Dear Boris Johnson,

Having recently read your comments about working from home, I would love to invite you onto my 90 Days to Be Clear and Rise coaching package. 

'My experience of working from home is you spend an awful lot of time making another cup of coffee and then, you know, getting up, walking very slowly to the fridge, hacking off a small piece of cheese, then walking very slowly back to your laptop and then forgetting what it was you're doing.' Boris Johnson, Prime Minister (interview in the Daily Mail 13th May 2022)

As a Performance and Mindset coach we can work specifically on the issues you highlight  above. 

First, I can see you may have an ‘Avoider saboteur’ that is impacting your motivation and desire to do productive work. This may be related to a range of issues, however, as I say with all my clients, start with the Vision. 

Without a clear and compelling Vision it is easy to find ourselves feeling either overwhelmed with activity that isn’t driven by purpose or underwhelmed by activity that lacks focus or passion. By creating a Vision that you believe in, you can communicate it effectively and lead people with integrity. This motivates them to drive that agenda forward with aptitude and skill. This is called ‘Transformational Leadership’ and brings out qualities such as a ‘team first attitude’, ‘awareness of self and others’ and ‘high levels of communication’ skills. 

Second, the choice of excessive caffeine and cheese may not be helping your health and energy as you confess to be moving ‘very slowly’. Perhaps looking at more hydrating drinks  and nutrient dense snacks might support your well-being at this time. I have several excellent nutritionist experts in my network who might be able to give you further pointers on this. 

Third, I would suggest you use my ‘90 Days to Live Your Vision Now’ planner, you can find it on Amazon. It will help you remember what it was you were doing when you get back to your desk, as you are very clear about ‘What’s Getting On your TITs?’ (Top Important Tasks). Again, these tasks are aligned fully to your overall Vision and the 90 Day goals you’ve set yourself so there is no room for procrastination or wondering what you are meant to be doing after a trip to the kettle. 

Fourth, it may be that you need to manage energy rather than time to get the best out of your day. You see the scene you describe above may be at a point in the day when you would be better doing a ‘low energy’ task or taking a 5/10 minute movement break to increase your endorphins and recharge your batteries in order to boost your productivity and performance. Being at your desk doesn’t mean anything unless you are doing impactful work, it’s simply presenteeism. Consider a culture where taking breaks to reset your energy are applauded rather than eyed with suspicion. 

Finally, I want to talk to you about some of the conditioned beliefs that may be holding you back from working efficiently at home. It seems clear that you have may some barriers to disciplining yourself in a home environment compared to a traditional office environment.

This is all in the mind.

When you work from home you can create the same boundaries of productivity that you employ in an office. You may have to create clearer boundaries between home life and work too, but it is very doable, if you employ a grown up attitude. If we were to work together I’d want to ask you if you have the same directionless, procrastinating issues in the office or if they simply manifest when you are at home, in order to get to the bottom of this. 

I’d also want to discuss how you might benefit from the additional hours you gain working from home for more wholesome family time and fewer distractions, such as office politics or celebrating copious amounts of people’s birthdays etc, by working from home. This reframing of the working from home experience might increase your personal satisfaction in your role and improve your home life. Once we’d done this we would create a clear action plan and I could meet with you weekly to keep you accountable to your goals. Accountability is a very important part of the work I do, you’d need to be open to that. 

Now, I appreciate working from home isn’t a physical option for everyone, and I’d like to acknowledge our privilege in being able to have a choice in this in the first place. I know it’s been a godsend for me when I’ve had additional carer/parental responsibilities. With that in mind, something to look at is ensuring that it’s not only women who take up and work with the flexibility of home working or it could lead to bigger gender equality issues longer term.  Do we want to return to that old school belief that it doesn’t matter what you do as long as you are in the office?  I’ll leave that to you and the policy makers.

To conclude, correct me if I am wrong, but your remarks in the Mail demonstrate that there may be a serious underlying dissatisfaction in your current role. Maybe it’s time for a new challenge. One that brings you greater motivation and personal fulfilment. It can happen to anyone, so don’t beat yourself up. Like I said, if I can help you with this I would be more than happy to work with you. 

And remember you could put it on expenses. 

Yours sincerely,

Michala Leyland. Wood for the Trees Coaching

"I signed up for the Resilience Reset because of losing my main contract of 4 years and struggling with my anxiety over that situation and lack of control. The exercises Michala had created have really helped me shift my mindset, and enabled me to find a positive way up out of the situation. She has a great energy and way of interacting which is so positive and made me believe I was capable of anything. Thank you for pushing me out of my comfort zone. " AK, UK.