time management

Why you should do your worst task first today.

“Eat a live frog first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.” – Mark Twain

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I came across this Mark Twain quote last weekend and it struck a chord. One of the habits I have had to overcome (okay, I’m still working on it!) is procrastination through productivity. I’m mean really, nobody wants to eat that frog first thing in the morning, right?

Yesterday morning, I got to work at 7 am. I am not normally the earliest-arriver at my office. My philosophy is to be fully present and to work really hard while I’m at work – no coffee breaks, not too much chatter, focus on the work. That allows me to preserve time at home to be with my family and to have other interests. It doesn’t always work perfectly, but that break between work and home is important to keeping us motivated and fresh.

Yesterday was different. I had a few tasks that required my undivided attention at work and it’s summer. For one more week there are no busses, no evening meetings, no after school activities. Home felt cared-for.

So I went in – yawn – early, to eat my frog.

When you’re putting off that big project by doing a million little things, sending emails, filling, organizing your office instead of tackling that one big unpleasant task you need to focus on? That’s productive. But it’s still procrastination.

Here’s what usually happens. I finally decide to deal with whatever I’m putting off. I make time, I make myself do it, and when I settle in, I realize one of two things: 1) I’ve waited so long to examine the task that there’s something I’m missing and now it’s too late to get it/do a good job (this can sometimes result in a 9pm trip to the hardware store) or 2) It turns out that it’s much simpler than I had built up in my mind.

Lucky for me, yesterday’s task was simpler than I expected and I ended up having an hour to work, uninterrupted, on other projects. I felt centered and focused for the rest of the day which made me less stressed and more able to go with the flow of the day.

In our busy world, it’s easy to feel like our time and attention are constantly divided. There’s a lot of advice out there about how to structure your day and your time, how to disconnect, and how to focus. When we’re able to incorporate some of these skills into our planning, it can help us focus on what really matters.

Like frogs.

 

 

Is your inability to delegate holding you (and everyone else) back?

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You know who you are. You can’t let go. You won’t let anyone else do the work because they never get it right. You’re buried in a pile of obligations, sweating every deadline and working into the wee hours while you wonder why your  no-good co-workers and ineffective staff can’t just step up.

Been there?

Maybe you’re the boss, maybe you’re the employee, and maybe it’s not be as bad as all that, but if you have any perfectionist tendencies (guilty as charged!) you may be having a hard time with the D word. Delegation. And, by extension, maybe your staff is, too.

Delegation opens so many opportunities for things to go well or awry. Delegation is not bossing them into doing it our way. Much of our success at work comes from completing projects in a way that is valued by others. Considering delegation in this light provides some interesting insights.

Does the person you’re handing off to know what you value?

Unless you’re working with someone you have a long established relationship with and you’ve undergone some sort of mind-meld, it’s likely that you need to spend some time explaining the task, the expectations, and how you’ll communicate along the way.

For instance: “I have a project I’d like to assign to you. It’s going to have a tight deadline and some high expectations. Can we find some time today to make sure we have a shared understanding of the milestones and how I will know you’re making progress?”

Not:

To: Employee.

From: Uncommunicative supervisor

Date: Tuesday at 6:30 PM

Subject: IMPORTANT!

Hey! I really need to you to get the report pulled together for finance by friday. Ok?”

 

Perfection is the enemy of the good

We’ve all heard this one. And it’s true. It’s so much easier to just do it yourself instead of taking the time to show someone else how to do it, answer questions, and potentially see them fail.

But how much worse is it to stifle your staff because you won’t let them learn?  Remember when you had a supervisor who wouldn’t let you take on the projects you were eager to do?  Don’t be that supervisor.

Employees? This goes both ways. If it’s your first assignment, you want to get it right and you will have questions (you should  have questions!) Don’t hang onto that work until it’s perfect. Missing a deadline because you’re trying to polish something to perfection is not a good choice. How do you approach your boss?

Maybe:

“I know this project is important to you and I didn’t want to work too long in one direction without being sure we were still aligned. Can we check in for 5 minutes?”

And when you have that check in? Be prepared. Have focused questions then listen carefully for new information.

Remember, you’re both working at this together, if you supervisor forgot to tell you something the first time around, don’t roll your eyes and say “I can’t do this work if the direction is going to totally change every time I ask you a question!” (You get my point). They need to know you’re going to be able to work with some independence but you’ll come back to them along the way. The need for check-ins may diminish as you work together more, but even with people I’ve spent a long time working with, the check-in is essential. Things change, schedules shift, priorities rearrange – you will rarely have a complicated project that is assigned and completed exactly the way it was initially described and those are the ones worth learning.

How’re things looking from another point of view?

If you have an employee who has been offered help only to brush it aside…no, no, I got it….and they’re weary, ring-eyed, and intent on doing it themselves, you may be working with a delegation-challenged-perfectionist.

Perhaps an honest conversation about how their reluctance to delegate is impacting others will help them see their situation differently. Appeal to their better self, the one that wants to motivate and encourage others. Acknowledge that they’re drowning in deadlines and assignments and that’s not a sign of success. Ask them to help someone else grow to their level of skills.

Then listen closely. They may be able to point out areas for improvement. Together you might identify people who can help find success.

I have a mentor who regularly asked “who’s your support team?” when I talked about new projects or initiatives. It’s a life-saver of a question, worth internalizing and sharing.

Are you the perfectionist or do you work for one?

How have you met this challenge?

 

 

Launch the Week Right

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When Monday gets launched right, it’s a pretty big deal. It’s easier to focus a lot of energy on managing your interactions during the week when you’ve taken care of some basics for yourself.

The weeks when I don’t get my house in order, when I feel like I splash head-first into work and don’t come up for a breather until late on Friday are the weeks I feel less productive, less healthy, and less of a positive contributor to my world.

Those are the weeks I lose my temper with my loved ones, forget to buy milk, fret about all the things I’m not getting done, and get backlogged at work.

Here are a few basic things you can do to give yourself an advantage at the week’s start:

1. Make a list of things you need to do this week. Friday is a great time to do this, right before you leave the office, or Sunday night, when you’re clearing your head for sleep, but Monday morning will do just fine. I am a big fan of the post-it note. Yes, smartphones rock. But they’re connected to all those other triggers that will distract you (email! calendar! photos of my sister’s little girl! Maybe I should buy some containers for my pantry! I can make endless lists on the note function!). Sometimes, the limited surface of a post-it note is a reassuring way to focus. It’s not so bad….

2. Do the worst thing on that list first. Do you need to make an appointment for something and you dread getting the robot menu? Need to fill out some paperwork for summer camp physicals? Have to draft an email to an irate co-worker? Take a deep breath and just do it. Then smile as you cross it off. It’s amazing how much better we feel when that’s out of the way, isn’t it?

3. Take stock of the week. Yes, this is also a good end-of-the-week habit, but if your life is anything like mine, by Monday morning you’ve probably already forgotten what you saw on Friday. Give your week a once-over. Do you have 2 commitments at one time? Have you allowed enough travel time? Did you schedule a meeting but forget to book a meeting space and tell everyone where to go? Take care of it now. Move it, cancel it, book the location, make sure you can keep your commitments during the week. By making sure you’re not setting yourself up to be late, harried, and disorganized, you will already be eliminating conflict from your life (and theirs!)

4. Bring your lunch. Really. Bring some food to work. I love to have a cup of tea during the day, so I keep several boxes of teabags in my desk. And microwave popcorn, some instant soups, crackers, fruit in a bowl on my desk, granola bars, some leftovers for lunch, whatever it is that will let you eat healthfully at work and say “No!” to donuts – whatever it is – make sure you’re bringing it with you on Monday.

5. Set a couple of priorities for the week and check them each morning. I like a post-it for this too. Right in front of my computer screen. I don’t have to go looking for them because they’re right there, all week long. The days can get crazy and you might not make it through everything on your initial list, but by having just a couple of realistic “to-do’s” you can cross them off and make progress. It’s nice to get to Friday and have something to show for it. In a world of endless distractions, focus is key.

There are a million helpful resources out there for time-management and priority setting, but these are the basics I keep coming back to week after week.

What works for you? How do you take care of yourself to be successful during a busy week?