I have a lot going on right now. There’s a lot going on at the day job. I’m still unpacking boxes from a move. I need to buy some furniture. I’m trying to make sure paperwork is in order for at least a dozen different things. I need to find consistent time for exercise, and I’s really like to start playing more music again.
I don’t have time.
Don’t You?
But the “I Don’t Have Time” statement is bullshit. Laura Vanderkam’s 168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think (168 hours in a week) discusses this concept extensively (and IMO, sometimes repetitively and with too many tangents) - but the main theme discusses largely what I’m thinking about today - which is reminding all of us to take time to reflect on our time management and prioritization.
Priorities
The time is there - it’s the prioritization that sends us into despair. Figuring out what can be done now, what can wait, and what can be dropped completely is an essential skill. I realize as I type this that this is similar to the Getting Things Done method of Do It, Defer it, or Delete it, and now I remember that one of the reasons I hated that book was because the author was over the top in explaining something that I thought everyone already knew.
Prioritization categories aren’t the hard part. The really freaking hard part is figuring out what is important. Too many people make the mistake of thinking too many things are important…and then there’s too much to do and nothing gets done. While I fall into this trap often enough, my frequent flaw is that I de-prioritize things probably a bit too often.
I had a chance to meet J.D. Meier at Microsoft a few times. He wrote a book called Getting Results the Agile Way. The premise is pretty simple and based on his rule of 3:
Identify three outcomes you want to accomplish
Prioritize tasks as “must” (non-negotiables), “should” (important but not critical), and “could” (nice to have).
Allocate specific time blocks for tasks to avoid procrastination and enhance focus.
…and then apply this process equally to daily goals, weekly goals, and yearly goals. It’s a pretty simple framework, and I used it for a while several years ago, where it was extremely helpful in helping me remember to focus on what’s most important, while getting stuff done.
Learning
Something I’ve done since long before I read J.D.s book is a personal retrospective. One thing I’ve found that helps with prioritization and focus is to take 15 minutes at the end of the week (I tend to do this on Sunday, but it can be Friday afternoon or first thing Monday), and just reflect on the previous week. For me, I take a moment to ponder what went well, and where I made mistakes in reaching my overall goals, then think of one thing I want to keep doing, and one new thing I want to try in the coming week. It’s stupid easy, but it absolutely helps me.
Sometimes, shit goes off the rails. Stuff happen, things change, and unknown unknowns bury you. When this happens, I can’t fix everything at once. I still just fine one thing to anchor on that I can continue, and one new thing I want to try.
Saying No
I’ve known many “pleasers” in my career. These folks say “yes” to almost every request because they (I assume) want to make people happy. The problem is, that they don’t make people happy. They say yes to so much stuff that nothing ever gets done. Mako often says, “Say No to Protect the Yes”. In order to work on what’s most important, we may have to say, “no” to things that are slightly less important. Essentialism, by Greg McKeown (which I highly recommend, and probably need to re-read again) emphasizes the power of saying no to the non-essential to focus on what truly matters. By identifying and committing to the essential, one protects their ability to make the highest possible contribution towards the things that really matter. Perhaps the best quote from the book is:
If you don’t prioritize your life, someone else will.
…and that’s a good lesson to remember.
Aftermath
Since I started writing this post, I postponed it for a few more important things. I knew I’d get to it, but it was important to me to finish unpacking my home office, and get some other work to a state where I liked it. There’s more to do, but I have the same amount of time as the rest of you, so I know I can get it all done - or at least the important stuff.
-A