Tell me if this sounds familiar to you. You arrive at your computer and begin to sift through emails, many of which require a response because “it’s time sensitive” or “urgent”—and it always is. As you’re knocking out the emails one by one, your phone begins to ring because someone has an urgent question for you that they need an answer for on the spot. Otherwise, they would be held up from completing their own deliverable, so it’s all on you at this point. Then your Outlook calendar alerts you that you have 15 minutes before your first meeting of which you have 4 more lined up afterwards. These meetings cover your calendar with colorful blocks indicating to everyone who has access that you’ll be unavailable at those times. However, that doesn’t stop anyone from poking their head through the crack of your door 5 minutes before each meeting to catch “just 2 minutes of your time.” And this goes on all day. 6pm comes around and you realize, I haven’t had a moment to myself at my computer to actually complete my own work.
If you’re familiar with this kind of day, you my friend, are in very high demand—and it’s killing your workday and quite possibly killing your night. So, how do you change this? First let me ask the more important question. Do you want to change this? There are some professional women out there, and I’ve been one of them, that quite enjoy being in high demand. This is not strange at all, actually. Feeling the sense that people need you taps into your natural feminine desire to help, nurture, and cultivate. It’s a role that was designed for us by God and no matter how high and powerful of a role we possess in the workplace, that desire is there in us. For some, it’s there but dormant. For many others, it’s alive, well and prominent. If not managed properly, allowing the desire to be needed could keep you from being productive, keep you off track from your planned schedule, and keep you at work into the late after work hours—more often than you expect.
It’s not like you can just check out and reject all the requests for your time and attention at work. You do still have a job to do, so these are some ways to manage your high demand work-life wisely and productively.
1. Use the Referral Method
If what your colleagues and staff members require can be answered or fulfilled by another colleague or staff member, refer them. You don’t have to be interrupted to answer every question, put out every fire, or make a suggestion for every thing. You likely work in an environment where there is more than one person with insight or expertise, so use these individuals. They’re at your disposal as useful resources to free you up from doing everything yourself and having to be present in every meeting. You can and should use these resources around you—so do so.
2. Schedule Strategic Meetings
I’m sure you’ve read the passage that your life is not your own. Well at work, often your time is not your own. However, managing your schedule is a privilege that you can very well make your own. So add different meetings in your calendar that will help you manage your time better, especially when you’re consistently being hit with various distractions throughout the day. Add a one or two hour block of meeting-time on your calendar for strictly computer work. You know those spreadsheets, reports, and content mock ups that you have to submit to leadership? Put time on your calendar to work on those things. Who cares if it’s only you in your office or that isolated conference room on your floor. It’s a meeting with you and your work without distractions, and that’s how you’re going to get quality work done. Also, add a meeting with the people on your staff that ask a lot of questions throughout the day. They clearly require more attention, so give them just that. Schedule a one-on-one meeting with them where you train them personally on some of the things that they may not feel confident about. Empower them with direction and wisdom so when they do come across things that they would normally go to you for, they can figure things out themselves with solid discernment. By doing this, you will also get to the point where you feel confident enough to rely on their judgment, where they will no longer need to depend on your every thought or approval.
3. Honor the Hard Stops
I know I’ve been guilty of this, and my guess is that you have been too. You’ll have a meeting scheduled from 1pm to 2PM, however, that meeting ends up running to 2:15PM, which pushes the next meeting back. Next thing you know, the rest of the day gets pushed back and you’re staying at work late yet again. Honor the Hard Stops. First, establish the hard stop guideline at the beginning of your meeting or impromptu conversation in the hallway. Let that person know how much time you have for that particular moment, and look at the time so you can track it. Make that time productive and fruitful, but as the minutes are nearing the hard stop, start to wind things down. When the hard stop time arrives—stop hard and conclude the meeting.
4. “First Thing’s First”
It’s so tempting to start your day off slow and easy. Quick replies to the easy emails, clearing out the voicemail box, taking a short break for coffee, etc. Next thing you know, the day is in full swing and you’re in go-go-go mode! Well at some point, you need to sit down and concentrate on the high priority deliverables that are due that day. But what happens is, it gets pushed to the end of the day, because that’s when things start to slow down and the office gets a little quiet. Instead of waiting for the end of the day, tackle the bigger and higher priority projects first thing in the morning. Get it out of the way so you can focus on other unplanned items that may pop up. This is a principle that Stephen R. Covey shares in his highly renowned book, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. If you haven’t tried this before, I implore you to as it’s highly effective. “Effective leadership is putting first things first. Effective management is discipline, carrying it out.” ~Stephen R. Covey
5. Enforce “No Meeting Day”
I’ve learned from my previous corporate jobs that meetings are necessary to hash things out, collaborate, and get everyone on the same page. However some meetings can be a time-suck and may not even need to happen. Schedule and attend the meetings that are absolutely necessary 4 days out of your 5 day work week, and leave at least one day with no meetings at all. When that No Meeting Day arrives, use it wisely. Complete a project, update your leadership team, give your staff encouragement and new direction, have lunch with a colleague you want to build a friendship with. You can do so much in that day when you don’t have any scheduled meetings.
6. Play Ghost
If you need space with no interruptions to do what you need to do, create it. Find a solitary place in your building—it could even be a conference room on another floor. Bring your laptop and your documents. Sit in that room with just you and yourself, and don’t tell a soul where you are. Of course it would be responsible of you to let something know that you haven’t actually left for the day. So, to your staff and/or leadership, a simple “I’ll be away from my office for a little bit to get some things done”, should suffice.
7. Establish “Don’t Cross Lines”
Sometimes you just have to let people know if now is not the time. Letting staff and colleagues know that you’re busy when they try to interrupt is okay. If you’re going to start a project and you need some alone time, there’s nothing wrong with stopping by your team’s desks to give them the heads up. You can say something like, “let me know if you need anything because I’m about to start a project that I need to concentrate on.” If they don’t need anything at the moment, let them know that you’ll circle back when you’re done. This ensures that your people don’t feel neglected or that you’re being rude. Clear upfront communication always works!
Definitely be a servant at work—but do know that you can’t be everything to everybody. If you assume that role, you could end up not being what you need to be for yourself and your loved ones. So manage your time wisely and be disciplined. Live focused, productive and enjoyable work days and this will allow you to enjoy your work nights!
Now, enjoy breakfast! We’re having Sweet Potato Hash with Fruit Toppings!
To powerful workweeks and good morning eats!
Love,
Yardley
SWEET POTATO HASH WITH FRUIT TOPPINGS
Ingredients
1 large Sweet potato
3 Tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt + Pepper, to taste
½ yellow Banana
2 Tbsp. Pomegranate seeds
1 Tsp. Cinnamon
½ Tsp. Nutmeg
Honey or Maple Syrup for drizzling
Tool: Cheese grater (side with large holes)
Instructions
Grate potato into short strips
Wrap grated potatoes into a cheese cloth and tightly ring out the water – if potatoes are wet, they will not crisp nicely
Add extra virgin olive oil to pan at medium high heat
When pan is hot, add potatoes and spread out, forming one large circular shaped pancake
Be sure the hash brown is of one consistency in thickness—no hills and valleys
Let potatoes sizzle until crispy on the bottom—use a spatula to check by slightly lifting and peaking
Once brown and crispy, flip hash brown to other size and repeat
Add more extra virgin olive oil if needed
Once complete, remove from stove
Cut banana into slices and place onto sweet potato hash
Add pomegranate seeds and sprinkle on the cinnamon and nutmeg
Drizzle honey or maple syrup
Bon Appetit!
