Crazy Busy Masterclass & Keynote (virtual or in-person)
Do less, achieve moreHow effective are my Crazy Busy sessions? Here’s an email from Brendan Barns, Founder of the London Business Forum (‘the world’s best speakers in London’s most iconic venues’), where I am a regular speaker:
Hey Zena
I thought you might like to see this….
“Good Afternoon LBF,
Wow, what can I say about this session.
I had to get up at 05:00 to get to BAFTA in time for the session and it was worth it! I am fired up and have been telling everyone in the office about Antelopes and Squirrels. I attended the afternoon session as well and that was equally powerful.
It was my first time attending LBF seminars and I can assure you it will not be the last.”
Someone else has told us they found the session life changing…..you smashed it!
How Crazy Busy are you? Take the quiz to find out.
Crazy Busy: Team and Personal Productivity
Do you feel like a slave to your inbox and your smartphone? Overwhelmed? Do you go home after a too long day, feeling exhausted, but frustrated that you have made very little progress?
Most of us spend our days responding to urgent needs … other people’s urgent needs. Our priorities are ruled by our in-box, not the other way round. We respond to what (or who) is screaming in front of us, not what we know we should really be doing in order to achieve our own objectives.
We are Crazy Busy. We confuse being efficient with being effective.
In a ten-year study conducted by McKinsey, executives reported that they were five times more productive when they worked in a state of optimal concentration called flow. That means that they could get as much done by the end of Monday than their steady-state peers did in a whole week.
McKinsey said that if we could all just increase the time we spend in flow by 15 – 20%, overall workplace productivity would almost double. When did you last do some deep thinking, highly productive and uninterrupted tasks?
Away day, Lunchtime Learning, Workshop or Keynote session:
In a lively, interactive and fun group session we will explore:
- What we should be doing with our time, to make the greatest business contribution.
- What we actually do with our time.
- The distractions and interruptions that highjack us (meetings, emails, procrastination and interruptions most often)
- How to schedule in flow working for your priority tasks
- Recent research on how to manage your time more productively
- How to say ’no’ constructively and signpost alternatives (great for support functions)
- How to go after antelopes, not chipmunks, and get important work done
Outcomes
- More control over how to achieve your priority tasks (such as planning, winning business, building relationships)
- Better communication with internal stakeholders to get more important things done more quickly
- Less procrastination, perfectionism and people pleasing
- Improved personal effectiveness, energy and wellbeing
- Shorter internal meetings (feedback is that my techniques have cut them short by an average, one third).
- Techniques to manage your inbox so it doesn’t manage you
- Go home earlier, with more stuff done and learn to switch off
- Be five times more productive than you are now – so five times more successful.
Booster Session:
Within three or four weeks after the workshop, we will have a booster session, usually of up to 1.5 hours, to ensure our new habits and strategies are fully embedded.
We will drill down into how your new techniques and the measurable consequences of your increased effectiveness. It gives us a chance to evaluate what is still hijacking your time and come up with some fixes.
Pre-session work
It would be really helpful if you could keep a diary of how you spent your time the week before the workshop. This is for your own eyes only, but will help you figure out where you truly spend your time now and what’s interrupting you. I’m particularly interested in:
- How often you are interrupted per hour, on average and if you were able to resume the task after interruption.
- How much time you spent on autopilot, vs concentrating on deep, ‘flow’ tasks.
- What you intended to do that week and what actually got done.
Presenter
I am an executive coach. Having helped someone get promoted or a new role, invariably they tell me that it’s difficult for them to maintain their laser-focus on achieving their priorities, and making the contribution they signed up to do. They had a layer of work to deal with before they could start their real work – organisational ‘drag’ – pointless emails, inconsequential internal meetings, frequent interruptions and coping with the pressures of modern office life, particularly in open-plan environments.
Conversely, I coach senior individuals doing Oxford University’s Executive MBA programme. They manage to complete a gruelling academic programme whilst maintaining their performance ratings at work. Why? Because they step out of the weeds and ruthlessly focus on their ‘highest and best use’. They communicate much better and their teams learn to think for themselves. They know what’s important and focus all their energy and attention in getting it done, in a politically savvy way.
Crazy Busy has been developed using research, and advice from people who get it right most of the time, to give practical tools to regain focus and control and turbo-charge productivity.
Zena’s session at our National Sales Conference was nothing short of brilliant and eye-opening. Her insights into the challenges faced in our work routines resonated deeply with everyone in attendance. Zena’s presentation on the concept of ‘Crazy Busy’ struck a chord, perfectly articulating the struggles we all encounter in managing our priorities effectively.
Her vivid description of us playing ‘Wac-a-mole’ with everyone else’s priorities was not only relatable but also a powerful analogy that succinctly captured the issue at hand. Zena masterfully highlighted how organisational drag, whether through bureaucracy or excessive collaboration, affects our productivity, leaving us with only a fraction of the day for meaningful work.
Her session was a wake-up call for everyone present, offering actionable ways to address these challenges. Zena’s message was so impactful that I believe it prompted a real desire for change amongst the audience. I highly recommend watching Zena or reading her book for invaluable insights and strategies that can significantly enhance productivity and transform the workday into a more fulfilling and efficient experience for all.Zena’s session at our National Sales Conference was nothing short of brilliant and eye-opening. Her insights into the challenges faced in our work routines resonated deeply with everyone in attendance. Zena’s presentation on the concept of ‘Crazy Busy’ struck a chord, perfectly articulating the struggles we all encounter in managing our priorities effectively. Her vivid description of us playing ‘Wac-a-mole’ with everyone else’s priorities was not only relatable but also a powerful analogy that succinctly captured the issue at hand. Zena masterfully highlighted how organisational drag, whether through bureaucracy or excessive collaboration, affects our productivity, leaving us with only a fraction of the day for meaningful work. Her session was a wake-up call for everyone present, offering actionable ways to address these challenges. Zena’s message was so impactful that I believe it prompted a real desire for change amongst the audience. I highly recommend watching Zena or reading her book for invaluable insights and strategies that can significantly enhance productivity and transform the workday into a more fulfilling and efficient experience for all.
If you’re Crazy Busy and looking for way to manage your life never mind your inbox then Zena is the speaker for you. We had a great interactive session tailored for our audience which was delivered with style and humour. Most importantly it helped the delegates with practical tips, sound methods and a way to help work your way through that dreaded inbox backlog!
Your content satisfaction score (Crazy Busy) was 98.2%. I’m very happy with this score, the average score for our events is 97.5%.
Zena Everett ran a two hour workshop today called Crazy Busy. Probably the best two hours I have spent in a long time, such an insightful and impactful workshop. I feel all inspired to make real change (and I will do it too!).
Thank you Zena!
You were brilliant. You really captured the room and left me feeling very inspired.
Thank you.
An amazing training that will no doubt have long term positive impacts in my work and personal life.
This session was brilliant. It opened my mind, and I now think that I’m not as busy as I thought I was. I just need to be more organised and learn how to push back.
The BEST session of the day. Informative, relevant and actionable!! Thank you!!
The training on Crazy Busy was great – it came at the perfect time and despite thinking I was too busy to come, I’m so glad I did! Lots of practical advice that I’ll be taking forward.
We’ve had lots more great feedback today from people who said how much they enjoyed your workshop and found it ‘super useful’ and brilliant. Someone commented… “Exactly what we needed to help refocus and stop chasing our tails. So much stuff resonated with us all.”
“I thought it was really useful within a work context but also within a personal context too. I used Zena’s approach on a call I made just after the session which resulted in a meeting next week with a guy that has a good overview on a large recruitment area within (BANK).”
“Great delivery, having studied Psychology I felt more attuned to what she was talking about. Loved being engaged throughout the lecture maybe a follow up to see how we all feel? if it worked?”
“I really enjoyed the session. It was very engaging and made me think about things slightly differently. Thank you!”
ICAEW Conference delegate feedback
The audience was transfixed and very engaged by Zena’s presentation at a recent accountancy conference I attended. She has a great professional style, loads of evident experience and was clearly focused on delivering a value packed session that will have a lasting impact on the attendees. Well done and thank you Zena.
To book my Crazy Busy Masterclass, please send me your details below:
or call me on: 07968 424650