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I remember about 10 years ago right in the height of building Constructive, my wife Sarah, making me aware of my lack of presence at home and focus on the family.

I was at home, yes, but with so many other thoughts about work, who had done what, who had said what, which office was struggling, which key client had experienced subpar service and was threatening to leave….. the issues and distractions were always there.

I would be sat on the floor with my new baby at the time or kicking the football with my 5 years old or perhaps having an imaginary tea party with my 8-year-old and her bears, all looks good from the outside. In reality, and it is sad to admit, my brain would often be elsewhere, thinking about the issues and problems that needed to be resolved in the business. Two things ring out here for me;

1) You can’t solve those issues now… Its Saturday arvo and you’ve been away all week.

2) You have a very small window to enjoy your kids at any age, so make the most of it!

Thankfully, I listened to Sarah (she would love me saying that!) and for the last 10 years, with a few reminders, but more importantly my own conscious learnt behaviour, I can honestly say that I have been more present both emotionally and mentally with them all. They are now 10, 15 and 18 and I am so happy I did!

This “Constructive Tip” to “be present” is not just focused on the personal aspects of balance and harmony, but it can equally be applied to whatever work you do.

Ask yourself the following questions;

a) How many times have you been in a meeting and thinking of something, or somewhere or someone else?

b) How many times when you visited another company office, but you were dealing with issues in another?

c) How many times did you try to juggle personal issues at work whilst trying to jump between meetings and calls?

I am sure most of you will agree with much of the above, the issue as you can imagine is by thinking, speaking or implementing actions on situations outside of where your focus should be is you end up not completing anything to your best ability. Employees, peers, managers and clients can all sense when you are not present in the moment which can have a detrimental affect on your impact.

My advice and what I always tried to ensure, if you are focusing on one thing to be there, be present and be focused on the individuals and work in front of you.

Your ability to do that can have an extremely positive impact not only on the people involved but also on the resulting outcome.