FINISH COMING IN

FINISH COMING IN

I had some excellent French teachers, both at school and at university and I learnt a lot about the intricacies of the language’s grammar, some useful vocabulary and some interesting things about the culture too. Having lived in the country for more than twenty-five years now, I’ve also picked up a lot of unusual idiomatic expressions, some of which are only found in certain regions. The most recent is “Finir de rentrer”, roughly translated as “finish coming in”.

This expression that I have new heard in Paris apparently comes from the Limousin region, an area in the centre of France around the city of Limoges. It is an area of hills, forests and rivers, beautiful picturesque villages … and lots of cows, known in French as “Limousines”!

I like this expression very much. It contains something of the peaceful and relaxed atmosphere of the area; slow down take your time, no need to rush. Which is basically what you do when you are invited for a drink or meal one of the locals – come in, take your coat off, sit down, make yourself at home … and then, only then, will we start eating, drinking and talking.

It brings back distant memories of the classic line from BBC's Listen with Mother programme: … “Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin!”

At some time the expression can also bring a certain wisdom to the professional world of rushing about, multi-tasking, trying to respect near-inaccessible deadlines and work near-impossible hours.

Indeed, each week seems to bring more news, surveys or examples of burn-out here in France. From the small companies through to the international mega-corporations, no sector seems to be spared from this 21st century business affliction.

I often talk to clients about the risk of burn-out and we brain storm ideas for reducing and/or managing them. These suggestions include spending less time reading emails, dividing tasks into priorities (urgent, important, …) and taking short breaks for standing up, stretching and breathing deeply.

I think the idea of taking one’s time to arrive will be useful. Start slowly; take your coat off sit down … make a list of the things you need to do and the people you need to contact. And then, and only then, turn on the computer, check your emails and start working.

The slow start will not reduce the volume of work you have, but it should allow you to approach that with a more relaxed attitude, and, hopefully, distinguish what is urgent-important and what is not.

And you may even work out why an American car has the same name as a French cow …