Trouble waking up?
Years ago I overheard a conversation where someone was telling their pastor that the reason they always arrived late for church was they had problems getting up Sunday mornings. The pastor replied, “I don’t think your problem is with getting up on Sunday mornings, I think your problem is not getting to bed early enough on Saturday nights.”
Your problem may not be getting up in the morning but, if you are like most people, you may struggle with getting everything done each day. Dan Charnas, in his book Work Clean, what chefs can teach us about organization, addresses this problem with a similar response. He says our problem is not so much that we can’t get everything done (i.e. wake up), but our problem is the fact we don’t adequately plan to be successful (i.e. go to bed on time).
Ever rushed into the day without any real planning and just start tackling tasks or issues as they pop up? This is what I like to call the “whack-a-mole” method of task management. Dan’s book takes you into the kitchens of some of the finest restaurants, where culinary students are learning the art of mise-en-place (a French phrase that describes a philosophy of orderliness that all chef’s have to master to be successful). He describes what happens when the first dinner rush hour starts and the young students have not learned the art of mise-en-place (i.e. their whacking moles). It’s chaotic. But over time, as they learn the art and startto plan consistently, the chaos fades away and they fall into a nice rhythmic flow.
Wouldn’t it be nice to experience that nice rhythmic flow with our activities at work and at home? We can. The key is to learn the art of mise-en-place, starting with disciplining ourselves to take time to plan.
So how to do it? We each need to develop a plan that works for us, but this is how I do my planning. I keep 3 Lists from which I develop 2 Action Logs. (I typically create these digitally as it makes sorting and rearranging easier, though paper and pen may work as well for you.)
List 1 is Projects – anything that will take a significant amount of time and may involve multiple resources goes on this list with a due date if known.
List 2 is Tasks – anything that can typically be done in an hour or less and I can accomplish pretty much on my own without gathering a lot of resources. Again, with the due dates listed if known.
List 3 is Key Dates – I realize this is redundant to my calendar, but I have found it helpful to have a simple, high level list of key dates in chronological order I can quickly refer to (i.e. conferences where I’m a presenter, webinars I’m involved in, submittal dates for conference papers, vacations, my wife’s Birthday [I shouldn’t need a reminder for this last one, but having it on the list sure has kept me out of trouble]).
When I start my planning (usually Sunday night or first thing Monday morning) I update my Key Dates List and then review my other two lists and create a “This Week’s Action Log.” This is a list of things I absolutely can’t afford to miss doing the coming week (e.g. file tax return before midnight Thursday). I find this helpful as it creates visibility for these items and ensures they get scheduled before they become urgent.
Next, each morning, I focus on creating the day’s “Today’s Action Log.” I first review my calendar for the day. I list all the scheduled meetings, conference calls, etc. which I must attend and list them with the time first (e.g. 0800 Staff Mtg). Next, with the weekly action log items fresh in my mind, I add in projects and tasks. Usually I only plan on working on one project per day, and with many projects I need to schedule in blocks of time over several days to get them completed. I seldom schedule in a whole day for a projects as there are always tasks that need immediate attention. Some days there isn’t any blocks of time sufficient for focusing on a project so none get scheduled that day. The key to creating the daily list is not being over optimistic about what you can get done; only schedule to about 80% full. As you know, that 20% always has a way of getting filled up. I arrange the project and tasks in the order I want to accomplish them, fitting them between scheduled meetings, calls, etc. For projects that you can ‘t get done in a day you need to set some time limits. For tasks I just put them where they belong in the schedule and know to start and finish them as soon as possible. If you complete all your tasks before the next scheduled item you can grab one from your task list and pat yourself on the back for getting more done than expected.
Next comes what is the hard part for me. Working the plan. Because I get easily distracted and like to socialize, I find it best to purposely give myself a short break between projects and tasks (another reason to only schedule to 80%). I use this time to stretch, grab a cup of coffee, chat a little, and in general and renew myself before focusing on the next item. But, once I start an activity I try to make myself stay focused on it until it is done (no multi-tasking).
At the end of the day I update my lists (Projects and Tasks) adding items that were identified that day.
When I first started this approach I needed about 30 to 40 minutes each day, but as it became routine I can generally get it done in 15 minutes in the morning and 5 to 10 minutes at the end of the day. When you think about it, that’s a small investment of time to help ensure success.
As with most things, the key is consistency. Which means it’s going to take some time and practice. If you forget and miss a day, don’t get discourage, and don’t give up. Start again the next day. Soon you will find you are planning more consistently and operating in more and more of a rhythmic flow.
Now, let’s go make a difference.
August 29, 2017 By DeanWilliams Leave a Comment Filed Under: Blog, Uncategorized