The most creative and rebellious amongst us bristle with the word structure. And most of us would place it at odds with the word freedom. But, the right kind of structure is a necessary element of freedom. We’re talking about structure, in its most perfect form: Structured Freedom.
Everyone understands the value of having some structure to meet our team and individual goals, but most of us tend to deploy structure in two inefficient ways: too much and too little. The key is finding the balance, finding the right structure framework, one that creates momentum for you, and your team.
Considering that this global pandemic has upended our lives, let’s focus on you as an individual.
Find Your Structure Sweet Spot
Do you know the areas in your work and life that could benefit from more, or better, structure?
If your answer is “no,” or “I’ve never thought about it,” we invite you to do a structure inventory. This exercise will help you understand and streamline the things that organize your daily life so that you aren’t wasting precious time and energy on “how,” but “what.”
Areas to structure to consider as you begin this exercise:
- LIFE (examples: morning routine, family meetings, meal prep)
- WORK (examples: calendar, team check-ins, project management tools)
- WELLNESS (examples: reflection time, exercise, nutrition)
- NUMBERS (examples: KPI metrics, budgets, sales goals)
- RELATIONSHIPS (examples: client meetings, colleagues, mentors)
- THINGS THAT MATTER TO YOU (examples: vision, values, goals)
Before you begin, watch our resident Structured Freedom expert, Lead Trainer and Creative Executive Coach Lauren Russo, explain how this exercise works.
Good luck! Streamlining the things that organize your work and life can help you save your executive function and creative thinking for the things that matter most. And, in this time of intense stress and change, we hope that it helps you offload some of the unnecessary roadblocks in your daily life.
