Failing to plan is planning to fail. Have you ever heard that saying? I completely agree with it. This same approach for work and also home communication.
When communications begin to disintegrate, we want to increase ownership around personal responsibility. We can begin thinking about ownership and responsibility by considering time management, emotional intelligence, distractions (for instance–are significant personal challenges, such as grief, affecting your work? Or, is stress from work detracting your attention from friends and family?), and issues of motivation (do you show up at work only for the paycheck?). How do you cope with burnout?
Let’s look at these matters one by one:
Time management:
What is your day-to-day routine? Do you have a routine? Do you have a checklist of activities at the beginning of the week, or do you attempt to address tasks as they occur? Maybe you are frequently hustling to catch up with activities that were forgotten until the last minute or procrastinated? One of the most proactive measures you can take toward achieving improved responsibility and ownership begins with scheduling. An effective schedule will often directly impact your communications also. Being busy is not the same as being productive or effective. Setting your intention and goals for the day will allow you to focus and stay on track. Personally, I like Dr. Deborah Johnson- Blake’s approach to time management.
Emotional Intelligence:
Even when we have an organized schedule, self-awareness (or lack thereof) plays an important role in our communications–personal or professional. See my article, “Emotional Intelligence: What to do when the soft stuff IS the hard stuff.”
Motivation:
“Motivation involves the biological, emotional, social, and cognitive forces that activate behavior,” states Kendra Cherry in VeryWellMind. She highlights three integral factors of motivation: Activation, Persistence, and Intensity. Goals and reward systems tend to lead conversions of motivation.
What affects your communication most frequently?