Working Mastermind – How you can have your cake AND eat it.

Too busy? Ever skip some meals or take no lunch break at all because there is just too much to do? In the famous film “Wall Street” Michael Douglas’ character Gordon Gekko is quoted as saying “Lunch, You’ve got to be kidding?! Lunch is for wimps.”

While many people wear “busy” like a badge of importance, more often it’s a symptom of not having set priorities, leaving business owners stuck with the mundane and minutia. It sounds easy to step back and start to focus on systems or processes to manage these pieces, but when you’re already so overloaded, where do you find the time to focus on what’s really important?

What I’m about to share will probably challenge that reflex response, “I’m just too busy”. When thinking about what will really make a difference to you and the way you work, the support you get and the priorities you set, there IS a way to be both productive and not miss a meal, or put the kids to bed, or cool down after a gym session. In fact, when you combine activities or tack something on to an existing habit, it becomes easy to not only find, but justify the time. I’d think hard about who you’re justifying your time to, because you are the boss, right?!

I’m sure you’re already familiar with the phrases “working breakfast” or “working lunch”; there is no reason why you can’t make one meal a week your “working Mastermind”.

Below is a breakdown of the “three square meals” eating times, to help you decide if one of these may be a solution for you. Apologies in advance to cultures where Dinner is Lunch and Tea is Dinner.

BREAKFAST – Early risers unite! Helps you set an agenda for the day (week), also helps to work on the hardest thing first – suits people that are naturally morning people and who function better at the start of the day. And is perfect for procrastinators.

LUNCH – Give yourself a break! Break up the day. Help to set goals for the afternoon and what to work on next. Gain inspiration and then action something immediately and see instant benefits right after you have just set a goal or heard a great idea or advice.

DINNER – Reflect, connect, plan. Perfect for people who appreciate quiet time. No more phone calls, emails or disruptions, the “doing” part of the day is finished, yet they enjoy working during the evening and find it more productive and get more things done.

“Eating and Meeting” etiquette:-

Have your food prepared in advance

Make sure the food is easy to consume (no sloppy pasta, slurping soup or other foods that are messy, noisy or both)

Switch off the video and audio feed whilst you eat (you can still listen and contribute).

More time zone ideas:

When its 12 noon in London its 7am in New York, and 7pm in Hong Kong, Perth (Australia) and Singapore. There is a bookend +12 hour difference between Hong Kong and New York meaning that 7am in one place is 7pm in the other. In our interconnected and global world, this enhances your working mastermind.

7am in Berlin or Capetown (South Africa) would be a lunch time 1pm meeting in Hong Kong. South America and the US share similar time zones but with the trans-coast differences breakfast in Los Angeles would coincide with lunch in both New York, Buenos Aires or Sao Paolo in Brazil or 5pm in Johannesburg, South Africa.

QUICK GUIDE TO WORLD TIMES

Timezones can get so confusing (don’t forget that daylight savings may affect your Tribe time at some stage) but using World Time Buddy you can quickly work out the difference between the listed times and your local time.

Now you know there is always a good time to join a mastermind group. Heck, maybe you will start your own working mastermind group or just join one of the multiple masterminds we have curated. If you’re shy about joining on your own contact a friend or a business associate you admire and join together (that way you also create an accountability partner – just like most regular gym users do)