UNSW Finance

How to be less busy and more deliberate with our time

Pre-Survey: Analysis on how UNSW Finance staff spend their time at work

“I think there needs to be a meeting to set an agenda for more meetings about meetings.” ― Jonah Goldberg

• Based on the feedback across UNSW finance, people are working more than 10 hrs a day.

• 47% of people’s time is spent on emails/meetings.41% of the time is spent producing output.

• More than 10% of people’s workday spent on social media (though is only a subset of respondents).

a typical meetinghttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7agjXFFQJU

So, how much does a one hour meeting at UNSW cost the organisation?

https://hbr.org/2016/01/estimate-the-cost-of-a-meeting-with-this-calculator

The Eisenhower matrix: How do you prioritise your tasks?

Group ExerciseIn your groups, place the activities below into the appropriate quadrant of the matrix:

• Prepare analysis for the CFO by tomorrow

• Meet and get to know a key stakeholder / customer

• Clear your Inbox

• Register attendance for Christmas party

• Share an interesting article about the Higher Education sector on yammer

• Join a volunteer group you’ve been wanting to do for a while

• Set your team’s top priorities for the next 3 months

The Eisenhower matrix: How do you prioritise your tasks?

Urgent Not UrgentImportant Quadrant 1

• Deadline driven projects• Crises• Pressing problems

Quadrant 2

• Stakeholder management• Building key work relationships• Strategic planning• Professional training &

development

Not Important

Quadrant 3

• Interruptions• Reading group work e-mails• Schedule upcoming meeting

Quadrant 4

• Time wasters• Social media• Office gossip• Clear junk e-mail

The Eisenhower matrix: How do you prioritise your tasks?

Getting things done: How do you make progress on your important tasks?

Group Exercise

• In your groups, share at least one of your own productivity hacks.

• Document your team’s hacks on the flip-charts provided.

Digital Attendees: Type your productivity hacks into the zoom chat.

B o d y M a n t r a

Mindfulness in the Workplace

Corrie Buchanan

©

For the Stress Heads & Overthinkers who want to create calmness & ride all day on a unicorn with rainbows & skittles, whilst having a ROCKSTAR career in Finance.

Mindfulness in the workplace

• The mind is a set of cognitive functions that enables perception, thinking, judgement and memory.

• According to a Harvard study, the average human has over 85 000 thoughts per day.

• Conscious mind v Subconscious mind.

• Mind generally lives in the PAST or FUTURE.

What is the mind?

• Buzz word in the wellness industry.

• Mindfulness is attending to what is happening in the present moment without judgement or interpretation.

• It’s a practice but also an outcome.

• The mind is like a muscle, and like any other muscle in the body you can train it.

• “ You have two choices, control your mind or let you mind control you” Paulo Coelho

What is mindfulness?

• Science is quickly catching up to the understanding the benefits and we are at the start of health revolution when it comes to finding out about the impacts of mindfulness.

• Elite Athletes to CEO, Fortune 500 companies.

• “Mindfulness has increased my ability to stay focused & reach my peak performance. If we all trained our minds as much as we trained our bodies we would achieve our potential” Novak Djokovic, Ranked #1 T i Pl

Why create mindfulness?

• Improves Stress Management – PNS v SNS

• Improves clarity and FOCUS which in turn creates productivity in the workplace

• Improves your time management as you will be more deliberate and intentional, due to a heightened sense of self awareness.

• Ability to React v Respond

Why create mindfulness? cont.

• It is religious.• That it is easy. • It is only practiced during meditation. • Mindfulness is synonymous with joy.• That you have to sit crossed legged, wear

mala beads and be a hippy woo-woo.

Challenges of mindfulness

Myths of mindfulness

• I don’t have the time. • My mind wanders off & I cant stay focused. • Difficult feelings/emotions/uncomfortable.

• Focusing on one of the 5 senses. Sound, Touch, Vision, Smell, Taste.

• BREATH. It is your number one tool that you can access to bring about mindfulness.

• Create Mindfulness Moments

• 3 * 3 method

How to create mindfulness

1. Identify 3 different physical objects in the room.

2. Name the first object, take one deep breath.

3. Name the second object, take a deep breath.

4. Name the third object, take a deep breath.

5. Repeat 3 times.

6. Be careful not to add subjective descriptions about the object. “I really like this clock”

7. We do this in our minds only, not out loud.

8. It’s so simple that you are sceptical?.....

3 * 3 Method

1. How can you apply this to your workday?

2. We all experience repeated stress in our work lives that tax our ability to stay present in the current moment & remain focused. We waste our most precious resource-“time”.

3. Mindfulness practice will anchor you back to the present so that you can become the best possible version of you in the workplace.

4. Get a promotion and ride on into the sunset, preferably on a unicorn.

Taking this forward

In conclusionOur 3 key questions to take away:

- What is the business cost of being busy (emails, meetings, etc)?

- What is the “cost” to you personally?

- How can you apply this to your workday?

Your feedback, please

Or enter the following link on your phone:https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/5QTNPDJ

QR Code for feedback survey

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