Work-Life Innovation |

It might seem odd to write a post about photographing trees on a lifestyle innovation blog. But I want to share with you some thoughts I had today while out walking along the edge of the New Forest. While walking I was thinking about the nature of enjoyment and what it meant to be really able to be in the moment. Most of us spend our days at work and struggle with the tasks we have to perform. I know that when a new work item comes along, I often catch myself mentally groaning and complaining along the lines of “Oh, crap! more work” or”How the hell am I supposed to do this?” or “This is going to take ages” and so on and on.
In other words, my daily work activities are often accompanied by an internal monologue that winges and whines at all the stuff I am called to do. This depletes my energy and does not help in the slightest. Today though, while I was was out walking I couldn’t help but notice some of the fantastic trees that were lining the path I was walking and I imagined for a moment how cool it would be to be a tree photographer! That might sound odd, but bear with me. Imagine you were a photographer and that your specialty was trees. You would take your equipment out into the woods and be on the lookout for interesting specimens, you know, ones that really had character, perhaps all gnarly and twisted or ones perfectly symmetrical. Now, imagine your mind state as you were doing this. Say, you found an especially gnarly tree and you wanted to capture the best possible angle to take a really great photo. What would be your mind state through this activity? I imagine that my mind would almost be silent. That, as I moved around the tree, examining each possible angle, my mind would almost be completely silent. I would be searching, and evaluating, but from a place of supreme involvement. Totally engrossed with the task at hand. I’d be searching for the right angle and rejecting those that don’t meet my expectations. I’d be problem solving, and having a great time!

I’d like to have that mind state in my job too and I wonder why it is that I don’t. Innovation comes in many forms, and can be something as simple as changing the way you view your work. Try to see your daily tasks as a tree photographer might view his job. Look at the work as a problem to solve, for surely that is what you are doing! There is no reason why it shouldn’t be as rewarding as photographing trees! Over the next few days try out these few simple exercises:

• Try to view the next task you have to do dispassionately. See it as a problem to solve. Manouvre yourself around the problem until you see what it is that needs to be done, then do it. Keep an ear open for that inner complainer, and silence it!
• During the task, try to keep focus on the problem, not your emotional reaction to it. Your engagement should be emotion free, crystal clear and pristine.
• After the task is complete, reflect on how different it felt to work this way. How much ‘lighter’ did it feel? In retrospect, was it enjoyable?
• If you manage to do all of this…tell me how

Learning to ignore things is one of the great paths to inner peace
- Robert J. Sawyer, Calculating God

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