10th September 2024 Time

Dear Readers:

Well, where did that month go?! For us at YOO MUSE it flew by, what with taking school-age children on holiday and generally having lots of family time over the summer holidays. It has been great. And it got me thinking about ‘Time’.

We are all given the same number of hours each day yet we all fill that time very differently. How many of us have proudly worn ‘busy’ like a badge of honour 🙋‍♂️ but admit that it’s not always necessarily fulfilling or productive? Although it is impossible to control every minute of our waking hours, there are so many ways that we can take control of our days and make our ‘busy’ more meaningful and energising. It just takes a bit of thought to make this work for our individual circumstances…… Personally, I am working on how to do all the things I want to do but be less busy! I’m not sure how achievable that is but there is no harm in trying!

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge World Suicide Prevention Day. The World Heath Organisation estimates that more than 700,000 people die due to suicide each year. That’s more than 700,000 too many. Here is a link to the International Association for Suicide Prevention https://www.iasp.info/suicidalthoughts/, in case you or anyone else may benefit from it.

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Katherine

A special thanks to DMH Stallard LLP for supporting us.

Time

Time → Budgeting - how we manage and spend our most precious resource: time.

A Business Brain with People in Mind - Kathleen McLeay (CEO) shares how she manages to build and run a successful business whilst making time for the things that matter.

Seasonal Blues - we share some ideas on how to combat the seasonal blues. Hint, these apply every day, not just in Autumn!

Time → Budgeting

What is your relationship with time? Why is it that some people manage to do so much and others can’t seem to find enough hours in the day?

Like money, if we are careless with our time, we may overspend and leave ourselves short.

Managing how time is spent (yawn!)

Let’s face it, time management is a very dull subject. Bear with me here because, if we take an honest look at ourselves, there will always be ways to improve how we MANAGE our time…. And this is what makes it possible to do the meaningful and fun stuff. The stuff that we need to avoid being ‘too busy’, over-worked, and stressed (the bad kind).

When we apply the same principles to time management that we do to budgeting our finances, we can see clearly what the plan is and consider the best way to get there.

Challenge: If you could do one thing this week to help you manage your time better, what would that be?

For some inspiration on how to manage your time better, check out this guide provided by the Corporate Finance Institute.

What we spend our time on

How do you spend your time?

Going back to the concept of budgeting, it helps to look ahead and consider WHAT we need to spend our time on, so that we can plan accordingly. This includes making the best of our time and allocating time to the things we enjoy too. In other words, being intentional with our time.

Paying attention to how we spend our time and structuring our day is more likely to lead to meeting our deadlines AND doing the other things that matter to us as well.

Here’s an idea…. Following this 3-3-3 framework not only helps get sh*t done, it also makes it clear to us where we are making progress each day - very satisfying:

3 - 3 - 3 Method, by Oliver Burkeman

1. Spend 3 hours - on my most important piece of work, having defined some kind of specific goal* for the progress I aim to make on it that day.

Note - don’t forget to factor in a few minutes break after 60-90 mins to avoid losing focus or procrastination - The Ultradian Rhythm.

2. Complete 3 shorter tasks - usually urgent to-do’s or ‘sticky’ tasks I have been avoiding, usually just a few minutes each (including calls and meetings).

3. Dedicate time to 3 maintenance activities - things that need my daily attention in order to keep life running smoothly. Maintenance activities is intentionally broad to focus on areas of life, such as exercise, relationships, and household admin.

*when defining your goal, consider making a ‘smart goal’ - for example, instead of setting your goal as ‘I will work on my X report’, be specific and try ‘I will complete the final two sections and finish all formatting today’. Remember, ‘smart goals’ as referred to by Paul Forrest in his talk on Peak performance - Mastering the Mindset for Success.

A Business Brain with People in Mind

Meet Kathleen McLeay, CEO and Co-Founder of NCM Fund & Corporate Services. Kathleen is also Compliance Officer to the 3 FCA authorised companies within the group.

You have an impressive track record. What is the secret to growing a business whilst also making time to nurture your relationships (inside and outside of work)?

I’m not sure I know of any secret but time management is crucial. I’m a morning person so I am up and start my day early. And I don’t have young children so it is easier for me to juggle work and life stuff than those who are parents.

I also write everything down (often in multiple places). A calendar in the hall shoe cupboard helps as I can physically see birthdays and other important dates coming up which is much better for me than appearing in an electronic diary when a card needs to be posted that day, and shopping lists are on my phone etc.

Lots of train travel often allows me some down time on return journeys to catch up with emails/WhatsApp and life admin without distractions. Planning in advance to see friends and family is also a must and gets harder as friends get older, have children and other commitments but it’s worth the effort even if you cannot manage to see everyone as often as you’d like.

How do you get your work done when you are firefighting other issues?

I hope I can now say delegation and team work (although I still find the former hard to do which isn’t ideal). In the beginning, we didn’t have a large team and everyone was busy so prioritising what needs to be done is a must. I think my legal training helped with this as you become very proficient at working out what needs to be done first to avoid an unhappy Partner! I also trained in a time when - even at one of the biggest law firms in Scotland - mobile phones were a rarity, we had no comparison software, we faxed documents and dictated changes/letters. So the old-fashioned approach to list making and diary management was essential.

Thankfully, now we have lots of tools like Monday.com and DocuSign that make things more proficient. I have also learned if you have a task you need to get done and need to take time to do it, switch off distractions. I don’t have notifications pinging up on my PC as I find they throw me off course. Multi-tasking is possible whilst talking to friends (whilst cooking dinner, putting the dishwasher on etc) but not so easy when looking at a complicated Limited partnership Agreement!

Is there anything you could not go without or change without it impacting your ability to work the way you do day-to-day?

I didn’t own a pair of trainers until I was in my 20s but now I cannot imagine life if I didn’t have the gym as a release and I try to get in before work most weekday mornings when in Edinburgh. I don’t even have the excuse of missing out when I go to Jersey as one of our Directors there owns a gym! Fresh air, exercise and eating (relatively) healthily are key for me to allow me to physically and mentally fit everything in.

I suppose I would be lost without my mobile phone as that allows me to do so much when travelling etc, but I do leave it downstairs in the evenings so that I am not tempted to look at it late/early. Also, back in the olden days we all managed to get deals done etc without laptops/mobile phones and all the whizzy technology we have now, so maybe my generation realise they are not essential but again just make life easier if you don’t become a slave to constantly checking in.

How important do you think it is to spend time on non-work interests?

It is imperative and so important to work to live and don’t live to work. I often remind our team that we are (almost all) at work 5 days a week and often spend more time in the office and with colleagues than with our families so it is vital we do a job we enjoy (at least most of the time!) and work with people we respect, can learn from, and have fun with. Also, non-work interests inevitably make us better at our jobs; improving social skills, health, mood etc.

Financial and professional services businesses are renowned for working long hours - is there anything that NCM does as a firm to support staff when it comes to time management and ensuring personal time is respected?

I think that the current generation are much better at pushing back on an all hours culture and from day one we have never had that at NCM. It is rare for anyone to be in the office past 6.30pm and, although senior members of the team will check/respond to emails, it is not expected and it is usually done to allow them to flex around other commitments. We try to be supportive in all requests for flexibility, be it leaving early one evening a week during the summer to play golf; going home to walk the dog but picking things up later, or working at home for a few weeks to support a sick relative. All the team leads are cognisant of the need to monitor the hours people are working to ascertain whether there is an issue, more training is required, or their workload is too heavy, and all the teams have weekly meetings to ensure the workload is manageable.

We are very fortunate that we benefit from the work all hours culture seen in some of the large accountancy firms. We regularly recruit new staff who are hugely talented and experienced but do not want to work 70 hour weeks and sacrifice family/social life for a global firm that sees them as a number.

We also actively encourage social activity within the team to keep morale and inter-team relationships strong. We sponsor events, provide funding for team events separate to our all team away days, provide food and drinks if there is a charity evening in the office etc. On a more serious note, we provide BUPA and have a number of senior staff trained as mental health first aiders so we can hopefully identify where someone might be struggling with some aspect of life and confidently signpost them to appropriate or holistic support.

How would you best describe yourself: ‘I am good at managing my time’ or ‘I am intentional with my time’?

I must admit, I had to look up the latter to see how it differed to managing time. The definition was “Being intentional with your time means having a clear structure for your day, establishing positive daily habits and routines, and paying attention to everything you do daily. It involves slowing down, enjoying the day, and making the best of your time.” I am definitely a lover of routine, like daily habits and having a clear structure. However, I do find it very difficult to slow down (my husband calls me the Duracell bunny) so would fudge the issue and say I am a bit of both (typical lawyer response!).

Kathleen McLeay

Kathleen has been CEO of NCM since 2009 following a management buyout of Noble Corporate Management. Before joining Noble, where she joined the corporate finance team in 2003, she worked as a corporate lawyer and in the PLC team for EY. At NCM, Kathleen also acts as Compliance Officer and overseas all client relationships.

NCM is a fund and corporate services firm and has achieved impressive growth and success, with offices now in Edinburgh, London and Jersey (with a new office in Guernsey in progress). NCM provides fund, corporate, regulatory and depositary services.

Connect with Kathleen on LinkedIn or via the website.

Seasonal Blues

The children are back to school, the skies are looking a little greyer, and we brace ourselves for the onset of coughs and colds that will inevitably be in full force within the next 4-8 weeks!

Focus on these things to keep you going through the colder, darker months (and this is a reminder that these things actually keep you going all year round, not just in Autumn!):

Here’s a thought….

Today is the youngest you will ever be, so what are you waiting for?!

Our Mission

At YOOMUSE we believe that mental and physical health are closely linked, and this plays a huge part in our professional and personal lives. We are passionate about empowering individuals to take control of their health and wellbeing, and believe that the work environment and culture can embrace this notion and benefit massively as a result.

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