One Second Ahead Read online

  More Praise for One Second Ahead

  “Rasmus Hougaard and The Potential Project have cleverly combined two hot top-

  ics in today’s work life: mindfulness and working more effectively. You can find

  thousands of useful books on both topics, but Rasmus has gone one step further.

  Putting together a great variety of work techniques with mindfulness creates an

  extremely powerful toolset for any professional who not only wants more from him/

  herself, but is also interested in own self ’s wellbeing.”

  —Jouni Torunen, HR Director, Nokia

  “One Second Ahead is a major contribution to bringing not only more sanity and

  mindfulness at the work place but also a more caring and open-minded attitude in

  all walks of life. Highly recommended.”

  —Matthieu Ricard, humanitarian and Buddhist monk,

  author of Altruism: How Compassion Can Change

  Your Life and the World.

  “In One Second Ahead Rasmus Hougaard ingeniously applies time-tested ancient

  methods of mental training to practical day-to-day circumstances that are regularly

  encountered in the business world. This book is bound to be of much practical ben-

  efit to all those who seek a more satisfying, creative, and fulfilling way of life within their professional and personal relationships.”

  —B. Alan Wallace, Ph.D. Author of bestseller

  The Attention Revolution and President,

  Santa Barbara Institute for Consciousness Studies

  “Like many other busy professionals we at Herbert Smith Freehills face the same

  demands of long working hours, increasing commercial complexity, and competing

  distractions for our attention and for our effort. To be a globally elite law firm, we

  need to be focused, crystal clear in our thinking and highly effective. This book

  distils the essence of the Potential Project’s mindfulness program. If you put into

  action what you learn here, particularly the daily practice, then I am sure you will

  gain a greater sense of who you are, and a sense of calm and perspective that will

  enable you to be the best person you can be at work and at home.”

  —Murray Paterson, Head of Capability Development,

  Herbert Smith Freehills, Australia

  “A mindful organization is an organization where our leaders and employees do

  the right things—not just things. Through the program behind this book, we have

  gradually become a mindful organization”

  —Former CIO, Carlsberg, Kenneth Egelund Schmidt

  “Rasmus Hougard, Jacqueline Carter and Gillian Coutts have skillfully woven an

  elegant set of mindfulness tools and strategies that any professional can implement.

  This is a fantastic foundation for a more mindful workplace and life.”

  —Jeremy Hunter, PhD, Associate Professor of Practice

  Peter F. Drucker and Masatoshi Ito Graduate

  School of Management

  “In our organization we have implemented the program of mindfulness and after completing the program the stress level have decreased significantly and our employees are more focused. But the techniques outlined in One Second Ahead are not just for work situations, they are also highly valuable in all kind of scenario—both professional and private. The book will give you better and more mindful interactions

  with everyone you meet.”

  —Hans Brobäck, Human Resources Director, Roche

  “Since undertaking mindfulness training, I have been pleasantly surprised by the

  positive impact the training has had on my creativity. By choosing to focus on only

  one task at a time, I engage in more useful conversations with my colleagues and

  have also found that my enhanced concentration has significantly improved my

  overall creative output.”

  —Nick Foley, President SE Asia Pacific & Japan, Landor

  “The pace and complexity in today’s organizations affects all co-workers and lead-

  ers in all aspects. Especially when the boundaries between work and “life” becomes

  more and more interlinked. The decision to use CBMT as a tool in order to decrease

  stress levels in our organization turned out to be a real game changer for our co-

  workers. I can highly recommend this book because it captures all the benefits with

  working with CBMT in all kinds of organizations. The tone of voice is fact-driven

  and combines real examples from organizations backed up with theories and scien-

  tific studies.”

  —Henrik Scheutz, Function Manager HR Service Centre,

  IKEA AB

  One Second Ahead

  Enhance Your Performance at

  Work with Mindfulness

  Rasmus Hougaard

  Jacqueline Carter

  Gillian Coutts

  ONE SECOND AHEAD

  Copyright © Rasmus Hougaard, Jacqueline Carter, and Gillian Coutts 2016

  Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2016 978-1-137-55190-0

  All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this

  publication may be made without written permission. No portion of this

  publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written

  permission. In accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs

  and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited

  copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, Saffron House, 6-10

  Kirby Street, London EC1N 8TS.

  Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication

  may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

  First published 2016 by

  PALGRAVE MACMILLAN

  The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of

  this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  Palgrave Macmillan in the UK is an imprint of Macmillan Publishers

  Limited, registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills,

  Basingstoke, Hampshire, RG21 6XS.

  Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of Nature America, Inc., One

  New York Plaza, Suite 4500, New York, NY 10004-1562.

  Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies

  and has companies and representatives throughout the world.

  ISBN 978-1-349-56804-8 ISBN 978-1-137-55192-4 (eBook)

  DOI 10.1057/9781137551924

  Distribution in the UK, Europe and the rest of the world is by Palgrave

  Macmillan®, a division of Macmillan Publishers Limited, registered in

  England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire

  RG21 6XS.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Hougaard, Rasmus.

  One second ahead : enhance your performance at work with

  mindfulness / Rasmus Hougaard, Jacqueline Carter, Gillian Coutts.

  pages

  cm

  Includes bibliographical references and index.

  1. Mental efficiency. 2. Performance—Psychological aspects.

  3. Work—Psychological aspects. I. Coutts, Gillian. II. Title.

  BF632.H69 2015

  158.7—dc23 2015019343

  A catalogue record of the book is available from the British Library.

  Printed in the United States of America.

  Contents

&nb
sp; Foreword

  vii

  Introduction

  ix

  Part I Workplace Techniques

  1

  Chapter 1

  Mastering Your Mind—First Steps

  3

  Technique #1

  E-mails

  19

  Technique #2

  Meetings

  27

  Technique #3

  Goals

  33

  Technique #4

  Priorities

  39

  Technique #5

  Planning

  47

  Technique #6

  Communication

  55

  Technique #7

  Creativity

  63

  Technique #8

  Change

  71

  Technique #9

  Mental Energy

  79

  Technique #10

  Enhancing Sleep

  85

  Technique #11

  Eating and Energy

  93

  Technique #12

  Activity and Energy

  99

  Technique #13

  Performance Breaks

  103

  Technique #14

  Commuting

  107

  vi ● Contents

  Technique #15

  Emotional Balance

  111

  Technique #16

  Work-Life Balance

  117

  Part II Mental Strategies

  123

  Strategy #1 Presence

  125

  Strategy #2 Patience

  131

  Strategy #3 Kindness

  135

  Strategy #4 Beginner’s Mind

  139

  Strategy #5 Acceptance

  145

  Strategy #6

  Balance

  149

  Strategy #7

  Joy

  155

  Strategy #8 Letting Go

  161

  Part III Foundational Practices

  165

  Chapter 2

  Training Sharp Focus

  167

  Chapter 3

  Training Open Awareness

  183

  Chapter 4

  Mastering Your Life—Next Steps

  197

  Acknowledgments

  213

  Appendix: Self-Directed Training Resources

  215

  Notes

  219

  About the Authors

  225

  About The Potential Project

  227

  List of Illustrations

  229

  Index

  231

  Foreword to One Second Ahead

  To be honest, I am probably the last person one might expect

  to write a foreword to a book on mindfulness, but two years

  ago, I had a series of profound insights and realizations that

  changed my perspective in a significant way.

  First, I realized my brain was full—full with all of the things associ-

  ated with living a high-pressure, fast-paced, demanding life. Second, I

  realized that I essentially had assumed that having a “full brain” was

  unavoidable and that if I wanted to be a successful leader in one of the

  world’s largest consulting, technology, and outsourcing firms, it was

  simply part of the “package.”

  However, I discovered another way of working and being that not

  only freed up brain capacity but also made me more effective, more

  creative, less stressed, and most probably more kind. These realizations

  have inspired me to write this foreword.

  Strange as it may sound, I don’t really like to “practice” mindfulness.

  Sitting still for ten minutes a day is a stretch for me, but I have found

  that if I do, the quality of my leadership, my work, and my private life

  improves.

  Let me take you back to where this all began for me. For a number

  of years, I have led an extremely dedicated and high-performing SWAT

  team located across Europe, Africa, and Latin America. This team is

  a small but highly specialized group designed to lead and deliver our

  most complex and challenging engagements for some of the largest

  companies globally. We travel extensively, work very long hours, and

  manage extremely complex business challenges with our most demand-

  ing clients. It is great and rewarding work, but there can be a cost.

  viii ● Foreword to One Second Ahead

  When you add today’s “always-on” technology, constant data over-

  load, and extreme time pressure to the work that we do, even the best,

  brightest, most mentally strong and talented people are sometimes

  unable to cope. Stress can be a debilitating illness, and a specific event

  changed my perspective. I had not seen it coming, and I was stunned.

  This drove me to search for tools for enhancing sustainable perfor-

  mance, tools that could help my people and me do the work we love,

  while performing at the highest level, but without sacrificing well-be-

  ing and balance in life.

  The word mindfulness kept coming up, but at first it seemed far too

  “fluffy” and “soft” to me, and I had a belief that that bringing mindful-

  ness into an organization could be close to a reputation suicide. There

  would be skeptics who saw mindfulness as soft and flaky, and those

  who would demand a “business case.” There would be the “wise ones”

  who would not see the need to change. Above all, there would be the

  action addicts who would equate the idea of slowing down with some

  form of death.

  By chance, I came in contact with Rasmus Hougaard and heard of

  his global team of trainers and consultants and their impressive track

  record of great results with large companies around the world. Rasmus

  had spent years with researchers, business leaders, and mindfulness mas-

  ters to create their program, and, contrary to my reservations, it spoke

  directly to the business focus of a fast-paced organization like my own.

  Working together, we designed a program tailored for my team and

  our work environment. The results have been outstanding: 30 per-

  cent increase in focus, 23 percent increase in effective prioritization,

  25 percent decrease in unproductive multitasking, 30 percent increase

  in sleep quality, 31 percent increased memory, and 19 percent decrease

  in mental tiredness and stress, to mention a few.

  It is a great pleasure for me to recommend this book to you. I hope

  you will try out the work applications and mental strategies of mind-

  fulness for yourself. They have made a huge difference in my work,

  leadership, and private life, as well as for the people on my team. I am

  convinced it can do the same for you.

  Robert Stembridge,

  Managing Director, Accenture Technology.

  Introduction

  It all started with a failure.

  It was early 2005, and for the first time I had the opportunity to

  introduce mindfulness into a corporation. I had already practiced

  mindfulness for more than a decade and knew how it provided me

  with the focus and clarity to be more effective in my work.

  Now, for the first time, I had the opportunity to give the gift of

  mindfulness to the staff and leaders of a division of a European profes-

  sional services company.

  For weeks I had plan
ned the day. I was ready. I was passionate. From

  the morning up to lunch, I told stories, gave instructions, and put them

  to the practice. I was excited and certain they would be too.

  But I was wrong. Badly wrong. After lunch, I was ready to continue—

  power packed and inspired. The group was not. They did not come

  back from lunch.

  That was a tough moment for me—but it became a pivotal day. I real-

  ized how naive I had been, trying to bring something very personal into

  a professional context. Clearly, I had not connected the dots between

  mindfulness and work, between moment-by-moment awareness and suc-

  cess in the office. Convinced of the benefits of combining mindfulness

  and work life, I committed myself to finding a way to bridge the gap.

  The book you are reading now is the result of that quest.

  * * *

  Work life has changed radically over the past few decades. People used

  to be able to focus their full attention on each and every task. Now they

  x ● Introduction

  attempt to concentrate on work while dealing with a constant stream

  of text messages, e-mails, phone calls, meetings, and deadlines. Faced

  with a relentless flood of information and distractions, our brains try

  to process everything at once. In other words, we try to multitask.

  But researchers have shown that multitasking is the worst pos-

  sible reaction to information overload. According to a McKinsey &

  Company report, multitasking actually “makes human beings less pro-

  ductive, less creative, and less able to make good decisions.” 1 In fact,

  numerous studies have found that modern office life is transforming

  competent professionals into frenzied underachievers. 2

  This should not be too much of a surprise. Many of us are under

  constant pressure, are always on, experience information overload, and

  work in highly distracting environments. I call it the PAID reality.

  P A I D

  PRESSURE

  ALWAYS INFORMATION DISTRACTED

  ON

  OVERLOAD

  Figure I.1 The PAID reality.

  As a result of the mind’s natural tendency to wander and the PAID

  reality, you may not be able to pay attention long enough to read the

  rest of this introduction. Most likely, before you get to the last page,

  your mind will have wandered off to whatever you need to do next.

  Nowadays, due to the PAID reality, we are gradually losing our ability

  to manage our attention.

  Are we destined to have minds that constantly wander, remain inat-