5 ways of paying attention in work situations

In a recent blog post I wrote about 5 ways of paying attention to oneself in movement. Since all life is movement, these 5 ways are applicable in any situation when we want to pay attention to our self.

The same concepts can be applied beyond our self. At work it pays to be fully aware of the situation we find our self in - as completely and accurately as possible - so we can adjust our behavior and our actions as appropriate.

So here are the same five concepts, but now used to describe the ways I use to create a mental picture of myself at work.

Questions about support. Who am I receiving and taking support from? For example, a boss or a colleague. Which parts of my work are receiving that support? How much of my work is that, how big is the amount of my work getting support in this way? Is my support narrow or broad? Firm or soft? How does the nature of that support change as I progress in my work project - does it narrow or broaden, harden or soften? What changes in my approach and scope of work would help increase the amount of support I can receive?

Questions about objectives and focus. What objectives is my work moving towards? Which way do the different tasks that make up my work point? Are they all pointing to the same objectives, or are some parts of my work pointing in different directions? If so, how different are those directions? In what direction am I giving my attention? Is that the same direction as my objectives? And how far away is my attention? Is it close by, with the task in hand? A little bit further, perhaps with the next task? Or far away, beyond this objective and already considering the next? When I do my work, how is that changing my position with respect to my support? Or my position with respect to other, potentially conflicting, objectives?

Questions about people. Which people around me contribute in what way, and how much? Which are not active? How do those people relate to each other? Which are most critical for which task, and how should they interrelate? How evenly is the work of spread over my team? Are we capable of spreading the work more evenly? If a member of the team is unable to contribute, how does that change the work?

Questions about rhythm. What work rhythms do I have? What work rhythms does my team have? If I change my rhythm of work, what effect does that have on my output? Can I find a rhythm that makes my current task easier? Can carry out this task without stress, whatever the rhythm?

Questions about emotions and self-management. What emotions am I feeling as I work? How can I change what I am doing in my task to make it more pleasurable? Should I take a rest now?

What questions do you ask yourself about how you are in your work situation? Please leave a comment.