Day Sixteen

Today I was back to work.

My people task was making time to listen. Really absorbing what people were saying instead of spending the whole time thinking about what I was going to say.

Normally when the situation demands it I'm ok at doing that, but to be forced to do it the whole time made me realise that I'm in a rut. I really do spend a lot of time thinking what I'm going to say rather than listening, being genuinely interested and asking questions rather than butting in. Sometimes that's difficult in a work situation as I try to advise clients, but I suppose I should wait for a question before saying my piece.

Today I often found myself saying things without thinking and mentally pulling myself back. It's like trying not to scratch when you've got a really really itchy spot.

I also had to build in time today to relax. Which didn't happen of my own volition, but rather more accidentally, when my PA suggested that we should have lunch outside somewhere nice in order to talk about our action plan for the next week, rather than sitting in the office munching salad in front of our computers. So we drove up to Old Redding, with its fantastic view over the whole of Harrow, right down to Greenford and Heathrow. We sat on the spongy grass and watched planes coming in to land in the distance. The sun was shining. It was great.

Even if it means taking the taxi next time, I really think we will have to do that more often. It was wonderful.