Enhancing Productivity and Happiness in the Workplace with Stefanos Koutsoumpis

Episode Transcript

Julianna:
Hello, and welcome to the Daring to Succeed podcast. Today, I’m joined by Stefanos Kontoumpas, who has worked 10 years as a scientist and researcher. With a PhD in physics, he also has four years of experience in business, working as a certified project manager in two multinational IT corporations. All these years, he has coached numerous students and professionals to optimize their work and reach their goals. After his encounters with mindfulness and cognitive based therapy, he came to really know the benefits and experience firsthand how they can be transformative in our daily lives. At some point, he realized that he could successfully convey his experience to others and watch with delight as they experience their own growth. Welcome to the podcast, Stephanos.

Stefanos: Hi, Julianna. Thank you for having me.

Julianna: Yes, it’s so nice to have you on the podcast. To start, I’ll ask you the same question that all of my guests get, which is, do you consider yourself more introverted, extroverted or a bit of both?

Stefanos: Okay. You know, I have the definition of introverts versus extroverts is how they energize. Introverts need some time alone to energize and extroverts need time with other people. So strictly speaking, I will be an introvert because I need some time to rest on my own. But then I crave being with the crowd. So I’m an introvert who likes a lot to be with people.

Julianna: Yes, and that actually brings us to my next question really well, because I sometimes talk about how introverts have an issue with small talk. But when we were chatting before, you said that you don’t really see that as true for all introverts. Can you talk a little bit about that for us today?

Stefanos: Yeah, sure. You know, I grew up in a small town actually, and I was always, okay, at that point I didn’t know about introverts and extroverts, but I knew that I was a bit shy and I was not good at small talk. And I actually, the small talk at that place was talking about football, and I hated that because I don’t like I don’t like playing, I don’t like watching it, I don’t know the players, the teams, I don’t know nothing. So I hated that. When I moved for studies in Athens, which was a much bigger city, and I got to meet a lot of people who have different interests, and I never had to speak about football again. But every once in a while I go back to my hometown or I run into some people who are into this, and it’s again the same thing. I’m thinking, oh my god, I don’t want to be in such discussions. And it makes sense now that I have read a lot of things and learned a lot of things. It’s a discussion not that I’m not good at. It’s not about small talk. It’s that I don’t like the subject. This is a key thing when we talk about introverts. If you want to talk about something and to be good at it, you need to like the subject. This is a key idea. So if we are thinking that we are not good in small talk, we should Just think, why are we small-talking? I mean, is it a business environment and we small-talk until we go into the actual discussion? Then it’s okay, you can speak a bit about the weather and stuff, and then go to the thing that is actually interesting to you and speak about the subject of the business or whatever you’re doing. or if it is a social situation and it’s only small talk and this is your whole evening and this is what you will be doing because this is how you bond with other people, still, you don’t have to talk about things that are not in your interest. You can move the discussion to a direction that is of interest to you, so you can speak about what you like to the other people, and they can follow your lead, and then you will be good at that because you enjoy the matter.

Julianna: Yeah, I really love how you position that, because when I think of small talk, I always think about the weather or news events or whatever is happening. And I really like your suggestion of taking that as a starting point and directing the conversation to something you want to talk about.

Stefanos: Yeah, you know, I’m not good, I’m an introvert, I’m not good at small talk, but then you ask me something and, you know, I’m speaking a lot now because I love the subject. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to do so. So somehow it works.

Julianna: Yes, I do find that a lot with introverts. I think a lot of people think that we’re very quiet and we don’t like to talk, but you find that topic we like to talk about and we won’t stop talking. That’s awesome. And one of the topics you talk about a lot is fighting the urge to multitask. I saw that all the time in corporate and I even know firsthand sort of what the benefits are to not multitasking. Can you share with us some of the experiences you’ve had with like the toll that multitasking takes on productivity and even overall happiness?

Stefanos: Sure. You know, I have this discussion a lot and although it is proven scientifically that multitasking doesn’t work, a lot of people come and say that, okay, yes, but I’m good at it and I can prove it, etc. So it’s a huge discussion. But here is a trap because we have to understand that, you know, when you multitask, you might be feeling busy but it’s not necessary that you are actually doing much of work. And a lot of the times I find that people multitask either because they have too many important stuff to do and they cannot prioritize, so they do it all at the same time, Or they do it as a distraction because they don’t like what they’re doing so they are multitasking you know and this is a problem because if you are in a meeting and you at the same time reply to your emails then you are not paying attention to the meeting so why are you there. And, you know, I find it as a very funny example, the way that we are parking our cars, you know, you have the radio and you get to your parking position and then you have to close the radio so you can park and you are distracted by sound that you cannot do a difficult task. So why do you think you can work and pay attention to the other person and reply to an email? And this will be a good, a good idea. But there’s one more factor to multitasking. Okay, there’s the switching cost from task to task and this is why we are losing time and this is why we are not productive. But there’s another thing, you know, in very difficult tasks we need to be very creative. So to get there, You need your whole focus and your whole brain power on that thing so you can unleash that creativity because it’s difficult, it’s locked. And if you are doing two tasks at the same time, then you cannot manage your whole thinking power. You cannot access your creativity in two tasks at the same time. And then what the scientists have found is that there is also some stress around this thing because when you multitask, you do a lot of things and the stress levels are rising up. So you end up feeling more stress, feeling less happy, being less productive. while if you single-task, you will feel accomplished, you will think that you did something important today, and you will have some small successes in your day, and you will be happier after that, and more productive, of course.

Julianna: Yes, and I think it’s always funny that so many people think they can multitask, especially with the very simple tasks. Speaking of football, the other day I was watching a UEFA match and trying to do like a duolingo lesson at the same time when it was slow, and I could not focus on either one.

Stefanos: I think nowadays I’m very aware of that. I do also meditate a lot, so I’m very aware of my thoughts and my partner patterns and my focus. And I do find, you know, I’m in the street, I’m driving, for example, and my phone rings and it’s very clear to me that there’s a distraction and it takes away my focus from what I’m doing. But this needs some training and some awareness if you want to really, really understand it. It’s something you experience.

Julianna: Yeah, I mean, the mindfulness part is so big, especially with multitasking. Like, I imagine that there’s a level of mindfulness that you need to have to be able to notice if you’re starting to lose attention and try to understand why you’re drawn to something, like even with your example of being in a meeting and answering emails, right? Like you said, you obviously wouldn’t want to be doing that original task of being in the meeting. So why is that? And why do you need to do something else?

Stefanos: Exactly. And this is a whole other path of why are you feeling that you need to be distracted? So why are you feeling like this? So why are you doing this? But okay, it’s a whole different path.

Julianna: Yeah, and I know that you also talk a lot about self-coaching. What’s the connection that you can draw for us between multitasking and how you can approach self-coaching? Maybe starting with, how would you describe self-coaching?

Stefanos: You know, we do coaching and the idea behind coaching is that you try probing your client or your colleague or your friend or whoever, you try to probe him through questions to understand what are his goals and how he can reach them better. And this is where the coach comes in and where he’s really helpful. But this is something that people can do on their own if they’re able to find some time to really be aware of themselves and self-reflect. So if we move to productivity, for example, and how you approach your day, you can actually build a plan that will make you more productive. You can start your day by reflecting and thinking, okay, what is the most important task of the day? What is it that I have to do today? So once you have that, you can start planning for it. And then you can ask, okay, what do I need in order to complete the task or to be successful at the task or to have some progress with that? and then what are some possible roadblocks, what are some possible solutions to those roadblocks, if they come up, and start preparing for that. So once you’re aware of your goal, you have done half the path, and then you can start really working on that. And if you keep focused throughout the day, most probably you’ll do much more progress than if you let it, you know, do come as a wind, you know.

Julianna: Yeah, and I know your coaching focus right now is helping professionals and especially project professionals with being more productive and reaching their goals. Can you talk a little bit about the type of work you do and the type of problems that people usually come to you with?

Stefanos: My personal interests are mostly on making people happier, more productive, helping them achieve their goals, and keep a work-life balance that keeps them happy and productive. So, there are a lot of people who start becoming aware of the early burnout effects, for example, or start to become aware that, okay, their work is not making them feel accomplished, and they need some help to set their goals and set their priorities. So, this is where I come in. and I coach people mostly one-on-one, but at this point I’m building also a group that will help professionals have a place that they can speak and they can be listened to. we can share experience between the professionals so they can have some perspective and they can have also a peer group where they will find more help.

Julianna: Yeah, that’s so awesome because especially now I think with people all working from home and not being in the office quite so much, having that peer support is so crucial to both productivity and happiness.

Stefanos: That’s true. That’s so true.

Julianna: Yeah. Well, that was such an awesome conversation. I can’t believe we covered so much in so little time. Do you have any last words for our listeners if they’re curious about productivity or being more mindful about staying focused in their workday?

Stefanos: I would say that everything starts with actually self-reflecting a bit of where you are and not treating that as the truth of the universe. If you don’t like something, you don’t have to like it, and you can treat it as you would treat it in a project. It’s a risk, it’s an issue, you have to mitigate it, you have to work on that, and you should research it.

Julianna: Spoken like a true project manager. And then just before we wrap up, where can people connect with you if they want to find out more or learn more about what you do?

Stefanos: I’m active in LinkedIn. I’m planning some webinars. I have a webinar on the 18th of July. I don’t know when this will be aired, but Nonetheless, but I’m planning more or less one free webinar per month where people can come in, take some tips, some tricks, get to know me. And also I have my website, but it depends on what people are looking for because my LinkedIn is like more professional oriented. My website is having traffic from different routes, so it’s more general, some more public oriented.

Julianna: That’s great. I’ll, I’ll make sure I have links to both your website and your LinkedIn profile in the show notes. Okay. Well, it was so lovely talking to you today. Um, thank you all the listeners out there and we will talk to you soon.

Stefanos: Bye bye.