Introduction

Do you feel as if you’re heading towards a world of ‘overwhelm’: that there is way too much information to absorb; too much to do and not enough time in which to do it?

There are many factors that have contributed, but we have gradually drifted into a culture of immediacy. The recent recession, company efficiency drives and cost savings have increased the workload for everyone, while the time in which to do it has decreased. The speed of work has also increased. Companies have become more competitive. Responsiveness and the ability to prove that you can get back to your client faster than your competitors has added to the workload; add that to the need to deliver excellence and we have a picture of too much work, not enough resources and not enough time to meet the new demands.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s you would make a request of someone by email and expect a response in a few days, but the advent of mobile email, ‘Blackberries’ and instant messaging means the expectation of a timely response has increased. We are expected to respond sooner and we expect people to get back to us sooner.

How many unread messages are in your inbox? For many, email inboxes have become unmanageable. In addition to our email, we now have a new information source in the form of social media, which make it possible to spend even more time online.

The current working culture presents two main problems:

1. We do not have enough time and when we have any ‘free’ time we are too exhausted to fully enjoy it, spending it recovering rather than living.
2. We are often stressed and overwhelmed. With tight deadlines and an overload of information, stress is unavoidable. Stress has now become the most common cause of long-term sickness absence according to the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD).

So, imagine a different world. In this world we would work more effectively, not to death. This is a world where we would bring our best to work, where we would use our whole brain, and where we would be fit and healthy. In this world we would be passionate about the work we do and would use our strengths and deal with our weaknesses, without being daunted by or ashamed of them. In this ideal world we would work in harmony with the design of our bodies. This world does exist and we may have had glimpses of it in the past. However we may have been so trapped in the world of overwork that we have forgotten it.

This text is a bridge to this world. There is a whole body of knowledge freely available of which most of us are unaware and not accessing.

We are in an age where there is so much more knowledge available. There are advances in elite sports science which teach us how the human body operates at optimal performance. We can use this to know how we can sleep better, regenerate more effectively and be fitter and healthier.

Advances in neuroscience show us how we can improve our brains: how we can become smarter, learning more rapidly and absorbing more information. In this way we can change our thinking, sleep better and eliminate stress.

Eastern practices such as yoga, tai chi and meditation which are now widely adopted in the West are scientifically proven to have a huge impact on our physical and mental wellbeing.

There is such a wealth of wisdom available, and this text brings some of that practical wisdom to the world of work. This will make work and life better and enable us to be more productive, have more playtime and fun, while gaining experience using our intellectual genius to live a fuller life.

The first step is being willing to step away from the world of overwork and the thinking that gets us trapped there. Our obsession with work has led to a loss of control. We think that by putting in more hours and being available all the time to respond to calls and emails we will get ahead. However, it only leads to greater dissatisfaction, stress and burnout. Unconsciously, we are trying to survive by meeting all the demands but when we stop and reflect, we know that it won’t get any better. We require a new way of thinking. Are you ready to suspend the ways of the old world, to suspend all you know and change your thinking about work?

This text enables you to shift from the world of overwork to a more sustainable way of living and working.

As I said in the preface, this text is based on my experience ‘in the trenches’: the same trenches that many of you are in right now. I am referring to long work hours, with virtually no breaks, cranking out work like a machine most of the day. At night you try to get work out of your mind and get what little sleep you can. Such working hours are sadly becoming more normal in our culture.

This text will guide you into having more energy and vitality, increasing your level of performance and allowing you more available time for yourself. It is about putting more fuel in your tank.

Whether you want to have more energy in life, less stress and more time for yourself, or if you already lead an active lifestyle and are always on the go, this text is for you. In fact it was written with several kinds of people in mind.

The Os – The Overworked and Overwhelmed – those who want to get a better handle on what’s on their plate. They want to have less stress, and more time for themselves and their families. This text will enable them to have more energy and vitality with less stress and help them to carve out more time for themselves.

The As – These are the Ambitious, Achieving, Alpha tribe, those who work a lot, yet want to be able to perform better still and get more done. This text will teach them how to push the boundaries of performance without sacrificing wellbeing. It is about sustainable competitiveness: getting more effective sleep and reducing stress. They will learn how to get more done, while accessing the power of the brain.

The Bs – Busy Bees who rush around doing lots of things. Everyone knows this is a busy person, but they feel as though they’re never quite there. They never feel they’ve accomplished a lot and don’t have an overall picture of what they have achieved. This text will help them to focus on more meaningful accomplishment

The Ls – Learning Leaders – those who want to better themselves, their teams and their organisations. This text will teach them/you how to manage your own personal energy and help others to manage their own energy, increasing vitality, personal performance and organisational performance.

The Ss – Self Actualisers – those who are curious and would like improve their life by accessing the innate genius already present in their body and mind. They learn how to gain access to this, while learning to harness their own energy and improve their health and wellbeing.

The Gs – Go Getters – those who are already leading a full and active life with many pursuits and activities outside of work. This will show them how to put more fuel in the tank so they can do even more without exhausting themselves.

The Reluctant – those who have a concern about their capacity to get things done. Whether it’s a concern about time or being overburdened, this text will help them go beyond the constraints of what they think is possible and to accomplish what they are capable of without exhausting themselves.

So which one are you? Or can you recognise yourself as being a mix of all these types? Do you want to have more of a life? Do you want more time for yourself or to spend with your family? Are you looking for a way to be more effective and get more done with less stress? Do you want to push the envelope in terms of your performance and gain a competitive edge? Would you like to overcome overwhelm? Would you like to transform the performance and vitality of your company? Which three are your most dominant thinking–behaviour patterns? What are your most pressing needs right now? Identifying which one you are will help you establish your energy and productivity needs.