH/SCIENCE
3. PSYCHOLOGY 4. PHILOSOPHY
Quote Quiz
“People think focus means saying yes to the
thing you've got to focus on. But that's not
what it means at all. It means saying no to
the hundred other good ideas that there are”
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36. 2. TECH/SCIENCE
Steve Jobs
“People think focus means saying yes to the
thing you've got to focus on. But that's not
what it means at all. It means saying no to
the hundred other good ideas that there are”
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37. Any Questions
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38. References/More reading
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Locus_of_control
• How To Win Friends And Influence People, Dale Carnegie. Vermilion; New
edition edition (6 April 2006) ISBN-13: 978-0091906818
• Ten Steps to Positive Living By Windy Dryden (Jun , 2003), SHELDON
PRESS
• Three Blessings - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RT2vKMyIQwc
• Humourous ABCD ref – Windy Dryden
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J_frDwckrys
• Overcoming Procrastination, A. Ellis , W. Knaus, Penguin; Reissue edition
(Oct 1983), ISBN-13: 978-0451159311
• Learned Optimism: How to Change Your Mind and Your Life, Martin E. P
Seligman, Vintage Books USA; Reprint edition (14 Mar 2006) , ISBN-13:
978-1400078394
• Summary of ‘Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, and it’s all small stuff’ by
Richard Carlson, Ph.D. http://x.ford.com/sweat
• Feel The Fear And Do It Anyway: How to Turn Your Fear and Indecision
into Confidence and Action, Susan Jeffers, Vermilion (4 Jan 2007) ISBN-13:
978-0091907075
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