I
ngrid Pope spent 16 years in her corporate IT career before setting up her own company, Creating Space. Her focus is on ‘decluttering all aspects of her clients’ lives for effectiveness and
agency and runs courses and workshops for clients on as she describes it ‘reducing the clutter, the busyness and the noise, bringing fun and novel ways of regaining their attention and focus’. But what you may ask has this to do with our audience
of globally minded professionals, managing the ins and outs of global mobility across borders, setting up in new dominions and recruiting and retaining talent? Well, quite a lot actually. The more you consider the more there is to declutter. On top of this there is the whole cross-cultural element
not to mention company culture to unpick. Ingrid has an American father, German mother and grew up in France, and has lived and worked in various countries, so she’s globally well connected. Someone whose experience you would very much recognise in global mobility circles. I posed the opening question, what does decluttering
look like for our audience who could be, professional people on the move, embarking on an international assignment, or a relocating dual career couple? We could be talking about a corporate business leader with a tricky problem across multiple international regional offices or manufacturing plants. Equally global mobility professionals need to untangle a mass of clutter to support their clients in making the right decisions about finding homes and schools, in order to transition effectively into a new location and embark on a new role.
CLEAR THINKING Listen to the interview to discover more about Ingrid’s advice on and how to find head space for deep thinking. She addresses the different forms of clutter there may be in your professional and personal life: physical clutter in your workplace or at home; mental clutter which is more intangible and of course emotional clutter. Emotions can run high in a busy office. Is hybrid working affecting your decision making or is an important project running behind but you just can’t put your finger on why? Are you frustrated because no one has read the report you took weeks to research and write? You know the neuroscience but why is it you don’t take that thirty-minute break outside in the park and grab a sandwich at the same time? Often these three types of clutter are interrelated. As
Ingrid says in the book, “Paying attention to what type of clutter you’re dealing with will be the starting point of any decluttering journey”. Her 5-step de-cluttering method will help you create the space in your life to do what you want to do. If you are working in an international context, you
know the extra complexity that comes with the job and that’s the same for your work colleagues, your stakeholders and your family, so isn’t it time to tap into your purpose? As Ingrid says, “uncluttered gives us permission and the tools to clear away the noise and live with purpose”. Isn’t it time to scan your own horizon and as she says
in our podcast interview, “Survey what you’re carrying, survey what’s in your landscape. Become an observer and pay attention. Notice your behaviour, notice what you’re doing, notice what you’re carrying in your head whilst you’re speaking to someone else. And that’s the
starting point for anything, really. And then choose, find your agency again, and you choose where you want to put your focus and your attention and your time. That’s the biggest message, really in terms of habits”. It is important for us all to face the fear of our
behaviours and lean in for the support needed, to filter and process information overload in order to make good decisions. Make a start on your organisational clutter. What meetings and processes are really, necessary to us as a team or an organisation? What are we doing and is it what we should be doing? she explains, “when we’re at our most busy, that is when it’s the most important to just stop for a moment and to look at what we’re doing and to consider, is this the right thing? And maybe it is. Maybe we don’t have a choice, but then at least we’ll know that”. None of this is easy on your own, whether it is a
big career decision, a budget necessity or letting go of an ambitious project but Ingrid’s carefully crafted book will guide you through a process. The book is beautifully presented and ideal to dip into with heart-warming, empathetic illustrations that in themselves help to lighten the load and encourage. There are plenty of tools included to chart your progress, as well as handy chapter summaries and useful references. The paperback edition is tactile and a handy size to pop in a bag or pocket, it is also available as an e-book and audiobook. And it just might help you moderate your emotions
over the next busy financial quarter too. Could be useful to have a copy in the kitchen as well as the boardroom?
www.creating-space.co WATCH THE FULL INTERVIEW
Watch the new video interview with Ingrid Pope: ‘Creating Space to Think, Work & Thrive’ here.
In Conversation with Ingrid Pope – Creating Space to Think, Work and Live
Ingrid Pope, Founder, Creating Space In conversation with Fiona Murchie
READ INGRID’S PROFILE
Read Ingrid’s profile, as part of our Think Global Women ‘80 Outstanding Women‘ series, here.
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