WORKPLACE 01732 759725 36 I couldn’t do my job without... minutes and one of 75 minutes, and I walk the exact same route in the same direction so that nothing distracts my attention. This ‘mindless’ walking activity occupies enough of my brain that the other part can focus on what I want to cover off without getting distracted and wandering into irrelevant areas. I take a list of things I want to tackle, which may be exploring new concepts or dictating sections of a book or article I’m writing, and talk aloud into the Dictaphone that’s always with me on my walk. Maker time Paul Graham wrote an insightful article some years ago entitled Maker’s Schedule, Manager’s Schedule. It explains how management can often be done in 30-minute chunks whereas making something, like writing code or designing, needs longer, interruption-free blocks of time lasting several hours. I find it important to put these longer periods in my calendar to prevent other people scheduling meetings and to allow me physically to get away from my laptop so that I am not interrupted by notifications. Project foam-boards I use a foam-board for each of the major projects I’m working on. These A1-sized boards (roughly 600mm by 850mm) act as personal, close-up thinking and activity whiteboards. I put stickies all over them and mini-binder clips along the edges to protect the boards and to grip sheets of paper for when I want to write something down. They sit by my desk and are so convenient for quickly adding thoughts or details about a project. OPOs Other peoples’ opinions (OPOs), especially from those who I know will speak their mind, are gold dust. But you’ve got to know how to use them. If there’s something that really excites me, I’ll float it as a vague thought to see where others instinctively think it may go or develop. It may be something big or small; conventional or bold. I always assume the chance of me being right first time with something new is quite low, so I want to hear the opinions of others. If it seems good to me but not to them, what am I missing? Am I not explaining it clearly? Am I thinking too far ahead and haven’t brought them along on a good story journey? What have I missed that might make this a terrible idea? Do other people think it will head off in a different direction to me? If I try to present fully developed concepts as take-it-or-leave-it solutions, I’m at risk of losing the value of other people’s opinions. Everyone has expertise and knowledge you don’t know about! www.ingeniousgrowth.com Chris Thomason is the Founder of Ingenious Growth and author of the Freaky Thinking series of books showing individuals how to think more creatively. He has worked with many leading businesses including UPS, Canon, O2, Vodafone, Roche Pharmaceuticals, Touchnote, Lloyds Bank, Toyota, HSBC, Scottish Widows, South African Airways and American Express. Here, he highlights six things he relies on to get his work done Early mornings We all have our own times when we know we do our best creative or thinking work – and mine is early morning. My alarm goes off at 03h30 every morning. And even when I’m excited by the day ahead, my first two hours until exercise time are when I do my best thinking. I prioritise my key creative activities for these hours as I know that’s when I’m most alert. And yes, it does come at a price as I’m early to bed in the evenings – but that’s what a routine helps you achieve. Otter AI I find that any keyboard and screen activity destroys my thinking, so I prefer to do my thinking without technology. However, the one bit of tech I can’t do without is Otter.ai. Once I’ve captured all my thinking for the day on my Dictaphone, I use Otter to transcribe my thoughts into text that I can review and edit. Once Otter learns your voice, it’s a rapid and convenient way to convert activity thinking into text. Walking routes Research has shown that we get our best ideas when we are doing some kind of undemanding, repetitive activity. For me, that’s walking. I have two circuits, one of 15 Chris Thomason Chris Thomason has written several books on Freaky Thinking, a process that helps people to think more creatively to solve workplace issues. Freaky Thinking; Thinking that delivers a dazzling difference is an introduction to the process that highlights the pitfalls of workplace thinking today and explains how readers can use radical thinking tools to think differently and become a Freaky Thinker. Available from Amazon for £10.99, the book can be ordered via the Ingenious Growth website at https://www.ingeniousgrowth.com/ freaky-thinking/.
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