Friends of business matters, Steve Cockram and Jeremie Kubicek (GiANT) have written a book – 5 Gears: How to Be Present and Productive When There is Never Enough Time. This was the subject which Edwin Backler addressed in his lunchtime workshop last week.

Being present and able to connect more effectively, this enables us to increase our relational capacity whilst at the same time being as productive as possible: this comes down to being able to shift into the right gear at the right time to maximise the moment.

The 5 Gears they suggest are:

• First gear–when you fully rest and recharge.
• Second gear–when you connect with family or friends without the involvement of work.
• Third gear–when you are socialising.
• Fourth gear–when you are working and multi-tasking.
• Fifth gear–when you are fully focused and ‘in the zone’, working without interruption.

In our outcome, performance and task-driven world this framework allows us to be fully present and perform at our best – integrating working life and our personal time. It also explains why we so often disconnect and find relationships difficult – if we learn how to shift gears at the right time, in the right situations, the relational dynamics in our life will be positively impacted and in turn we can live and work connected well with others, whilst knowing when and how to rest and recharge.

Of course, this short summary does not do the content of this book justice. Get yourself a copy or ask us and we can lend you one! If you have read the book and would like to discuss things further then let us know – we’d love to connect with you on this.