Harper\'s Bazaar UK - 11.2019

AT WOR K

PHOTOGRAPHS: GEORGIA DEVEY-SMITH, OLIVER HOLMS, JERMAINE FRANCIS, PHILIP SINDEN, MOEEZ ALI

TECH TIPS

‘Download a phone app called Trello to get yourself

organised. I use it to tick off my to-do list and it helps

me remember to complete tasks.’

NATALIE SALMON Social-media editor, Harper’s Bazaar

‘I aim to have an email-free day every two weeks.

This helps me come up with strategies and ideas that

I wouldn’t be able to think about amid the usual cloud

of messages. I also ask my team to minimise the CCs.

We spend a lot of time going through emails that we

have been copied into unnecessa r i ly.’

SYDNEY FINCH Press and PR director, Dior

‘Try to touch every email only once. It’s difficult, but if

mastered, saves lots of time.’

EVA LINDHOLM CEO UK & Jersey, UBS Wealth Management

‘Whenever the office noise levels get too distracting, I

plug myself into “Music for Concentration” on YouTube.

I have read that listening to music with binaural beats

stimulates the alpha-wave mode of your brain, akin to

the state it enters with meditation, which helps increase

creativity, concentration and productivity. It definitely

sharpens my focus and I get much more done.’

KIM PARKER Fashion and jewellery editor, Harper’s Bazaar

WELLBEING &

BA L A NCE

‘My diary is on paper, not online, and I keep a spreadsheet

with me always, so I retain total control of my day and year.’

KATHARINE POOLEY Interior designer

‘Stop wasting time worrying about what to wear to work:

keep an empty clothes rail at home, and every Sunday, hang

up your outfits for each day of the new week with their

shoes, accessories and underpinnings. This way, you won’t

be rummaging desperately in the dark at 7am.’

AVRIL MAIR Fashion director, Harper’s Bazaar

‘ Fo r g e t t o - d o l i s t s ; i n s t e a d , s c h e d u l e e v e r y t h i n g i n y o u r d i a r y

day by day. Prioritise tasks and tackle your top priority first.’

AMANDA PELHAM GREEN Business coach

‘We have rolled out, and continue to roll out, JAM [ just a

minute] meetings for various teams – all meetings are

standing, and no one can speak for more than a minute.’

SUZANNE TODD Partner, Withers LLP

‘Way too much time is spent in offices deciding what to have

for lunch. I have the same thing every day: chopped organic

chicken, full fat cottage cheese, avocado and flaxseed oil. You

can be creative with food decisions at supper time.’

JULIETTA DEXTER CEO and founder, the Communications Store

‘Anything I can complete in under two minutes has to be

done immediately. By getting the little things out of the way,

I have more time to tackle bigger, long-term projects.’

CONNIE OSBORNE Managing editor, Harper’s Bazaar

‘I eat at my desk. Who can take an hour for lunch? ’

WHITNEY BROMBERG HAW KINGS Founder of Flowerbx

‘People find it hard to say no to things.

Deciding what you won’t do is as important

as knowing what you will.’

TAN UJA R ANDE RY Partner, McKinsey & Co

‘Hang on to that “day one” thinking.

Ask yourself “If today was day one, what

would I do differently? ”. It can often

gen erate a sprinkling of fairy dust.’

CHRISSIE RUCKER Founder and CEO, the

White Company

Alison Loehnis

Natalie

Salmon

Kristina

Blahnik

Julietta

Dexter

Helen

Brocklebank

TIME

MANAGEMENT

‘I read a classic novel for half an hour when I wake up, rather

than switching on my phone. It shuts out the world, exercises

a creative, empathetic part of the brain, and negates stress,

so that I arrive at the office calm, centred and ready for any-

thing the day throws at me.’

HELEN BROCKLEBANK CEO, Walpole

‘We try and give the team that moment to breathe with group

meditation in the boardroom once a week.’

TRINNY WOODALL Founder, Trinny London

‘My office door is always open, so when I close it, it guaran-

tees me space and time for freethinking or solo working.’

ALISON LOEHNIS President in-season, Yoox Net-A-Porter Group

‘A company is like a family: employees look to you for both

fun and support. At Soda, we meet every Monday in a café

to kick off the week with tea and talk about our weekends.’

JACKIE ANNESLEY Creative director, Soda Says

‘Build “flow” time into your diary and guard it against the

temptation of interruptions; you need time and space to

develop creative strategy.’

KRISTINA BLAHNIK CEO, Manolo Blahnik

‘We have “sacred Mondays”, when we are in the office all day

and have no meetings. It makes the rest of the week feel pos-

sible because we’ve had a chance to plan and

wade through our admin and diaries.’

ANNABEL RIVKIN AND EMILIE

MCMEEKAN Co-founders of the Midult and

authors of ‘I’m Absolutely Fine: A Manual for

Imperfect Women’

‘Celebrate micro-successes: it

brings moods up, and people are

more motivated and efficient.’

ESTELLE GIRAUDEAU

Man aging director UK & Northern

Europe, Club Med