Brilliant colleague number 2 — proactivity
I’m very lucky to be part of the amazing CAST team —all my colleagues are blindingly bright and inspiring and I’m on a mission to interview them to find out how they do what they do so well.
Today I’m talking to colleague number two — well, previous colleague, as Natalie has recently gone to pastures new. I managed to interview her on her Super Power of ‘proactivity’ just before she left.
As a colleague she’s amazing in how quickly she comes out of the starting blocks and how much she seems to get done in a week. So I set out to learn more about what motivates her and how she goes about this proactivity in the hope we can all learn something from it.
Who are you when you are being proactive?
Oh this is a deep question to start with…I am at my happiest, I’m being my best self.
It feels good to be proactive, so much so that I regularly write things in my task list that I have already done, just so that I can cross them out.
The Gold Dust: There seems to be an achievement feedback loop — when I feel productive (and tick things off my list) I want to achieve more.
What does it feel like being proactive?
I like being busy, I can’t sit still even when sick. I have always been like that. It gives me a sense of purpose, achieving something that indirectly helps others. Purpose is important to me. I really hate those days where I feel like I’m not achieving, when I don’t have that sense of purpose.
How do you manage those days when you’re not feeling proactive?
When I have a less decisive day at work I try to use it to do slower work or learn something new. I do beat myself up when I have a low motivation day. Often I end up doing exercise to help clear my mind and shift my state — I go for a cycle ride or do a spin class.
What do you do when you are being proactive?
I love a challenge that I have a sense of control over. If it feels unachievable it can be demotivating. But an achievable challenge gets me going, it stimulates my brain and it pushes me.
The Gold Dust: I start by making lists and then break things down into small enough pieces so that I can tick things off my list often to keep that feedback loop going.
The Gold Dust: I love bringing people together and co-ordinating. I’m most motivated when I am working as part of a team. It’s an opportunity to learn from one another, to gain assurance and bounce things around. So that’s often where I start, by bringing people together to share ideas and troubleshoot. If I work by myself too much I end up second guessing what I’m doing which in turn slows me down.
What does it look like to be in flow for you?
I will have blocked out my diary time in an ordered way (think colour coding) and I’m working on my to do list while drinking a cuppa. Then I take a long lunch break to rest my brain and at the end of the day my tick list is all crossed off.
Note: for context, Natalie was one of those super organised teenagers who used to project manage the hell out of her high school time — you know the one: lots of markers, post-its and with a beautifully organised, tidy and colour coded timetable they created for themselves over the weekend. I — probably together with the majority of us — was never one of them. The gold dust in this interview will hopefully help us to add to our strategies for proactivity.
