What if the reason you are overwhelmed isn’t your workload? What if it is your reputation – for being capable, reliable, helpful, an eager beaver?
People come to you all the time, for advice, decisions, reassurance, help, or just news. Many of you are in trusted advisor roles, so like me, your whole purpose is to be that go-to person, the one they call first. It’s super-satisfying.
But if we aren’t careful, that success has a payback: no time for our own priorities. Our inbox fills up, our diaries fill up and we run out of hours in the day. The character traits that got us here are now tripping us up.I am hardwired to please.
When I was a Brownie, many years ago in Ireland, we were told about helpful little elves who snuck into the house when everyone was asleep, did all the chores, laid the fire (I told you it was a long time ago), made the breakfast and then flew away before anyone saw them. That’s what young girls especially were encouraged to be like – to never demand thanks for good deeds, to be passive and selfless. Our rewards would come, but not if we asked for them. I’ve spent a lot of time since then teaching myself and others to ask for what we want.
But sometimes it is easier to answer another email than tackle the piece of work that will make the biggest difference. Especially when we are tired and overwhelmed. This article on procrastination might help.
The art of time planning is getting the balance right between passive response and energetic origination.
Response means moving tasks on, so we aren’t delaying others.
Origination is time spent creatively: fixing or avoiding problems (including people problems), researching, coaching, and asking questions that will create opportunities your crazy busy peers are missing.
Doing response tasks means being helpful today, but origination is big picture work that is essential to longer term success. It’s the difference between busy work and important work. Successful people know this. They don’t say yes to everything and they ring-fence time to make an impact.
In a perfect world, they have a yin/yang day of two halves. Half is spent responding to emails, in meetings and on calls, on the move ideally. The other half is spent thinking, planning and doing deep work.
If you prefer clubbing to yoga, it’s going between between the dance floor, asking questions and finding out what’s going on, and then heading to the balcony, to see the big picture.
Try blocking out at least half the time in your calendar when you are available to others. Tell them all about it, make a noise, invite them, talk to them, be fully present. The rest is your time, for precious origination and thinking, hiding if you can get away with it. People do, believe me. That’s better optics than visibly blocking out time when you are not available, although of course you have just done that.
Please talk to me about leadership team coaching, team events and workshops on all of this – managing our crazy busyness to work smarter together.
Be like your smartest competitors and book me for a talk at your post-summer kick-offs. I’m best straight after the strategic overview, to explain how people can do more impactful work in less time.
Please share this with anyone who needs more boundaries around their time. Let me know how your time-blocking goes too