There we were staring in the distance, each on our own side of the screen … Alright, so … we decided to use our knowledge and expertise and turn it into something that could help people. But, where to start? How to make this teachable?
I don’t remember if it was Leen or me who came up with it, but we did … and the Conscious Framework was born!
You see, my sister Leen and I had decided about 10 months earlier to finally start a business together. We agreed first on the form and surrounding circumstances before diving into what it was we would do …
Working in Virtual Teams
Fast forward a couple of months, after discovering and diving deep into the world of online knowledge sharing … and after realizing that our experiences, of working in virtual teams and from home for many years, was worth sharing with the many female employees who suddenly found themselves having to combine their work, household, childcare, etc … Most importantly in the middle of a pandemic.
We wanted to offer a very tangible tool that would form the very first step someone would need, to get some breathing space again.
We’ve been there, we know:
When you are overwhelmed and can’t see how to ever get out of the swamp without drowning, and you tell yourself you can’t even take the time to think! That's your queue, that's the moment you need to realize you have no other option than to take action.
The 4-step Conscious Framework
But then, we realized: virtually every situation can be solved by following these steps:
- Stop and question why you do the things you do? What stories do you tell yourself and are they (still) true?
- Allow yourself to start Fresh, give yourself a chance
- Stop listening to others or to the idea that things have always been done this way: Think for yourself again, come up with possible solutions. And develop a first version of your very own approach or system.
- Do, review and evaluate as you go. Continue to adapt when needed.
And that’s how we came up with the Consciousness Framework:
And this has been our Framework for almost everything we have created since. You will find it most prominently in the Organized Workday System.
Other words to describe the fours steps are:
“Mindset – give yourself a break – Think – adjust”
First published on Medium - Jan 1st 2021
