Devoted to how insight is developed, shared and acted on
Making a Habit of...... Sharpening the Saw
This is our final article based around Steven R Covey’s book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” Over the past few months, we’ve been exploring each of these habits to show how they can be applied in the world of insight.
In his book, Covey introduces this final habit with a story. One day, you meet a man in a wood who is feverishly trying to saw down a tree. He looks exhausted, so you ask him how long it has taken so far. “Five hours,” he replies. “And it’s hard work!”You then ask him why he doesn’t take a break for a few minutes and sharpen his saw, as this would help him to cut more quickly. “I don’t have time to sharpen the saw,” the man replies, “I’m too busy sawing.”
To be blunt, you need to sharpen up!
This story resonates strongly with insight work. A lot of what we do is very detailed and involved - but if we’re not careful, we can work ourselves into the ground. In that state we’re not very effective, but we still feel too busy to stop. However, there are no medals for being first in and last out of the office.
Covey identifies four dimensions to sharpening the saw:
Physical exercise – regular exercise enhances your ability to work, adapt and enjoy life.
Spiritual refreshment – you need to draw upon sources that inspire and uplift you (whether that involves immersion in literature, music, communing with nature…).
Mental stimulation – we all need to continually hone and expand our minds and our skills.
Social/emotional interaction – we need to pay greater attention to our relationships with others.
Take time to make time
In terms of insight, sharpening the saw can start with something as simple as taking a break at lunchtime; having some sustenance; and ideally getting some fresh air or exercise. You will return refreshed and be able to achieve more than if you had just worked through your lunch break. Try to get up and move around during the day rather than just sitting at a desk, working continuously for hours at a time.
We also need to find ways of working smarter rather than harder. How sharp are your tools? How good is your planning? Have you gathered everything you need for your task?
Stay sharp!
Taking more breaks and minimising evening and weekend work will give you a chance to sharpen the saw in terms of the physical and mental dimensions. For mental stimulation, make sure that you make time to go on courses and seminars. This time spent away from the office thinking about stimulating topics will help to improve your performance when you return to your desk.
If you make the effort to have a more balanced day and a more balanced life in general, you will find that you’re more effective in your working day as well. And a healthy work-life balance is clearly important for all of us.
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Julia Easter
13/12/2011 at 12:31:14
Please can you let me know when this course is running?
Many thanks
Julia Easter
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