New Skills in Time Management

Arriving in London one Friday in October, as it was raining, cold and windy I realised that I had to get a taxi rather than my intended ‘healthier’ option of walking the mile from King’s Cross station.  I’d also forgotten about an important job but managed to cram it in 30 minutes before the course started!  Heading back to my hotel later it was dark, windy and drizzling and the Gray’s Inn Road was gridlocked!  

The course?  180 Degree Time Management, delivered by Tanya Dotson of Synergy People; I couldn't have created a more perfect analogy! 

I’ve recently posted about clutter clearing my office and how this crossed over into clutter clearing other areas of my life…. but how do I clutter clear my head, I’ve got so many things to juggle as a housewife, mother, Image Consultant, Director? 

There are many solutions available on the market, coaches and trainers abound and without doubt they all have something to offer.   The course marketing material talked about hangover habits from University, which made me sit up and listen.  I’d trained myself to leave things until the last minute, cram and work to the pressure of deadlines, no doubt getting an adrenaline hit along the way!  So 180 Degree Time Management was about identifying the WAY I work then turning it around to use my habits to support me more effectively.  A different approach…. no-one has ever trained me in this.   Tanya’s next course  will be held in London on 28^th February and 1^st March.

If you’re well organised but want to learn how to use your Microsoft Office tools better, to be more efficient and effective, why not try the Training Surgery.  As well as providing traditional classroom style training and a ‘surgery’ format, this organisation has also created an online learning platform called myolli – which allows you to take control of your learning.  You can do it in your own time, at your own pace.  By learning simple ways of using Microsoft Office more effectively, learners will gain back the time that they spend wondering how to do things and the time they spend when things don’t quite work as they wish.

Back in London, I emerged from the hotel ready for day 2, having chosen to spend several hours that night restructuring my diary and inbox (the magic ‘below 10’ was achieved J) I was met by clear roads, quiet (calm) streets, blue skies and sunshine…. There is hope!

Beyond the Best there is a Better!

School mottos are a funny thing – they provide an opportunity for discussion, debate and criticism and yet we’re often able to recall them years later.  Mine has stayed with me all these years and ironically means more now with the ‘wisdom’ of experience than it did with the ‘innocence’ of youth. 

At some level this is paradoxical - if you have delivered your best, how can you say there is a better?  But of course there is - we build on the shoulders of our predecessors, our previous experiences and develop new ideas and dreams from them.

It also describes a key element in my approach to life – it’s an ongoing adventure where I learn new things, how to do something better, more effectively, more efficiently or more thoroughly in order to achieve more enjoyment.

Personal development, literature, leadership and coaching programmes abound where we can identify our strengths, values and life purpose.  Recently, I really enjoyed learning via a MOOC (Massive Open Online Course), on The Secret Power of Brands.   Evidence suggests that brand led organisations are more successful.  Can we therefore extrapolate that people operating from their ‘purpose’ or ‘Why’ are more successful?  Simon Sinek’s ‘Ted Talk’ is a fabulous account of the power of identifying and operating from WHY.

 

I believe that people are empowered when they look their best.  We don’t enjoy what we don’t know how to do.  For me, being able to take control of one area of my life by understanding what to wear to look my best, was a revelation - and it’s an ongoing journey.  The visible transformation I underwent in the early days has evolved, developed and been improved on! 
 

I recently had the opportunity to revisit my old university, sharing my experience of finding jobs and recruiting with the current students. 

One of them asked

‘When did you know what you wanted to do?’

‘I still don’t!’ I replied laughingly. 

However, I do know that I want to make a difference to people, inspiring, challenging and leading them to make the most of themselves, so that they discover what’s important to them and step into their own power and ability to deliver on it. 

As in life, things evolve.  My old school has a new lease of life after bringing together the best of three schools and I consider my life a 'work in progress’.  I’m loving the journey of exploring and enabling others to explore where ‘beyond the best... the better leads'!

Blooming Monday ……

According to Mental Health Research UK, Monday 20 January 2014 is allegedly Blooming Monday ………the most depressing day of the year.  It falls in that space between Christmas and Spring, where both feel a long way away.  

Workplaces are often a sea of neutrals, grey, black and if you’re lucky, navy.  MHRUK refer to it as ‘sombre attire’ – and they’re not wrong!  However, I don’t agree that many workplaces require this sombre attire.  True, some do, but it doesn’t have to be sombre.  Even the more formal business environments allow opportunities to use light shades as alternatives to white for shirts and tops or to inject colour through ties and accessories, thereby creating a more colourful and stylish impact. 

The workplace is awash with neutrals because most people aren't certain which strong or bright colours suit them or know how to confidently combine and wear them in an interesting and appropriate way. 

Open your wardrobe, take a look - unless you’re a House of Colour client of long standing, you’ll probably see a range of neutrals punctuated by 1 or 2 colours and if you have more than a core of 6 colours, Pareto’s principle will almost certainly apply; this suggests you’ll actually wear only 20% of your wardrobe  80% of the time, meaning the world will see you in a limited colour spectrum of the 2 or 3 core colours you are most familiar/comfortable with.

In order to raise awareness about depression and seasonal affective disorder (SAD), MHRUK suggests employing the simple trick of wearing your brightest (and, horror of horrors, clashing!) clothes to work on Monday 20^th January. 

Mental health has affected many of us directly or indirectly either through friends, colleagues or family, so help MHRUK’s campaign by donating by text. For less than the price of your next cup of coffee, text BLOO22 £2 to 70070.  Or for a chance to win a Blooming Monday t-shirt, join the competition on their Facebook page.  The most spectacularly outlandish, neon, clashing outfit will win!

Maybe you can relate to my son's position; he would rather be the only child at a fancy dress party wearing his own clothes.  If this is the case, you can learn how to brighten up your look appropriately while maintaining the consistency required to retain/reinforce/support your authority in your work place.  If presented in line with your normal look, it will serve to promote your profile. 

So join us by getting rid of those dark winter clothes and injecting a splash of colour into the workplace, school or University next Monday!  It could just be an accessory, a bright scarf or tie, or you could try a totally new ‘work’ look.  You never know, if you take it steady, you may be able to maintain it for the whole of January.... encouraging everyone to brighten up generally!

We’ll be selecting and wearing our brightest, most cheerful colours, check out our Facebook page for a photo on Monday and enjoy a stylishly colourful time! 

New Year’s Resolution

‘Mum!’ said my 7 year old recently, ‘What’s that special thing you do at New Year?’

‘Party?’ I suggested

‘No! It’s a New Year something’

‘…a New Year’s resolution!’

‘Yes, that’s it.  Is that when you make a promise that you’re going to do something for the rest of the year?’

‘Something like that!’ I replied.  ‘Some people want to lose weight, go to bed earlier or have more fun.  What would yours be?’

‘To not go to school at all!’ he replied confidently!

Laughing in recognition of the sentiment, I suggested that since school started tomorrow, it might be more helpful to make a promise about something he would at least have a chance of keeping!

‘How about, enjoying school?  Since you have to go anyway, you may as well enjoy it!’

Then he surprised me by asking ‘Mum! What do you like about your work? What are you going to do every day at your work that you like?’

My response was ‘I love helping people who want to enjoy what they are doing more!’

This question should not come a surprise to me as I love asking people what they enjoy and my children are used to me asking questions such as ‘What was your funniest, biggest, silliest, nicest, best ……’

There are always plenty of opportunities to ask each other these questions but I love our 4 year old’s stock answer to ‘what did you like the best….?’ …….’ALL of it!’; how refreshing and what a goal in life – to enjoy ‘ALL OF IT’!

A Sense of Proportion

Many of you will have seen this picture before, but not all.  What do you see when you look at it?  A Young woman or an old Hag?  They’re both there, suggesting that it's your perspective that gives the perception of reality.

In some ways, ‘looking good’ is just an optical illusion – the trick is knowing what to draw the eye towards or away from and how.  Knowing what we've got to work with and then dressing it with a little magic and a dose of common sense.  

We all have things that we think are ‘wrong’ with us, but maybe it’s just our perspective which is ‘wrong’ – try these:

• "My bottom is too big!" – or are you enviously curvaceous?
• "I’m short-waisted!" – or is your shorter torso balanced with long legs?
• "I’ve got no hips/bust!" – if you ‘haven’t’ got it, then you can add more detail to balance the other part of you… unless you have that straight androgynous body shape that looks really stylish in something simple, straight and boxy.

Understanding your body shape and proportions is a vital part of the Style Class.  You learn how to ‘redress’ your balance to create interest in a deliberate or intentional way - using emphasis to reinforce a statement about yourself that could be any number of adjectives such as ‘creative, reliable, knowledgeable, sporty, rebellious, relaxed’ and many more.

And for you non-believers?  There’s hope!  The Gestalt Principle “...maintains that the human eye sees objects in their entirety before perceiving their individual parts”.  In Michael Tuck’s detailed article about using the principles of design, it’s refreshing to read that good design can be intuitive, a natural ability.

“Gestalt Principles aren't artificial constructs that people have concocted to apply to design; they are attempts to describe and verbalize how we naturally perceive things....… in at least some sense, "design talent" is an ability to naturally — and perhaps even unconsciously — understand how human perception works, and how to create designs for websites, paintings, or wedding dresses that are artistically beautiful and functionally efficient by appealing to it.” 

A relief to know!

“Some of the best designers in the world know nothing of Gestalt Principles. They use them intuitively; when designs look and feel right, usually they incorporate these principles whether the designer recognises the terminology or not.” 

So, back to you; what of those features which can't take clothing e.g. 

• "I’ve got a big nose!"  Let’s be honest, these 'family features’ be it nose, chin, eyebrows even skin are not usually declared in a positive light. 

Wearing clothing and accessories that suit you in a way that compliments you, we call being ‘In Focus’; your look is balanced and attractive.  When you’re not wearing things that compliment you, you’re ‘out of focus’, out of balance and appear less attractive.  The feature you’d rather diminish often becomes more prominent.

Therefore, if you have a 'distinguishing feature', it’s amazing to watch it blend and harmonise when your whole look is ‘In Focus’.  We all have fabulous parts of our bodies, unfortunately we’re hard-wired to notice the negatives rather than highlighting the positives.  

One lovely client, a size 20+, arrived wearing palazzo pants and a long over shirt, complaining that when she was younger she had a waist!  I pointed out that she still had a waist, maybe bigger than it used to be, but still a waist that needed defining to show off her figure – demonstrating how to do this in a way appropriate to her current size and shape meant she immediately looked slimmer and gave her a massive boost of confidence. 

And then there was the male client who thought his legs were ‘long’ because he had difficulty finding trousers long enough.   I gently pointed out that at 6’4”, a 34” leg length while long, wasn’t disproportionately long, if anything it was a little on the short side for his height!  This left him able to focus attention on his clothes by getting the emphasis right on his torso, redressing the balance.  

There are few universally applicable rules.  In order to emphasise your uniqueness, we need to work with each of you individually.  Lisa Wade wonders “what it would be like to live in a world where the fashion industry encouraged us to “emphasise” our differences from one another, instead of trying to make us all look the same?”  You're all unique individuals; we focus on your uniqueness. 

You may have heard this from me before– it’s not what you’ve got but what you do with it that makes the difference!  

Getting a sense of proportion allows you to make the most of yourselves - you deserve it!

Justice is Aspirational: Judgement is Inevitable

On passing my local court quite early in the morning, two young men were standing at the entrance obviously waiting for the doors to open so that they could go in.

One was dressed in a dark, pin-striped suit.  In one hand he carried a briefcase, the other held a mobile phone to his ear, his shoulders were back and he was obviously paying attention to whoever he was talking to on the other end of the phone call.

His companion was dressed in jogging bottoms and a grey hoodie. He was hunched over his cigarette, looking totally disengaged from everything and everyone around him.

We might think we don't judge, or even try not to pre-judge on appearance but it was impossible not to make the assumption that here was the defendant and his legal representative. 

We all make instantaneous judgements, often on only a few seconds of visual input. The more we are aware of this the more we can be in control of the judgements people might make about us.   We know this!

However, appearance isn't the whole picture.  Amy Cuddy gives a Ted Talk illustrating how body language shapes who you are and how you can change it to cause a different outcome.

 

Awareness is the first step in being able to change and influence anything.  Being aware of who you want to be, gives a starting point for addressing all aspects of your appearance in support of this goal.

"Progress is impossible without change."   George Bernard Shaw

And practice makes perfect; Objectively reviewing any changes you make will give you the ability to know whether you're making a change in the direction you want to, or not.

Good luck!

Christmas gifts for all colours, shapes and sizes!

If your loved ones are stuck for Christmas gift ideas try dropping a few subtle (or maybe not so subtle!) hints about the beautiful range of jewellery and scarves available from House of Colour.

I get cold in the winter and love my scarves but I also tend to wear relatively plain tops which I love accessorising to add interest and style.  So it’s very exciting that we’ve discovered some beautiful new products that make great presents.   Rings, bracelets, necklaces and scarves – covering a lot of bases - read on!

I don’t have a lot of red but when I’m wearing an outfit with red in it I often want red accessories and so on. How many times have you created an outfit from your wardrobe and wished that you could tweak your accessories just a little to match/complement/contrast it better? 

Enter MelanO, a Dutch brand of contemporary jewellery offering a wide range of interchangeable coloured stones on either white (cool) or yellow (warm) metal, beautifully designed and engineered to a high standard with a sophisticated finish.  At House of Colour we have chosen to supply the versatile ‘twisted’ range of rings and bangles.

I love them; I can wear a combination of rings and colours to suit my outfit.  Every stone is interchangeable, giving each finished piece a unique character created by the wearer and the opportunity to dress an outfit up or down depending on the event.  The same stones fit the rings and bangles, making this your perfect mix and match range.

The cool jewellery, suitable for Winters and Summers, is offered in high quality stainless steel while the warm pieces, suitable for Autumns and Springs are plated in rose gold.  If you’re lucky enough to be a Blue Spring who wears mixed metals, this is a perfect solution!

Rings are available in a wide range of sizes; bangles come in small, medium or large; stones are either small or large; all stones fit both rings and bangles.  Choose from Cubic Zirconia (sparkly, faceted, flat topped) or semi-precious (domed, smooth stones) mounted in the appropriate metal for your season, creating a wide variety of combinations; all stones can be ordered in either metal or size.  What more could you ask? …

…There’s also a range of side rings, which fit alongside the twisted rings offering even more interchangeable combinations.  Rings can be worn singly, choosing your stone to co-ordinate with a particular outfit, or 2, 3 or 4 deep combining stones and side rings to give texture and scale.   Tailor the combination to suit you because all the elements of your season and style can be reflected through colour, scale, density and texture.   

These are available through some consultants, please contact HQ to find your nearest consultant who carries this range.

On the Web shop we have a new partnership with House of Glass with some amazing and vibrant creations for pendants, earrings and cufflinks for the men!  Again, in a variety of sizes and colours to suit each season.  For specific advice regarding your season and style, contact your consultant. 

But these don’t keep you warm!  Scarves are one of THE essential accessories to any woman’s wardrobe adding colour and interest to your outfits all year round but particularly in the winter.  We have teamed up with an artist who hand paints an exclusive range of striking silk crépe de chine scarves, designed for us and in consultation with us, these are available in four colour ways, one for each season as an annual special edition; something you’ll always treasure:

• Springs will love the splashy Aquamarine, Hyacinth, Corn, Mint or Cream
• Summers enjoy a harmonising blend of Rose, Amethyst and Rose Madder that blends into soft Pink Beige.
• Autumns will adore the rich depth of Kingfisher, Peacock, Lime or Rust. 
• Winters will revel in strong Royal Blue,  Fuchsia, Damson with Silver contrasts.

Gifts can be tricky to get right so knowing your season and pointing your loved ones in the right direction means a colourful, accessorised and stress free Christmas for everyone!