What’s Your Perfect Working Day?

I wrote ‘When Work isn’t Working’ for all my coaching clients who came to me dissatisfied with their work. People were unhappy with the job they had, for all sorts of reasons, but just didn’t know what to do instead. They felt stuck.

And so I wrote a creative visualisation especially for them, which is in the book, and is now available for you to listen to right now completely free!

Free Download

Reading a visualisation doesn’t work as well as hearing it. Which is why I have recorded it and it is on the site, entirely free of charge for you! If you have the book already, you will find it enhances all the exercises you have already done. And if you don’t have the book, don’t worry – it works well on its own too!

Simply click on the link to the right of your screen called ‘Your Perfect Day’. You don’t need to enter any details. You can either listen to it directly from your computer, or, (recommended) down load it to a player and take it somewhere calm and relaxing for you, where you won’t be interrupted.

I hope you enjoy listening to it and that it takes you closer to achieving your ideal job! Please do let me know what you think! And if listening to the relaxation has whetted your interest in finding out more about your perfect job, you can download it immediately!  It’s available to buy in UK pounds and US Dollars!

Give Yourself a Creative Mind Stretch!

Next time you have long journey and find yourself browsing an airport or railway bookstall, don’t pick up your usual reading fare. Instead, move along the aisles to the specialist interest shelves (not the ones high up!) and pick something new to you. So instead of a gardening magazine pick up a science one. If architecture is your thing, maybe look at a photography magazine.

At the very least you’ll learn something new and at best, the creative juices will get flowing and you’ll begin to make connections with the new information you are taking in and your own situation.

Try it and let me know how it works for you!

Be Creative!

Here’s a simple easier way to get some creative thinking going - simply by using some coloured crayons to write with you can help to stimulate the creative part of your brain!

Very roughly speaking, the right hand side of your brain processes curves, colour, creativity, appreciates poetry and music etc. The left hand side is concerned with numbers, straight lines, black and white and so on.

So simple exercises, like the use of colour pencils, or taking five minutes to try out my visualisation, can have some great results! Try it and do let me know how you get on!

Music While You Work.

Turn on your radio and work better!

When I was a child I was often chastised for playing music while studying. My defence was always a plaintive ’It helps me work better’, and, I might have added, blocks out the noise of my two younger brothers!

It was with great pleasure that I later found out that there is scientific evidence to back up my claim of working better with music! (Although I am not sure if what I am about to tell you applies to the music of the 70s…..) However,  I now use music regularly in my seminars, usually the music of Mozart, and here’s why.

George Lozanov

The first clinical evidence of the effect of Mozart’s music on the human body was noted by Dr George Lozanov, a Bulgarian medical researcher. He wrote:

“that a very specific form of music can induce a relaxed state in the body- but, with one very major difference. The music induced relaxation and, at the same time, left the mind alert and able to concentrate.”

Natural Rhythms

Subsequent research has shown that the natural rhythms of the body – breathing, heartbeats, and brain waves – tended to synchronise themselves to the underlying beat of the music. The results were amazing! Heartbeats slowed by an average of 5 beats per minute, blood pressure decreased and beta waves in the brain decreased.

All Music?

A wide range of music was tested but Lozanov’s results showed that music with a very slow, stately, restful rhythm of 60 beats per minute was best for inducing a heightened state of alert, focussed relaxation.

Subsequent studies have supported this original research and demonstrated the profound effect of Mozart’s music on creativity, learning and relaxation. For example, one study at the University of California found that students who listened to Mozart’s music for 10 minutes prior to an exam did better than those who hadn’t! Although maybe listening to any music would have had this effect!

Relaxation

If you want to try  this out for yourself here are some suggestions, all written by Mozart:

Piano Concerto 27 in B flat major KV595, Larghetto
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra 21 in C major KV476, Andante
Divertimento 15 in B flat for two Horns and Strings KV287

Try it out and let me know if you experience the so called Mozart effect!

Give Your Creativity a Quick Boost

Try this very simple exercise next time you find yourself stumped by something.

1) Go to a stationers and buy a beautiful set of coloured crayons. Get the best that you can afford and choose ones that feel good to hold.

2) Next find a mug that you particularly like ,or that has special meaning for you, and pour all your gorgeous multi-coloured pencils into it. You now have a bouquet of colour on your desk. Enjoy it!

3) Next time you feel ‘stuck’ stop trying to solve your problem. Have a glass of water, take a coloured pencil or three and simply doodle on a plain sheet of paper. Try and ‘draw’ whatever your dilemma is. Don’t use any words at all, just doodle. It’s only for your eyes so don’t let any old ideas about not being able to draw spoil this. Just doodle away.

4) Now walk away from your desk or table for at least ten minutes and get some fresh air, particularly if your working environment is air conditioned.

5) Return to your issue and try again.

This simple exercise will help you tap into your subconscious by accessing your creative ‘right’ brain.  You could even just use different coloured pencils to make entries into your diary, when taking phone messages etc. If nothing else it will brighten up your working space but it’ll probably do a whole lot more!