Following on from my previous post, let’s take a closer look at Thought Drafting the first in my grab bag of tools and tricks.

Thought management.

You wouldn’t be human if the thoughts weren’t buzzing during this crisis. The all you can eat thought buffet offers a bottomless plate of things to be concerned about. This is particularly true for the curious or those prone to worry.

Following on from my previous post, let’s unpack to understand more about Thought Drafting the first tool inside of my grab bag of tools and tricks.

Thought Drafting is a useful trick for choosing which thoughts to focus on when faced with the all-you-can-think buffet. Thought Drafting is an adaption of Stephen R Covey’s Circle of Concern and Influence. (www.franklincovery.com).

In the Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Covey’s Number 1 habit, was to be proactive about specifically choosing where to focus time and energy. Covey introduced the concept of Circle of Concern and Influence where you create a list of what’s concerning you, then identify which thoughts you can influence and focus your attention on those.

I call this Thought Drafting because it’s a bit like sorting sheep by running them through a drafting race.

By drafting off the concerns we cannot influence, we can use the time and energy freed up to get important stuff done.

Focussing on what really metters improves productivity and reduces stress, so you get more things done.

For example, a 10% improvement in your own productivity in the workplace is like employing someone with the same skill set for 6 weeks of the year.

 

For those of you who have chosen to create your own grab bag of tools and tricks, I hope this provides you with a clearer understanding of Thought Drafting and some additional support, especially during this ‘social distancing’ phase.

Stay tuned for my next BLOG – Weathering the Storm, using personal power to steer yourself and your community through uncertain times – a grab bag of tools and tricks – Part 3, where we can delve deeper into People skills and emotional intelligence.

Stay safe out there.