Guest speaker Dr Gayle Smerdon Management Coach, presented on the topic of ‘Overcoming Overwhelm’. Gayle is a writer, speaker, coach and trainer. She holds a PhD in the Social Sciences, and Grad. Dip. in Psychology. Her professional mantra is ‘Doing work that matters’.
Amongst the books she’s authored are ‘iDevelop: How to take charge of your professional development by becoming a conscious learner’, ‘DO ONE THING and do it deep: How to focus and energise your workplace’ and a work in progress titled on ‘Team Up: How to lift your people and productivity’, due for publication later in 2023.
With many people finding their lives are beyond busy, with too much to do and too little time, Gayle asked us to consider not just how to get better at being productive but to find ways to prioritise our tasks. But she encouraged us to ask bigger questions about what’s important to our lives and how we balance the different aspects that enrich us and help us be happy and healthy.
We don’t want to look back on lives that were busy but on lives that were full. Gayle acknowledged that while these are not things we don’t know, it’s easy to lose sight of them when overwhelmed with information, activities and distractions.
Gayle provided a number of tools we can use for clarity about what's important in our many roles at any stage of life and assist us in managing multiple tasks effectively. In short, she shared great insights on how to care for our own welfare by adopting some practical tips as we navigate the life’s ongoing demands.
