We’re starting 2017 with a bang! DC Director, Maree Ferguson and Dietitian, Kate Agnew have just spent a week in the NEW DC Headquarters and we couldn’t be more excited. We’re looking forward to a jam-packed year of events, webinars, podcasts, social media conversation, the much needed #dietitiansunite campaign and of course spending time with you – the nutrition leaders. We’ve got a few surprises in store; we will release details as soon as we can. 

Our heads are buzzing with plans and creative ideas and as such, 2017 has got us thinking: how can we work differently to maximise our outputs with the time that we have? We think we’ve found an answer:

James Clear (writer of behavioural psychology, habit formation, and performance improvement) introduced us to ‘the myth of multitasking’. The theory suggests that switching between too many tasks during the work day can hinder performance. Multitasking inherently involves interrupting one task and switching to another; this switching charges the brain a mental price. This mental price means less that the net result is less brain power you can channel into what you are trying to achieve. You can read more about this here.

With this in mind, we have set a plan to prioritise our days and channel our energy into one project at a time. This means scheduled quiet times, times to check and respond via email and scheduled meetings. It entails dividing work days into mini days; each with a different project. One day we work on webinars and podcasts; the next day is for creative writing and so on…

The task at hand is the focus; I anchor myself to that by making sure the tabs open on my web browser, the computer programs and work documents on my screen are those which I am working from. Unfortunately there is no time for cat pictures until the end of the work day.

We’ll be giving this our best shot so that we have more time to  dream, create  and  inspire.

So… what are your plans for working differently in 2017?