OFF-MUTE 🔈
🤔 When's the last time you had a great idea while staring at your email?
🤷♀️ Probably never. We sure haven’t, and creativity is core to our work.
😅 It's tough to complete a thought, never mind a great thought, amid all that noise while we’re watching those emails stack up and hearing consecutive Slack pings, demanding equal attention right NOW.
📱Yet, we check our phones 344 times per day (let’s be honest, it’s likely more) — all while trying to get work done.
🚨 Multitasking is actually a myth. Daniel Goleman, psychologist and author of “Focus”, says that we cannot hold more than one thing at a time in our “working memory.”
💡 This makes sense. And we believe that big idea ideas come to those who are well-rested. But you must be intentional in creating space to think (and recharge).
🌅 As summer winds down, we’re sharing timely advice from our CEO Beth Monaghan on how to stay creative in our fast-paced work life (because our accomplishments should be bigger than zeroing out our message alerts):
🚫 Set email and messaging boundaries. We have a no work communications rule between the hours of 7 p.m. and 7 a.m. to encourage employees to unplug. It started off with email and now it also applies to Slack. It would be nice if no one contacted you during those times, but that’s out of our control. Messaging boundaries have to come from within. If I respond to messages at 10 p.m. I train people that I’m available then. Having a system for contacting me during emergencies helps make this boundary possible — we rely on the old fashioned phone call for these.
💬 Take a break from the news feed. It’s a hard time to do media relations and social media for a living. What do you do when you have to live on the doom scroll for work? Well, we remind ourselves that it serves many good purposes. It enables us to stay informed about the news; find connections during crises; build thought leadership platforms; establish and grow businesses; connect with customers, employees and press; and even take a stand against racial injustice. But, it’s unhealthy to live there 24x7. When we take breaks, we come back with new perspectives and more patience for the nonsense.
🌴 Plan downtime. Whether it’s a trip or a staycation, plot out your PTO – otherwise, you won’t take it. When you’re away from work, you're creating space to recharge your mind and body, which will help you come back with new ideas and renewed energy. At Inkhouse, we trust our employees to take as much as they need because we hire smart, responsible people who use good judgment. We believe our work should be measured by ideas and results, not by how long tethered our people are to their screens. We also encourage them to delete their social apps from their phones when they’re on vacation.
⚡️ Find focus. Block off time on the calendar to crank through tasks and projects. Time scheduled for work should be valued equally as time scheduled for meetings. We avoid meetings and video calls on the Fridays that we work. Not sure how to communicate that you’re heads down writing or planning? Check out our Slack status guidelines below for ideas.
💃 Flip the script. We can all get stuck doing things the way we’ve always done them. We know someone who intentionally walks different routes to the gym each week because she notices new things that way. Why not apply that philosophy to the repetitive work tasks we all face? Look at everything – processes, experiences, tools and approaches – in a new way and don’t be afraid to change things up!
💬 Collaborate on- and off-line. We’ve all been isolated enough. Whether you’re fully remote or still go to an office, human connection is one of the best creativity catalysts there is. And sometimes you just need an IRL brainstorm or whiteboard session to hear new perspectives and break through the noise in your head. Let people collaborate the way they want (and need) to.
🧘♀️ Stay centered. Being chained to your desk for eight hours a day does not equate to a day well spent. Give yourself permission to step outside, drink tea, call a friend or simply sit quietly. These brief moments of distance allow unprompted and unfiltered ideas to jolt through the chaos. They also allow us to collect our thoughts and emotions and keep us in control of our reactions and demeanor for the remainder of the work day. When we’re kind to ourselves, we’re kinder to others. It’s a fact.
