Time Management Strategies for Shift Workers

Speaker 1 0:00

Choose your hard . Are you going to be willing to put some plans in place and do something new for the first time and then , as it gets repetitive , it's going to get easier for you ? So it'd be harder in the short term , but easier in the long term . Or do you want to choose your other hard , which is the life you're living now , with no structure , no system , and be the one complaining that you don't have time ? So you've got a choice . You've always got a choice .

Speaker 2 0:24

So you've got a choice . You've always got a choice . Shift work can be brutal , but it doesn't have to be . Welcome to A Healthy Shift . My name is Roger Sutherland , certified Nutritionist , veteran Law Enforcement Officer and 24-7 Shift Worker for almost four decades . Through this podcast , I aim to educate shift workers , using evidence-based methods , to not only survive the rigours of shift work but thrive . My goal is to empower shift workers to improve their health and wellbeing so they have more energy to do the things they love . Enjoy today's show and welcome to another episode of a Healthy Shift podcast your podcast , our podcast , the podcast where I give evidence-based strategies to help you thrive and not just survive in your shift working life .

Speaker 2 1:17

Today , I am absolutely thrilled to have Alan Borges on the podcast , and Alan helps people to manage their time . Now , shift workers , don't ? We just have the biggest problems once we walk out of our shift working jobs in managing ourselves and managing our time outside of shift work . You'll hear today in my conversation with Alan that he actually assists people with strategies around the best way to manage your time , and I think he's got some fantastic quotes that will really resonate and really stick with you that came out of this podcast or came out of this chat with Alan . Now , for those that are curious and may have heard the name , alan Borges , you are dead right . Alan is the husband of Angela Borges , who is the Healthy Diary , so one very , very busy and extremely successful woman in her own business as well . And Alan is the time manager in the background behind Angela . So , without much further ado , let's listen to what Alan's got for us to help all of us with our time management in our shift working lives . And welcome to the show , alan Borges . How are you ?

Speaker 1 2:32

today I'm very well . Thanks , Roger . Living the dream .

Speaker 2 2:34

Yeah , absolutely , aren't we ever . For those people that don't know you , alan , you are actually the husband behind Angela Borges of the Healthy Diary . Now Angela is an incredibly busy woman and she told me that her husband , alan yourself , is actually a time management expert . Organizer . You help people with time management .

Speaker 1 2:56

I help people with their time . Yeah , that's definitely part of what I do . I'm not sure if it's an expert , just a student , put it that way always learning .

Speaker 2 3:03

We're always learning in everything that we do . Angela is a very busy woman , without any doubt whatsoever . She pops up literally everywhere . We look these days in what she's doing and the business is going extremely well . So what I wanted to do was I wanted to talk to you about your time management strategies that you've got , because our shift working community it's a community that really struggles Now . While they're at work , they actually function at probably a good 100% . They're snap snap , snap responding , doing what they need to do and they're trained professionals in everything . But when they step out of work , the biggest problem that our shift working community have is they can't function , and I'm sure everybody listening goes oh my God , that's exactly me Driving home to the supermarket and finding yourself in the middle of the can't even remember why you got there . But first of all , tell our listeners a bit about ourselves . You know where you're located , what you do and how you go about

Effective Time Management for Professionals

Speaker 2 3:57

it Cool .

Speaker 1 3:57

So I'm based in beautiful Melbourne , australia . I love swinging kettlebells and going for walks and doing coffee catch-ups and enjoying what Melbourne has to offer . What do I do ? I love to engage driven professionals in a meaningful way so that they have the tools to build their purpose-driven lives . And the reason I do that is because I was once a young professional and just needed a little bit of guidance . I had drive and ambition , but I needed somebody to help me with some guidance because I didn't know how to be more effective , and I want to return that favor . Now I'm not in a position to do that , and that's what really drives me .

Speaker 2 4:34

I love that I have found Alan that with me . I've worked almost four decades now in law enforcement here in Melbourne and I would consider myself someone who functioned pretty well in that environment , because it's all very , very reactive , right ? Because you get a job , you go to a job , a phone rings , you answer the phone , everything's all done and you are reacting to everything . I'm going to tell you that I've actually struggled running my own business , stepping away from that and actually managing tasks and staying on task . I would almost say that a person in my position after doing what I've done for so long really really suffers from ADHD tendencies that you get distracted . Shiny things roll past all the time , which is why I wanted to get you onto the podcast , because I know a lot of people can relate to this , especially once they step away from work and they have to deal with their families . So why do you do exactly what you do today ?

Speaker 1 5:30

Well , for that very reason , the challenges that you've shared with yourself is we're very efficient and productive , very systemized . Especially as shift workers , you have a system and process , but when we're at home , that often isn't the case . So the process is how do we mirror what we do in a professional environment and do that at home so we can make the most of our time off , rather than just feeling very lethargic , without energy and not really doing those things that we want to do and love doing , and then feeling bad for ourselves because we can't get to do the things that we enjoy the most ?

Speaker 2 6:05

Oh , that's fantastic , because the motto of my business is actually having more time to do the things that you love outside of your shift working life . So you play right into that with me , because I want shift workers to thrive , not just to survive . I know that shift workers are their own worst enemy because they've never been educated as to the best way to go about it . So you are literally the unicorn that we've all been looking for , alan , totally , because you help people with time management . I know you're going to tell me that it is actually possible , but what is it that you're going to tell us that we don't already know that we should be doing , but we actually don't ? Because , let's be honest , we all know that we should exercise , but getting to exercise , we don't get to exercise . We all know that we should be eating properly , but we don't eat properly . So what is it that you're going to tell us that we don't already do ?

Speaker 1 6:57

Well , first to be clear , I'm not the unicorn , because unicorns are beautiful creatures and I'm far beyond that . So that's one thing . I think Angela would argue with that . So one and a half things .

Speaker 1 7:08

One thing is being intentional with your time , and what I mean by that is looking at time differently and treating it like money . So if I was to say that we all get 24 hours in a day , but to making that a thousand dollars , so $24,000 . If we're looking at , I'm going to be spending $1,000 , one hour in commas doing this thing , is it worth my investment ? And we'll probably touch on this later . But like , for example , you might spend an hour on your phone , so that means you're spending $1,000 scrolling on your phone and is that putting your goals towards the things that you want to have ?

Speaker 1 7:43

So big thing is intentionality with what you're focusing on , and I like to quote a book the Richest man on Babylon . I forget the author , but basically the concept there is to pay yourself 10% first before paying any bills or doing any grocery shopping . So the purpose of that is basically saying put yourself first . So , other than your work , your rostered shifts , what are you going to do around that ? And be intentional about that time , because psychologists have confirmed to us that sleep , exercise , nutrition , routine and relationships are absolutely mandatory for the greater good of our health . So how can we structure that in our day around work ? So that's very , very important . So , to wrap that up in a nice bow being intentional about our time and looking at time like money that we're investing , love that Because this is where we look at our values .

Speaker 2 8:40

And once we identify our values and what we actually value , I think this is a practice that I try and get clients of mine to actually do . First up , to identify your values . What do you value ? Right ? So , if you value your health , how can I throw $1,000 of that one hour towards the value of my health ? Now , it doesn't mean that you've got to go and smash yourself in a gym squatting 140 kilos . It may just be that you take yourself for a walk . It's still a step in the direction of your values , isn't it ? So , I think , identifying your values and actually casting that vote in the direction of your values when you're managing your time because you can sit there for an hour and a half or two hours scrolling aimlessly on your phone , responding to messenger what value is that actually working towards that you value ? Because it's not , is it ?

Speaker 1 9:34

No , it's not . I love that you brought up values because I was going to bring that up or knew would bring it up at some point in the conversation . But same here . Identifying the value is such a paramount to doing anything beyond that , so I love that you brought that up . It's such a critical part .

Speaker 2 10:42

A lot of people do wander through life not actually identifying their values and what they value , and I've had clients that have been very , very skeptical around values . I like to pride myself on value-driven coaching , so that people are working towards that , and in fact I've had clients that think , oh , roger , that's just happy clapper stuff , like what are you doing ? But when they've identified five of their values and they've put them in their kitchen , on a fridge door or wherever , and they refer back to it and when they have to make a decision , they cast it towards their value and they've come back to me and said , my goodness me , it's made such a difference in my life as well . Okay , so how do you personally help people with their time management ? What does it look like If I come to you and say I'm hopeless , alan , I can't get anything organized at all . What does it look like ?

Speaker 1 11:29

Well , first I'd say that's very normal , and what works for me may not work for you , and there's no cookie cutter approach . It's to find out what's going to work for Roger , right , what's going to work for you . And the way that I approach that is very simple . Simplicity equals success . Complexity is confusion , and we don't want that . So it's very simple .

Speaker 1 11:52

Number one is define what a great day or a great week looks like for us , and we want to create and design a life around our roster , and I know roster changes . I too used to be a shift worker back in the day , so I know that it's very hard to plan stuff and things change . But we'll get to that . But step one define what a great day looks like for you and your family . Number two is , once you've listed out the things that you want in your perfect day , your perfect week , a thing called time blocking .

Speaker 1 12:22

I think you may have spoken about this before , roger , in previous episodes , but time blocking is such a phenomenal thing . Very briefly , if you've got a task that you want to do , go to the gym , schedule that in your calendar or planner . Say you're going to be there at 3 pm to 3.45 . Time blocking is very important because you're giving yourself a start and a finish time like a roster , and , after you've time , blocked the things that you want to do in your week , putting it into a family calendar or a weekly planner . That's it . But that part is very , very important because if you visually cannot see days and the times and where you're spending your focus and attention , you cannot fulfill that . I work with a lot of people who are frontline workers or even executives , and they both have the same challenges . If you don't see the future ie have a planner in front of you it makes it very difficult to follow through .

Speaker 2 13:17

This is where I get clients to actually get a whiteboard to start off with and actually put it on a whiteboard and keep it as simple as possible and go with what you can actually do and achieve . So , first of all , we know we have to go to work and come home , so we put our shifts on it . So we've got a whiteboard . We've got our Sunday to Saturday , which is our normal working week . Sunday to Saturday Start off with Sunday , monday , tuesday , write your shifts on it and then look at other commitments that you have and put those on and then look at where you can time block that time in , like what you've said . Because when you are lucid and you are actually in a position where you can think and can make decisions like that without being chronically fatigued and can't think , it's a really good way for you to come in , look and go . Oh , that's right , I got that . Also , it can save conversations with the rest of your family , as in someone says are you working today , mum ? Are you working today , dad ? It's on the whiteboard . I love that . So you're looking at a person identifying what their ideal day looks like , what they want to actually achieve , and scheduling that in as a time block to make sure that they've got the time for it , and I think this is something that's really , really good .

Speaker 2 14:31

So my personal opinion is because we all know , because we're addicted to them , that I feel that poor time management is something that we now really , really suffer from , and it's due to the amount of time that we spend on our phones doom scrolling , and I think one of the biggest dramas that we have is these applications are built to hook us and hold us and keep us on it no matter what , so that's why they continually refresh the feed , they continually show us things that are similar to what we've already looked at , but we can doom scroll for hours and then people will tell us and I'm sure you've got clients that said , oh , I didn't have time to schedule that in , but you know damn well what they've been on the social medias . In all honesty , alan , what do you see is actually the solution for this ? Because we're just addicted to them . We pick them up , we look at them and it's a problem .

Speaker 1 15:21

It's definitely a problem . I've been a sucker to it and I think everybody has . And the very first thing that I speak with most of my clients , it's a hard conversation . And the reason why it's a hard conversation it's because of this thing called ownership . It's an excuse whenever we say we don't have time , because we all have time and we all have 24 hours in a day . So it's not the fact that we didn't have time , it's the fact that it wasn't a priority . So if you say that you want to meet up with a friend after a long time for a coffee and then you don't , then we made a purposeful , intentional choice not to do that because something else came up . It's not that you didn't have time , it's you didn't make it a priority . So I believe the biggest takeaway from today is just that reframe and take ownership of what you're saying . Don't lie and say we didn't have time because you did . It's just you didn't make it a priority . And that's a tough pill to swallow when you hear yourself say that . So that language is very , very important .

Speaker 1 16:22

And look , we're generally doom scrolling because of three particular things . One is fear of missing out . So what are our friends doing ? What are our colleagues doing ? What's on the news ? News is such a big one . Number two distraction , making a distraction from what we're currently doing , or comfort , so they go hand in hand . And number three you pointed out this , roger , the addictive design of the beast of social media , or the phone itself . And there was actually a health journal , from the Health Communication Journal , that put out a study that it was 16% of 1,100 people who were surveyed showed signs of severely problematic approaches to news consumption , which meant that the participants had greater levels of stress , anxiety , poor health , as they were always focused on the high alert of the news what's happening and they keep searching it for more . So that's a very , very big thing which you just go down the rabbit hole . So what's the solution ? So , four things .

Speaker 1 17:24

One would be ask yourself why am I doing this ? Pause and think , why am I going to the phone Again , boredom , frustration , because that's the root cause in trying to find that out . But just asking yourself why am I doing this ? And trying to find a substitution , deep breaths , going for a walk , make yourself a cuppa coffee for many international people who don't know who a cuppa is . Number two is this eating into my priority ? Again going back . If I'm meant to be spending time with my son but I'm on the phone , am I leaning in towards my values ? So is it a priority for me right now ? And number three is set a limit . I love going on social media and check out some things that that's happening , but I schedule that in after lunch 15 minutes , 20 minutes , whatever it is . But scheduling it in means that I get to do it , because full restriction is never good , just like for food , if you want to have a chocolate habit , but just don't have the whole block in one sitting . That's very powerful as well .

Speaker 2 18:24

You've got to not reward yourself because you haven't done a trick right and you're not a circus animal , but you've got to give yourself that , because if you don't give yourself permission to do it , you're going to do it more and then you're going to feel guilty about it , then you create that guilt association around it and then you start bullying yourself and so the spiral goes on . I read a fantastic book called Digital Minimalism I think it's written by Cal Newport actually and talks

Reducing Digital Overload for Mental Health

Speaker 2 18:49

about literally reducing the digital in our life as in everything that we do . See , we don't watch commercial television at home at all . We don't have the commercial TV on in any way whatsoever , because I think we've learned , over the last four years in particular , that the media manipulates us into certain lines of stories that are actually not true around a number of things that are happening , because if they start putting good news out , it doesn't give them clicks . I think politics and COVID and religion . If you go down that tunnel of looking and you are that way inclined like if you were someone who believes so much in COVID , then you would have confirmation bias of everything that you were looking at confirmed and you'd be going see , see this , see this and that was a problem . So therefore , you were just fueling that .

Speaker 2 19:35

I honestly personally believe that our social media causes all of our mental health issues today I really don't want to say all of them a lot of mental health issues because we are so stressed by what we're seeing while we're shift working at home , all of our friends are off partying it up in Ibiza or through the Greek island .

Speaker 2 19:54

You know , and as you know , it's not the real world and these fantastic bodies that we look at are not the real world either . It's not a real story . And going back and circling back to what you said originally , you've got to look at it and say is this working towards the $1,000 to this hour value that I want to spend ? How am I going to maximize it ? Because I've spent it and I've got absolutely nothing back from it . And the other thing that I think a lot of people will relate to in relation to social media is when you pick up your phone to do something , the notification is what distracts you , and then you go down a rabbit hole and then you forget what you even picked your phone up for and it doesn't get done .

Speaker 1 20:33

It's such a common problem as well 100% and , like you said about the notifications , that's what I think I told Angela to do . My wife switched that stuff off only purposely . Look at your phone and what you need and I guess a more practical hack for the listeners is signing out of your Facebook , Instagram , email accounts is a good thing , because it's a pain in the butt to put your password and username in and then also removing them from your home screen and putting them deep in your phone folders . That also helps . Again , whatever's more difficult sort of puts a bit of a deterrent or less likely for us to go and hunt for that stuff and us giving us some time to think oh crap , I'm going down this rabbit hole . Should I be doing it To get people ?

Speaker 2 21:18

to go to the gym . We have to reduce the friction , don't we ? To get people to actually eat properly , we've got to reduce the friction . So I think that's a great idea for people to not have Instagram on their home screen , not have Facebook on their home screen , not have LinkedInin and if you bury them in folders or you uninstall the app off the home screens so you can't see it , it does create a friction , so you can actually use friction in your favor as well .

Speaker 2 21:49

In the book Digital Minimalism , cal talks about and I'm sure it's Cal Newport , but he talks about that what you do is you don't set your email to automatically come in . You set it to manual , so you have to literally open it and then pull it down to refresh it , to get the emails Reply , send and then close it off again , and then what happens is you're not getting notifications for emails because so many people they've got Twitter notifications on , they've got Instagram notifications on Facebook Messenger text messages . It's TikTok . It's just never ending as to how it goes and it does cause people problems . Turn the goddamn notifications off If you really want to step away from it . Like Melissa , my partner's excellent on her phone . She is fantastic . She'll get text messages from people . It'll take her a day or two to answer them . She's got friends that do the same and she's just not obsessed with her phone in any way whatsoever unless she's looking at it for a particular person , and I think it's such a credit to her that she does it . I mean , I run a business online and Angela's the same , and you are Got to be on the LinkedIn . You've got to be doing this , you've got to be on that .

Speaker 2 22:54

Then there's another platform Causes us all sorts of problems . Coming back to shift , workers have this perception that they are really really time poor and at times it really is due to other commitments of their shifts , because they do afternoon , they do day , they do a night shift and now they have massive problems today , in particular in nursing at the moment , and police with double shifts . They're so short staff now , like since they've come out of COVID , and they have this perception of they feel obligated to fill in this time at work . They've got to feel like they need to do everything and then when they get home , they're exhausted . What's one thing that they can really do that they need to support the things that they need to get done , whether it be go for a walk or you know . What sort of things can a person look at that they need to get done and how can they block that time ?

Speaker 1 23:44

One big overarching thing when I hear that Roger is asking yourself the question , because you get home after such an extraordinary amount of time and stress that you've just spent on your shift and asking yourself is my behavior aligned with my values and goals ? So that's just such an important question to ask and I don't believe it's airy-fairy . I think it's a very practical question that we need to ask ourselves , because we're always on the go , we're always forward thinking , we're always what's next thing that we have to tackle , that we don't pause and reflect and going , what's my next thing ? And is it working towards my vision , my family , my goals , whatever it is to you ?

Speaker 1 24:27

So there's a great quote from James Clear , who wrote the very popular book Atomic Habits . He says you do not rise to the level of your goals . You fall to the level of your systems , and the reason why I love that is because each one of you who work shift works have a system that you follow and a procedure that you have , because it's designed to stop the thinking , to keep you on autopilot , to get things done quicker and to save people's lives or to stop from bad things happening or to provide a good result . So why not have that same approach and system in your life with the people that matter to you the most . By not having a system , you're doing yourself a disservice , your future self , your family , everything a disservice . So having a system in place .

Speaker 1 25:17

What am I talking about ? System , like I mentioned to you before , what's my perfect week ? Am I time blocking this into my calendar ? Is it somewhere that I can see it , that my family can see it ? That is a simple system and I always ask show me your calendar . You're showing me your priorities and if the only thing is work , then that's the only thing that matters to you .

Speaker 2 25:42

I hope you're enjoying the show . If you are , please don't forget to rate and review once you've finished . This helps the show's

Effective Time Management Strategies

Speaker 2 25:49

reach enormously . And have you got my free ebook the Best Way to Eat on Night Shift ? Well , this is a comprehensive guide to the overnight fast , why we should fast and how to best go about it . I've even included a few recipes to help you . I've put a link to the ebook in the show notes .

Speaker 2 26:08

And are you really struggling with shift work and feel like you're just crawling from one shift to the next ? Well , I've got you . If you would like to work with me , I can coach you to thrive , not just survive , while undertaking the rigours of 24-7 shift work . Well-being seminars , where I will come to your workplace and deliver evidence-based information to help your well-being team to reduce unplanned leave and increase productivity in your workplace . I've put the links in the show notes to everything mentioned . You can find me at healthyshiftcom or on Instagram at a underscore healthy , underscore shift .

Speaker 2 26:53

Now let's get back to the show . Work is obviously important for people because it brings the income and it helps them . No doubt about it . All right , but the thing is , you can't live in work because , especially for a shift worker that's in frontline health or emergency services in particular , you can't live in your work because if you do that , you actually have no life outside of it in any way whatsoever and you wallow in the pity of what's actually going on in your work . So you need to be prioritizing it . I love that quote that you've just said . That show me your calendar and that shows me your priorities , because if you haven't scheduled things in , then it's not a priority to you . The other thing that I absolutely love Atomic Habits is an exceptional book in itself , and I'll link to it in the show notes for people that haven't read it anyway . But Atomic Habits by James Clear is superb , and his other quote that he always lives by as well is it's never the habit that fails , it's the systems that you've put in place to achieve them . And that is another classic right . You don't ever fail at your habit , because if your habit didn't work , then you didn't put systems in place to actually achieve that habit .

Speaker 2 28:02

If you can't remember to take your supplements , you haven't given yourself a reminder . Why can't you take them ? Because I don't see them and I forget . So put them there where you can see them , so you walk out and it's on the kitchen bench . I don't see them and I forget . So put them there where you can see them . So you walk out and it's on the kitchen bench . I don't drink water in the mornings , I don't drink enough water , so where's your water bottle ? You know what I mean .

Speaker 2 28:20

Like you've got to start putting processes in place to achieve what you want , and this is where time blocking in your calendar oh , I haven't got time to get to the gym , why not ? If you schedule in two hours a week to start off with and start to fall in love with it , everybody can make two hours to go to the gym in a week , everyone . It doesn't have to be to go and squat 140 kilos and deadlift 200 . It can literally just be to go into the gym , like I did today . I just went to the gym , I sat in the steam room for 15 minutes and then I went and walked in the hydro pool for an hour . I've done something . You know what I mean . It took me an hour and a half and I was done , showered out and here we are . Really easy . It just makes you feel so much better and that you've achieved something .

Speaker 2 29:06

People need to be very , very self-aware . Do you agree with that ? 100% Okay . Time management is , without doubt , the biggest issue that I encounter with majority of my clients . Time management's awful . In fact , I'm just going to say it's non-existent . People don't manage their time at all . So give us some tips on where would you start If I came to you as a shift working client and said Alan , I'm great at work and this is what my roster looks like . Can you give us some tips on what's the best way to manage our valuable time away from our shift working job ? Like , we talk about time blocking , but do I have to block it down to driving to the gym , driving home , or do I just start off by just blocking that out ? What's the best way ?

Speaker 1 29:46

to just start . I don't know where this comes from , but if you don't know where you're going , you'll end up someplace else . I mean , it's so simple , but we need to know what it is that we want to do in order to start putting a plan in place , Because there's no point in putting a plan in place if we don't know where we're going . So choosing a planning day and that time with yourself or with your partner is fundamental . Generally , that could be either a Sunday or a Monday , a start of the week or end of the week , whatever suits you best . But give yourself 30 minutes a week , 20 minutes to think about what is it that we want to achieve this coming week ? Take the kids to school , go to some gym , go do some shopping . Find that out first . The perfect week Number two is well , I already said , define what an amazing week is , but once you've got those duties down , put it into a calendar . Get yourself a calendar , whether it's a whiteboard , like Roger said , or I personally like a weekly calendar because I like to see my week . Whether it's digital or analog , like good old pen and paper , do what you like . For me , I like digital because I'm just a digital guy and I like dragging and dropping stuff , but I also use paper .

Speaker 1 31:00

One plan your perfect week . Two , time block what those things are . And three , review that week that you just did and see what worked . What did you overestimate , what did you underestimate ? And hey , because you pulled the double shift , that means that things changed . Hey , that's okay , you've got another week .

Speaker 1 31:20

Another perspective viewing is just because you had a bad day , or a bad three days or a bad week , that's not the end of the world , because you've got another week and another week after that . God forbid something was to happen to you . But you're going to have another week . So go easy on yourself , review and adjust and plan for the following week . If you've never done this before and sometimes it's going to suck . But I say well , choose your hard . Are you going to be willing to put some plans in place and do something new for the first time , and then , as it gets repetitive , it's going to get easier for you ? So it'd be harder in the short term , but easier in the long term . Or do you want to choose your other heart , which is the life you're living now , with no structure , no system , and be the one complaining that you don't have time , so you've got a choice . You've always got a choice .

Speaker 2 32:08

That is quote of the podcast , that one . I love that at the end there . Choose your heart . Do you want to do the hard work now and organize your life , or do you just want to live this really hard side of having a disorganized life that you just call hard because you can't do the hard to organize it ? That is the guts of everything here . You can wander through and call it hard today and say I can't do this , or you can put the hard work in . When I say put the hard work in , you just got to make a start . You've got to be disciplined enough to make a start , because when you do that , it then becomes rote , it then becomes habit and you just keep on going with all those things as well .

Speaker 2 32:47

And I thought I know some people are very digital and you've said that you're digital . You like to have that reminder come up oh , bang , in 15 minutes it's time block for this or it's time block . And we don't want to live on our phone with ding , oh , that's 15 minutes for this and ding , that's 15 minutes for that . We don't want to live like that and we don't have to live like that . But can you just discuss what your thoughts are around whether it's visual management or app-based management , or what seems to be better , or what does the evidence tell us is actually a better way of going about it .

Speaker 1 33:17

I've done a lot of research on this over the years and the answer is both , because we're coming back to originally . What we said at the beginning is you need to know what's good for you , and the only way you know is if you test it for an extended period of time . Whatever that is , how long is a piece of string , but you've got to test it . So digital calendars , reminders and notifications help ensure that nothing slips through the cracks For me . I am disciplined enough to have no notifications on my phone except for my calendar . I am driven by my calendar and I live in my calendar . But I can do that because I know I don't scroll on other stuff , but some may not . So and apps can also automatically track time and spend on certain tasks , and they give you data as well Things . I'm sure you've probably got a reminder if you've got an app or Android . It tells you how long you've been spending time on your apps . If you like that data , then great . If it's just an additive distraction , then don't go down that path .

Speaker 1 34:19

And the other spectrum is physical planners and whiteboards . They provide a broad overview , like you mentioned before , roger , what's happening on the day . Family can see it . Writing things down can improve memory retention and engagement with the tasks . So , even though I do stuff digitally every day , I wake up in the morning and write my key things that I have to do , even though it's on my calendar , I like to physically write down because I know there's a whole body-mind connection and that's a bit woo-woo thing in terms of getting stuff onto paper from your mind . I like doing that , so I still do the written stuff . So do I . But test both options and see what works for you . For example , like I said , I like to use both , but you have to test it . So , putting that in a bow , try both and see what works for you . If the digital is going to add to your distractions , then don't go down . The digital way is my only fine print , I'd say .

Speaker 2 35:10

I do love the way that you just commented on saying that you use a digital calendar , but you do like to get up in the morning , look at your phone and just drop down your let's just say three main tasks that you have to achieve for the day . I can see how that would really work , because there's a record and a reminder , but because you've taken it out of your phone and put it on a piece of paper in front of you it actually reinforces it , doesn't it 100% .

Speaker 1 35:39

It's almost like a commitment . I mean , one of my high values is integrity , so whenever I don't fulfill something , I have a really bad response to that . So I actually have a book here in front of me . It's called the Productivity Planner . I love it because it's just one page and it forces me to choose three to four things to write down . And the reason why I like it is because it helps me reflect , like , what was my highlight of today , what did I learn today and what do I want to remember today , so I can be better tomorrow . And I like writing those things down and it takes me five minutes to do all that . So again , it's another time saver , but it keeps me focused .

Speaker 2 36:10

It's a journal , isn't it ? And there's so much evidence supporting journals and emptying certain things out of your brains and setting your intention . So what you're doing , you're actually practicing your gratitude . You're practicing something that's made you feel good , something that you've learned from . Well , as we know , there is an absolute world of evidence around journaling . I know people go well , it's woo-woo , it's happy clapper , it's happy clapper and it's on a bumper sticker because it actually works . That's the thing . Now , what I want to do , too , here around this is because I'm sure you've worked with some classic clients and we won't go down that rabbit hole of naming them , but I've got absolutely no doubt at all that you could give us some examples of outrageously ridiculous time-blocking things that people have done , or what people have done when it comes to time management . Can you give us some stories , give us a couple of examples and keep us entertained Talking about time blocking anything .

Speaker 1 37:03

Even though it's good , too much of it is bad . I've fallen down the trap of time blocking everything and then I get really upset with myself when I don't fulfill that time blocked and that just adds stress to me . So I've not 100% learned , I'm still learning . But to be more , hey , life happens , let's just move this thing to another day , and in shift work that's every week . So you need to be okay with plans not working out , knowing that that's part of life . But anyway , with plans not working out , knowing that that's part of life .

Speaker 1 37:32

But anyway , one of the three things that I found quite funny is I had an old boss . He used a one

Rethinking Traditional to-Do Lists

Speaker 1 37:38

blank A4 sheet of paper that he would use to take notes in meetings , to write down his to-do list and his reminders , and what he'd do is once he'd have a meeting he'd fold it and then write a note and then go to another meeting , fold it again , write another note and he'd fold it down and he pulls it out of his shirt pocket and it's when you open it up it's all upside down and in blocks . And I go how the hell do you manage that ? But it worked for him , right ? And this goes back to the point I said if it works for you and you have structure and you're not falling behind , then do it . But I'd never teach that to anybody , because that's just absurd .

Speaker 1 38:17

Oh yeah , the other one was the old to-do list . So having a list of 15 things that you have to do and it's just never ending and it grows , that's just a horrible approach . And a lot of studies have been done . I can't recall any of them now , but I know that it's just not good to have multiple lists or even lots of things on a list , because when you do one or two things , you feel that you haven't accomplished it because you know that there's still stuff there . It plays a lot on your mind saying it's never done and it's just not a good approach .

Speaker 1 38:47

So the old to-do list if you've got one , you've got to change that today because it's just proven not to work long term . And the other one is just memory . And this is something that Angela , my wife , did a lot because she has a great memory . But when you start running a business you've got clients , she's got me to deal with , you've got a team to deal with , you've got lots of stuff on you just cannot remember everything and sticking to a memory , you become unreliable . You forget things and birthdays , important stuff , and that's just not a good thing . But the funniest one for me was that A4 sheet of paper one .

Speaker 2 39:22

I think the A4 sheet of paper is a classic but , like you've said quite rightly , it worked for him and it was what worked for him and you might teach someone else to do that . It won't work for them . So it's a classic . I want to pull out of what you just said there list , list , list .

Speaker 2 39:39

So many people make these lists and you've commented I know myself , if I make a great long list , it gets to the stage where you don't see the list or you tick two things off and then the next thing is you just give up because you've only hit two things out of the 30 things that you had on it . If you're saying , don't make a great long list of things to be done , because it's almost hypocritical that we say time , blot the time and make a list of the things that need to be done , whereas don't make a list , because while we're thinking of things , oh , I've got to pay the gas bill , oh , I've got to pay the phone bill , oh , I've got to mow the lawn , I've got to do this and you make these lists . If you don't make those , they're not in your mind , they don't get done . So what's the solution to that ?

Speaker 1 40:21

Yeah , and having those lists pay the bills , feed the dog , whatever it is . I mean , that's why things get missed and gets forgotten . It allows us to use the excuse I didn't have time . That's what that to-do list does . So there was an article by I think it's David Markowitz . He wrote in the Harvard Business Review specifically about the to-do lists and the challenges that they bring .

Speaker 1 40:47

A few of those challenges of having a to-do list is one choice overwhelm . You have 10 things to do . You don't know where to start . If you get the option of two things , then you can just pick A or B . So choice overwhelm .

Speaker 1 41:08

The other thing is you favor the things that are quicker and easier to do . So you know you have the renovation to be done that you're doing in the bedroom , but you know that you've got to post something in the mail . So what are you going to do ? You're going to post something in the mail . The other thing here covers is priority bias . So you're prioritizing what you would enjoy doing over something that you should be doing . Oh , you'll have a call with Jenny rather than doing 50 burpees that I have to be doing .

Speaker 1 41:31

And the other one , which is a very important one , which is why we use the calendar is lack of context , because you could have on your to-do list , you know , start my online business . But starting an online business means you've got to find a brand , you've got to call your name , you've got to open up a bank account , you've got to get a team . What are you going to sell ? Well , that's a whole list of stuff within itself . So it lacks context , which , again , when you go do the list , you go oh , I don't have enough time to do this or to do that , or I didn't have that . So it's a great article and it just highlights the to-do list is outdated . If you ever find yourself saying I don't have time again , show me your calendar , because when you have your calendar , you can physically see time where you're spending your time , where you choose to have free time as well . So the to-do list , it's an old thing and it's just proven not to work .

Speaker 2 42:24

There you go . There's a good perspective on the old to-do list , because I'm sure there would be a lot of people saying , oh , I couldn't survive without my to-do list . But I think if you listen carefully to what Alan just said , then the to-do list we work off the things that we find are easy to do , instead of starting at the top and working our way down or picking the harder ones . And I know with people with ADHD as well , that they allocate like two major tasks or three smaller tasks to them as well . That's all they're allowed to do , and I think that's something that is very , very important as well . Five tasks in the day , two big ones , three smaller ones and you get to reward yourself actually ticking those ones off . Excellent , fantastic .

Speaker 2 43:05

Can a shift worker time manage , given how dynamic their environment is ? It's okay for you , alan . You work Monday to Friday and you work

Shift Worker Time Management and Thriving

Speaker 2 43:12

I'm going to call it nine to five . Right , I know it's not that , but you work nine to five and you work Monday to Friday and you've got your weekends off . Shift workers are working all over the weekend , days off in the middle of the week . It's a very dynamic environment . Do you believe that they can manage their time ?

Speaker 1 43:27

No , and the reason why I say no is because no one can manage time . Again , this comes back down to the play and language . I really want us to start removing that language saying we don't manage time , we manage what we focus . Okay , we don't manage our time , we manage what we focus .

Speaker 1 43:45

I spent five years doing shift work albeit not on front lines and health or anything like that I work in franchising the same sort of vibe but time I was still able to eat well , still able to sleep well , still able to go to the gym , still able to have time with family and friends , because I chose to manage what I focused on and not worry about time . A good example would be I had a very important meeting that I had to go to at work one night , and it was very important because it would propel my career forward if I went to this meeting . Then I was getting ready , dressed up , fantastic , I looked good . All of a sudden , I woke up to a burst water main out the front . So my priority was to go to that meeting . However , when shit hit the fan , I had to stop and deal with the water main right . So my priority changed . It's not that I didn't have time to go to the meeting . It's just my priority changed and I think it's very important for us to be mindful of .

Speaker 1 44:47

It's . Not a lack of time , it's a matter of what we focus on , and you could do a 16-hour shift . What you choose to do after that shift is entirely your choice and we have to take ownership of what we focus on . And , roger , you talked about this on your episode I think it was 122 about thrive , not survive . I think you mentioned that before and you talk about how your other co-workers have . They're all fit , they're full of energy , they just got life under control . They might have kids and their family , but they're still managing it . Why ? Because you're telling them to have sleep , hydrate , nutrition , movement and stress management . You have the time , it's just . Are you choosing to focus on that ? That's the question we've got to be asking ourselves .

Speaker 2 45:27

When you manage what you focus on . How much better do you actually feel , alan , when you get to the end of the week ? It's one thing I know as a shift worker . I'm a veteran , I've done it for 40 years shift work , so I can comment on this . There's two ways you can reach the end of your rotation . You can reach the end of your rotation floundering and just surviving and going . Yep , I survived , Thank God for that . Now I can lounge around . Or you can get to the end of your rotation and go . I absolutely crushed that . And which way are you going to feel better ? I can tell you exactly which way you feel better , because once I started mastering it , it became habit , it became life . Food prep and how I went about food prep became life . Going to the gym and making time to go to the gym , going for walks , it became life and it does .

Speaker 2 46:16

I saw a short of an interview with Arnold Schwarzenegger this morning and it was him being interviewed talking about you go to the gym every day . Now Arnold Schwarzenegger is what , in his 70s , still goes to the gym every day . And people say you still go to the gym every day and he goes yeah , for me it's like having breakfast . I just go to the gym every day because it's just so ingrained in my DNA . It's just what I do . It's not a task . And the reason why it's not a task is because it's something that he's done on repeat so often that he would find it harder to not do it than to actually go . And I think this is the resistance that people have today in actually getting to do it .

Speaker 2 46:51

But the point that I wanted to make here is you can get to the end of your week , which goes with your choose your heart , but you can get to the end of the week . How do you want to feel at the end of the week ? It's really , really satisfying to sit down with your partner and map out your week , particularly for shift workers that have got maybe a husband that isn't a shift worker , a wife that is a shift worker , and you've got to map into that time . You need to make time for each other and you need to make that time to have a brunch , have a lunch . Do that , rekindle and rework that relationship with what you're actually doing with that , because otherwise it falls apart . But if you get to the end of the week , you've got that to look forward to . You've got all the things that you've done and you get to the end of the week and you go I crushed it . I can do that again next week .

Speaker 2 47:37

Or you pick the things that didn't work . And when you pick the things that didn't work , what can I do to make sure that does work next time ? Or what can I learn from ? Why didn't that happen and what can I do to do it ? It's a great way to wrap it up . Is there anything that you would like to talk about that we haven't covered during this one ? To support our shift workers .

Speaker 1 47:55

I think people should not get overwhelmed . Don't get overwhelmed . Pick one thing from today and see how you can implement that with yourself or with your partner . But the takeaway take care of yourself first to be the best for your family and for the people that you work with . That sounds a bit cliche , but I like cliche because it's true . And taking care of yourself meaning put yourself first by putting a plan in place . Choose your hard hard the short term or hard the long term that you're probably already walking down . It's just such an important part .

Speaker 1 48:33

And one thing that I just wanted to wrap up with is , if you decide to take this challenge and make the change , other people around you will see you make this change . Two ways could happen . I'm just thinking of a client that I work with who is a nurse . She found that when she had a plan around at work , people will go what are you doing ? She felt a little bit ashamed because she was a bit different .

Speaker 1 48:59

I know this happens because when people start to make change , other people around you don't like to see that you're actually making progress . And this is where you have to come up with which is great if you work with somebody like Roger about how to manage that , because that could potentially happen , but that shouldn't be a deterrent to achieve that perfect life , perfect day , perfect week that you want to create . And when I say perfect , I'm just saying what you hope to have . It doesn't mean it will come true always , but just be mindful of that . Keep doing what's going to be best for you and your family , not just because somebody thinks that you're doing things weird or differently .

Speaker 2 49:36

And I couldn't agree more with you . You get on an airplane . Every time we get on an airplane , they tell you to put the oxygen mask on yourself before you go to help others , and I honestly believe that we do need to do that to ourselves first . You cannot possibly turn up to work 100% efficient if you are not looking after yourself outside and getting the things that you need to do outside of your work . And that is why my business slogan is have more energy to do the things that you love outside of your shift working life , Because when you do that , you actually go to work and feel so much better , turning up to work and doing that work side . And it is in fact possible to do that . No doubt about it . Alan , thank you so much for your time . I do sincerely appreciate it . Where can people find you if they wanted to follow up with you in any way ?

Speaker 1 50:24

You can find me at alanborgescom or you can just search me on LinkedIn is the other aspect . Alan Borges as well on LinkedIn . I do a lot of chats there , so either one of those .

Speaker 2 50:36

Now I've got one more question that I ask , and I ask this of every single guest . All right Now , if I bought you a holiday house , you and Ange can go , because you work so hard the pair of you and I watch you with the utmost respect of everything that you guys do so I'm going to buy you a holiday house and I'm going to put it anywhere in the world anywhere in the world that you want , because I haven't told you , but I secretly won the $150 million the other week . Now you've got to live in it for six months of the year , though . Alan . You can take Ange if you want , or you can go and get some peace and quiet . It's completely up to you . Where do you want me to buy it or ?

Speaker 1 51:10

build it for you . I don't think she'd like that if I left her behind . I can guarantee it . Seeing that you've scored a whole bunch of money , I wouldn't mind if you had two for me . So if I had two , I would like one in Florence , italy , and another one in Midtown , new York , italy . For me , because I absolutely love everything Italian and Angela loves New York City . So I think we'll spend half and half there .

Speaker 2 51:31

I'll be seeing you in both , because Tuscany is Melissa and I's absolute favorite place , so I think one of those little villages up on the hills , you know when you're on the train moving through . And they got those little villages up in the hills in Tuscany and we can go and have ice cream in . I can't remember the name of the place now anyway , but we can just do all the Tuscany thing and also New York City . Melissa and I did three weeks in a loft in New York City and lived like New Yorkers and we just thought we were absolutely fantastic because we were Alan . Thank you so much . I really do appreciate it and we will be talking again soon . Thank you so much for your time . Thanks , roger , appreciate it . And there you go . That's Alan Borges , isn't he fantastic with his time management strategies ? And , of course , there's plenty of takeaways to take away from that , and I think the main takeaway definitely is choose your heart , and you heard Alan talking about it . There's two ways you can go about this . You can crawl to the end of the week and survive it , or you can absolutely crush it by scheduling in things that are actually achievable and getting those things done . Thanks so much for listening .

Speaker 2 52:34

If you got any value out of that podcast , please give us a rating and a review . You can rate us very easily on Spotify by just going back to the main page up the top . There you can give it five stars I'll be really grateful . And on Apple , you can give it five stars and you can even go ahead and give it a review as well . Which helps other people other shift workers just like yourself , or people struggling to manage their time evidence-based tips and strategies around how to manage your shift working life .

Speaker 2 53:05

Remember ,

Maximizing Energy Outside of Shift Work

Speaker 2 53:13

what we really want to achieve here is more energy to do the things that you love outside of your shift working life , and if you don't think that structuring your time outside of your shift working life is valuable , then you better re-listen to that episode again . Thank you so much for joining us . Thank you for listening . If you enjoyed this episode , be sure to subscribe so you get notified whenever a new episode is released . It would also be ever so helpful if you could leave a rating and review on the app you're currently listening on . If you want to know more about me or work with me , you can go to ahealthyshiftcom . I'll catch you on the next one .