Tributum Newsletter #35

Hello

I want to say welcome back but with 8.33% of 2022 already done I’m sure all of us are wondering what happened to the festive season break. We are also wondering what the rest of 2022 holds.

By all accounts we should expect a bumpy economic ride with continued rising interest rates, low economic growth, political manoeuvring and exposure to international elements being chief among these.  I am sure these topics will be covered by the State of the Nation Address (SONA) scheduled for 10 February 2022 as well as the National Budget Speech set for 23 February 2022. But talk is cheap and implementable plans and actions are required. Some of these issues will be unpacked in Newsletter #36.

In his Autobiography now England rugby coach Eddie Jones discusses “downtime”. In an average rugby game, the ball is only in play between 30 and 35 minutes out of the 80 minutes per game. In golf the actual time spent over the ball is a fraction of the 4 to 5 hours it takes to pay 18 holes. Great teams and great players use the “downtime” in between plays to their advantage. Whether its to think about what happens next, discussing options with teammates, obtaining clarity from referees or rules officials or just taking a breather, what they “do” between the “actual doing” is just as important.

What do we do with our “downtime”? Rush from one email or meeting to the next? Drinking litres of coffee and wolfing down sugar and carbs while convincing ourselves that we will get more done if we just stay busy? Maybe we should have a plan with our “downtime”, plan for tomorrow’s meeting, read something of interest that may be related to work, check in with staff, check in with ourselves? And then making sure the real downtime is downtime. Rest is a weapon.

If all goes well, we should all have 8 760 hours in 2022 (8 016 from 1 Feb). Assuming 6 hours of sleep per day that leaves 75% of those hours to do something, or nothing. Plan your productive time, but also plan your “downtime”. Hopefully overall performance improves. And that is success, being better than yesterday, being better than last year. Even if its 1% at a time.

Good luck for the rest of 2022, I am sure it will have its fair share of surprises. A bittersweet February awaits me as my eldest is going to university about 1000km away…But we will all make the best of it and above all, keep breathing. Until next time.