What does the first twenty minutes look like for you at work, have you ever reflected on this?

I feel tired this morning sitting at my desk with a cup of coffee to wake me up, and we have all been there, it is Monday. The week has just started and is moving forward, every day for me has a different feeling. What makes my first few minutes tick, I ponder and decide to notice as I sit here after arriving first in the office.

What do I recognise and feel as I sit and what makes me start to energise? I begin to feel a rise in and being slightly energised by the radio in the corner of the room. I begin to type this blog thinking about the energy starting to rise in me, and I thought I would follow through and write what I am feeling.

Then a fellow office worker arrives, and a relationship starts, “morning”, “how are you?” “What did you do last night?”, General chit-chat. But I notice my energy levels rising slightly further.

I continue to chat, and we share a discussion on something we heard on the radio, and I notice my energy levels are now around 5 out of 10 instead of 3 out of 10. Interesting to monitor yourself and recognise what is going on in you and how you change through the first few minutes.

What happens next is that I pick my phone up, check the txt’s that have popped up and I feel more energised as the texts appear, I feel more responsive. I really notice my energy levels rising all the time. I notice as the interruptions continue to increase, the phone is a good interruption. The phone on my desk rings I start to be even more responsive with further disruptions, a great reflection I feel.

I think it is interesting to monitor yourself and your energy levels and how you change with the interruptions that appear. My energy levels are now around 6-7, how interesting, I feel more productive now, my extraversion preference being fed.

As others turn up, I find my energy levels rising even further, I notice in me over the last twenty minutes, how much I have changed. I know if I had not had the interruptions my energy levels would have stayed a lot lower. That is my preference I respond to everything around me. But what if I didn’t, what if I had more of an introverted preference. How much of those interruptions would have felt intrusive, unnecessary, getting in the way of my internal energy, a very different feeling? Notice in yourself how your energy levels are fed and how the opposite preference in the individuals around you may be feeling.

This is just an example of me with a layer of reflection looking at my extraversion preference. I do reflect a lot deeper than this but initially, this is how to start. Think of yourself and what you are noticing in yourself, where does your preference lie? A great exercise to understand something about you.

Claire Moody is our head coach at Target Training and you can read more about her here.  She delivers training on coaching for managers courses, and you can read more about these courses here and see dates here.