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My Personal Agility story

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(@yaara)
Posts: 4
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When, if not now, is a good time to practice in your personal domain what you preach in the professional one? And no, I don’t mean to question anyone’s view or definition on “work-life-balance”, in fact, quite the opposite.

It’s all about a healthy balance, isn’t it? It seems that literally everything in life should be well balanced...or at least so we’re told. Whilst I fully agree with this for the most part, I have been re-thinking the aspect of “work-life balance” lately. The most common definition of “work-life balance” is having clear boundaries between the two elements, having sufficient flexibility to manage our personal life alongside our work commitments etc. This often seems to be a struggle and has become particularly apparent and important during the pandemic but here’s the thing: I changed my view on this slightly since I’ve started implementing certain work methodologies, namely agile principles, in my personal life and realized that I could and should have done it much earlier. I felt the need to move away from the purely professional aspect of agility and look at it from a slightly different angle. But first, let’s rewind a bit...

Over the last few years Ive spent a significant amount of time and dedication researching, learning, trying to understand the "agility trend", in all its facets, predominantly in the context of work. I have studied, written a dissertation on "Agile Leadership In the Digital Age", gained various accreditations and continuously developed further in that field. Over the course of my "agile journey" the world has taken so many turns, and the most recent one has been particularly "life changing". Boundaries were blurred (#homeoffice #homeschooling), routines and codes busted, stability and clarity gone, focus non-existent. The world is more VUCA than ever before....social interactions are limited and partly distorted....we were forced to adjust and adapt rapidly to so many "new ways", we quickly had to fine-tune certain skills and behaviours, change ingrained habits and learn to maneuver ourselves into a whole new reality in all aspects of life. Fact is: Things are not going to be the same again, they will keep changing and will have to keep adjusting. This requires a tremendous amount of strength, resilience and....you guessed it: Agility! And it was only a few months ago and under these circumstances when I discovered the Personal Agility System for myself...

I seemed to be busier than ever, having my entire life compressed into a small space from which there is no escape for a quick breather. I kept hunting for a job, running the household, looking after and caring for my parents at risk, teaching the children at home, keeping everyone occupied, happy and safe. Everything seemed to be intertwined. At the same time I tried to make the best use of this time in the attempt to keep my sanity, but ended up overstretching and exhausting myself. I clearly took on too much, I lost track of my priorities, my to-do lists got longer and longer as I took on more, I wasn't focused. I tried to stay connected with the world, I have attended countless webinars and online courses, connect with new people, extend my network, and forced myself to learn new things every day, and eventually suffered from "Corona fatigue". I have disconnected. Switched off. And then I came across the Personal Agility System, during my certification training as a Scrum Master with Peter. I was intrigued to know more and eventually started applying it and by doing so, I have managed to regain clarity on what really matters! I brought order back into my days, lined up my priorities, established new routines and rituals, I stopped hustling and became more efficient and focused and consequently, more at peace with myself and the world.

Today, the new normal seems...well, pretty normal, and most importantly, manageable. I am determined to make more people aware of the PAS and inspire them to apply it, every day. It's so simple, so truly beneficial once you have made it an integral part of your daily life. And to keep up the positive spirit and outcomes, I look back at my „breadcrumb trail“, I celebrate and appreciate the things I have accomplished on a weekly basis.

Thanks Peter!

Yaara

 
Posted : 25/11/2020 12:02 pm

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