Legal news and trends for Canadian in-house counsel and c-suite executives
Issue link: https://digital.canadianlawyermag.com/i/1295479
www.canadianlawyermag.com/inhouse 31 Mental scarcity reduces all components of our mental bandwidth — we are less insightful and less forward-thinking; we have less mind to give to dreaming about that next breakthrough idea Carson Tate serves as a consultant and coach to executives at Fortune 500 companies, including AbbVie, Deloitte, EY, FedEx and Wells Fargo. The author of Work Simply: Embracing the Power of Your Personal Productivity Style, her views have been included in several publications, including Fast Company, Forbes, the Harvard Business Review blog, The New York Times and more. For more information, visit workingsimply.com. some time on YouTube watching funny videos, call a friend, take a walk or read for pure pleasure. It doesn't matter what it is as long as it brings you delight. Don't let mental scarcity rob you of your next big, bold, breakthrough idea. Support and nurture your creativity and impact by increasing your mental bandwidth, developing routines for regular tasks, automating email processing and cultivating joy. What's possible if you shifted your thinking to "What impact can I make today?" instead of "How much can I get done today?" Remember, you're in the driver's seat of your time, energy, attention, mental capacity — and impact. Automate the prioritization of incoming messages. The most important mental processes, such as prioritizing, often take the most effort and are energy-intensive. Let your email program automatically prioritize incoming messages. Colour-code your incoming message by sender priority. For example, you might colour-code your manager in red, your top clients in green and turn the messages where you are cc-ed to light grey. So, when you open your inbox, you can quickly scan them for the most urgent messages, such as those from your manager or key clients. Automate the filing of reference materials. Automatically file all of your reference materials, trade publications and industry news by writing a rule. For example, you might write a rule to file all of your trade publications in a folder named Trade Publication Reading. Now, when you open your inbox, it will only contain email messages that require action by you, and you won't waste precious time or mental energy sorting through messages you can read at a later date. Cultivate joy Great insights occur more frequently the more relaxed and happy you are. Take time during the workday to do something totally unrelated to work that brings you joy, makes you laugh or just makes you smile. Spend