Is your workday weighed down by unproductive busyness, endless emails and unnecessary meetings? Do you move from one project to another with no space for thoughtfulness and reflection? In this episode, productivity expert Juliet Funt discusses her concept of WhiteSpace, the strategic pause between activities that is both recuperative and constructive. She explains why we often feel paralyzed by the pace of our workdays and shares a number of practical tips we can use to reclaim productivity and build WhiteSpace into our days.
Juliet Funt is the CEO and founder of Juliet Funt Group, a training and consulting firm helping organizations, their leaders and employees reclaim their creativity, productivity and engagement. With thought-provoking insights and actionable tools, she has become a globally-recognized expert in helping leaders cope with the “age of overload” in which we all live and work. A warrior against reactive busyness and a force for change in organizations around the world, Funt teaches a streamlined method for personal process improvement that reduces complexity in the workplace. Teams that incorporate a WhiteSpace mindset and skill set increase creativity and engagement, reclaim lost capacity and execute at their finest. Her clients include a number of Fortune 100 companies and span a wide array of industries, from financial services to technology, manufacturing to the military. Funt’s new book, A Minute to Think, released at the 2021 Summit.
Kim is a 30+ year veteran at Ernst & Young. Over the course of her career she has held various leadership roles, including 5 years as the Managing Partner for Ernst & Young’s Chicago office and as a global coordinating partner serving a broad spectrum of priority clients. Kim is Vice-chair of the Global Leadership Network board and serves as a board member trustee of the Shedd Aquarium and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. She also previously served on the boards of World Business Chicago and United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. Her diversity of experience gives her a broad network and unique perspective into matters that can impact organizations, including navigating changes in structure and culture, the regulatory landscape, and talent management.
Show Notes
Get free, instant access to GLS Podcast Episode Show Notes. Leverage episode summaries, key takeaways, reflection questions, resources mentioned, related links and applicable downloads, including Show Notes PDF and Episode Audio File (MP3).
Is your workday weighed down by unproductive busyness, endless emails and unnecessary meetings? Do you move from one project to another with no space for thoughtfulness and reflection? In this episode, productivity expert Juliet Funt discusses her concept of WhiteSpace, the strategic pause between activities that is both recuperative and constructive. She explains why we often feel paralyzed by the pace of our workdays and shares a number of practical tips we can use to reclaim productivity and build WhiteSpace into our days.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
WhiteSpace is a strategic pause between activities. Whitespace is both recuperative and constructive.
Tolerated Misery: Most workers today feel helpless to attack the problem of unproductive busyness.
Some people see busyness as a badge of honor.
Addressing the problem of busyness doesn’t feel urgent.
Thoughtfulness is an unfamiliar value.
Most companies waste $1 million for every 50 people in their organization due to unproductive busyness.
Hallucinated Urgency: People need to learn the difference between true urgency vs. imagined urgency.
The Time Sensitivity Metric
1) Not time sensitive
2) Emotionally time sensitive
3) Tactically time sensitive
Senior leaders need to be aware that their communication will often seem urgent to others simply due to their position in the organization.
How to Create WhiteSpace
Take time to observe and understand the culture of busyness in your organization.
Look for a comprehensive solution that addresses both behavior and mindset.
Tactics:
Know the difference between “2D vs. 3D” communication
Become aware of “SBH—Shouldn’t Be Here” activities
Cut down on email by keeping a “Yellow List” of topics that can be covered in a quick meeting
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
On a scale of 1-5, how relevant are the topics of “unproductive busyness” and “WhiteSpace” to your current work and home life? 1 = Not at All Relevant, 5 = Extremely Relevant
Juliet described several WhiteSpace tactics to help us reclaim productive time in our lives. Identify one to try today.
Juliet Funt
CEO | Juliet Funt GroupKim Simios
Partner | Ernst & YoungEp 030 Juliet Funt with Kim Simios
TOPICS IN THIS PODCAST
Leading YourselfProductivityIs your workday weighed down by unproductive busyness, endless emails and unnecessary meetings? Do you move from one project to another with no space for thoughtfulness and reflection? In this episode, productivity expert Juliet Funt discusses her concept of WhiteSpace, the strategic pause between activities that is both recuperative and constructive. She explains why we often feel paralyzed by the pace of our workdays and shares a number of practical tips we can use to reclaim productivity and build WhiteSpace into our days.
On This Podcast
Juliet Funt
Juliet Funt Group
Juliet Funt is the CEO and founder of Juliet Funt Group, a training and consulting firm helping organizations, their leaders and employees reclaim their creativity, productivity and engagement. With thought-provoking insights and actionable tools, she has become a globally-recognized expert in helping leaders cope with the “age of overload” in which we all live and work. A warrior against reactive busyness and a force for change in organizations around the world, Funt teaches a streamlined method for personal process improvement that reduces complexity in the workplace. Teams that incorporate a WhiteSpace mindset and skill set increase creativity and engagement, reclaim lost capacity and execute at their finest. Her clients include a number of Fortune 100 companies and span a wide array of industries, from financial services to technology, manufacturing to the military. Funt’s new book, A Minute to Think, released at the 2021 Summit.
Kim Simios
Ernst & Young
Kim is a 30+ year veteran at Ernst & Young. Over the course of her career she has held various leadership roles, including 5 years as the Managing Partner for Ernst & Young’s Chicago office and as a global coordinating partner serving a broad spectrum of priority clients. Kim is Vice-chair of the Global Leadership Network board and serves as a board member trustee of the Shedd Aquarium and a member of the Dean’s Advisory Council for the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University. She also previously served on the boards of World Business Chicago and United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. Her diversity of experience gives her a broad network and unique perspective into matters that can impact organizations, including navigating changes in structure and culture, the regulatory landscape, and talent management.
Show Notes
Get free, instant access to GLS Podcast Episode Show Notes. Leverage episode summaries, key takeaways, reflection questions, resources mentioned, related links and applicable downloads, including Show Notes PDF and Episode Audio File (MP3).
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SUMMARY:
Is your workday weighed down by unproductive busyness, endless emails and unnecessary meetings? Do you move from one project to another with no space for thoughtfulness and reflection? In this episode, productivity expert Juliet Funt discusses her concept of WhiteSpace, the strategic pause between activities that is both recuperative and constructive. She explains why we often feel paralyzed by the pace of our workdays and shares a number of practical tips we can use to reclaim productivity and build WhiteSpace into our days.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
REFLECTION QUESTIONS:
RESOURCES MENTIONED:
The Global Leadership Summit
Free 3-Session WhiteSpace Module
RELATED LINKS:
Juliet Funt
WhiteSpace At Work
Kim Simios
Ernst & Young (EY)
The Global Leadership Summit
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