A week in Spain and a conversation with a friend led me to think about how we all have a personal culture and how it relates to how we work.
This isn’t a discussion around geographical cultures but rather individual ones and how they fit into our external environments.
Let me explain a little more. I think that we each have our own ‘culture’ and that in understanding what this is can help us to devise working strategies that we help us to be our most effective - and happiest.
Think about the culture of Spain - how would you describe it? You may think of words like: laid-back, family-oriented, vocal, personable, work early in the mornings, long lunches, siestas, work in the evening, late night socializing. Or you may think: long hours, unproductive, time wasting, impossible to get things done. It may fill you with dread or it may fill you with joy. It doesn’t matter. What matters is what works for you.
Now think about your own culture - how would you describe it?
For example, I like to plan a few days ahead and to build in flexibility to my working day. I know that I am best at making phone calls and doing creative work at the start of the day and to doing admin and less ‘thinking’ type work later. Mornings are my most productive time and so taking my lunch later means that I get more done.
Obviously, I don’t always get to control my time exactly as I would choose but knowing what works helps me get back to an even keel when things feel out of balance.
What suits you best? Take some time out to ask yourself the following questions:
When am I most creative?
When am I most productive?
What do I need in my day for it to be a good one?
When is the best time for me to call people?
Do I like to work with people face-to-face or remotely?
Am I most effective with individuals or groups?
Now there are always external constraints that may influence, or even dictate, when and how we work. But so often we can fall into a default operational mode of working certain hours, in certain environments and following certain rules. Now ask yourself, how many of these rules are ‘real’ and how many have I made up, or just adopted unquestioningly? Am I in an ‘email culture’ and do I default to this when actually phone calls are much more suited to my style. Do I work long hours because everyone else does, even though somedays I know I stopped being productive much earlier?
We all have a personal culture that may be supported or challenged by our current working environment. Having answered the above questions, are there small changes you can make to allow your own culture more space?
Going with what suits us best individually is likely to mean we are happier, more productive and achieve better results. Be kind to yourself and swim downstream.