Focus on the Core Four for More Effective Productivity

Effective productivity comes from managing our energy, not our time. Time is a construct, and everyone gets the same amount every day. The issue is not how much time as much as it is how much energy and how you are using and renewing. Energy is the capacity to do work. When we re-energize the whole of ourselves — spiritually, emotionally, mentally, and physical — we will have more energy to be productive. These four areas need optimum functioning to achieve optimum results. Here is what these four areas represent in everyday terms: Spiritual is Purpose, Meaning, Connection; Emotional is Quality, Perception, Intention; Mental is Focus of Attention, Self-Expression; and Physical is Manifestation in the world; outward expression of our inner landscape.

Traditionally, we have only been dealing with physical and mental, which accounts for why stress and burnout are at an all-time high, as well as “dis-ease.” We also do not have authentic and purposeful self-expression because we often aren’t clear about who we really are. We need to fuel our “doing” with a healthier sense of “being.” This self-awareness to cultivate a healthier state of being will fuel our passion, purpose, and meaning. And it will make our “doing” much easier, greatly enhancing effective productivity. It will give us much needed clarity. There is now also plenty of research to support this even beyond my own empirical experience.

It is also the source of inspiration and innovation, empathy and relationship connection, as well as feeling more confident and self-accepting.

This is not “soft” or weak; in fact, these are powerful ingredients for a form of collaborative leadership that can innovate and adapt fluidly to our changing, unstable environment.

Self-aware collaborative leadership can stimulate development of ownership and alignment within the individuals of an organization. In order to engage the mind and heart, an organization needs to value the activity of reflection – slowing down and reconnecting to inner vision and values. As individuals learn how to manage their brain and mind in a way that releases self-limiting stories and assumptions, they can:

* Reconnect to inner confidence, authenticity and mental clarity, leading to improved work performance and better peer relationships.

* Create new rituals/habits that include activities to renew and restore their physical and mental self, leading to well being, less overwhelm, and better health.

All of these outcomes are directly linked to integrating the core four — spiritual, emotional, mental and physical. Joy and inner peace make learning easier and more fun. They also make us more attractive to others as it relates to relationship and likeability. Using brain science in a way that is relevant to the workplace, and not simply as academic information, is a key to engage the cooperation of all aspects of our self.

If we don’t logically understand, it is likely that we cannot hold an open mind to assess new information.

There is even a brain-based reason for the type of shutting down and know-it-all attitudes that keep us stuck in the current personal and worldview that we hold. It’s time to empower up by understanding the dynamics of energy as thought and feeling, and recognizing how to better fluidly manage both so that we can consciously innovate and create an organization that is able to stay relevant and prosperous in today’s fluctuating business environment. Becoming conscious and aware of our own energy, our own brain/mind functioning, and how to integrate ourselves and our organization structures into a whole is critical to 21st century business and life success.