Priorities (and the frog strikes back)

Sharing something I wrote during my 3rd flight this week

Everyone is always talking about priorities… and how much important it is to prioritize, to keep focus on the real important things and be able to let go what’s not necessary. Potentially delegate some tasks to other members of the team (valid at work but also at home). It’s kinda minimalistic approach which I really like… but… and there’s always a but… (in theory everything is beautiful)

How many of you have faces a situation where everything is a priority?

* Boss 1: Topic A is the priority for this week
* Boss 2: I know that boss 1 said topic A is the priority, but also keep in mind that topic B is also very important
* Boss 3: Please focus on topic C

I guess you get the picture. So in the end I guess the priorities are not such a black & white scientific thing.

I forgot to mention that normally these messages are followed by something like “ahhh and if you have conflicting priorities please speak with your line manager”.

So now I ask, how many of you actually go back and say very bluntly: “I know A, B and C and maybe D have priority, but I’m only human, therefore I will only do 1, 2 and 3. So if this is a problem let me know”

For those of you committed to work (I’m sure some of you fellow readers will fit in the picture), there will always be a tendency to actually commit to do 4 and 5 and sometimes 6,7, 8…
But now here’s something to consider: have you really thought about your priorities? I mean your priorities? Is it that important to do all that extra?  How much are you willing to sacrifice? How much have you sacrificed already? What is your goal?

If it’s to get a fast track career, that is valid as well, although I could argue that you can always work smarter (this was an advise from a friend of mine). Not all the work you do will ever be noticed and recognized. Try to focus on the key important things. Looking back to successfully people more work doesn’t mean faster career. Just means more work.

But if it’s not just about career, even if you enjoy what you do, then try to step back and define your own limits. A little secret: no one else will!

Let’s go back to the frog in the pan…. (I quite feel like the frog is a known friend by now), you may not notice that you are above your limits, because it’s every day a little more and that at some stage you’ve stopped having the benefit of enjoying the work you do. You just kept on carrying on.

If you are lucky you will have family and friends that will call you back to earth:
“Have you noticed that you tend to work a lot more than your peers? And for what? You don’t have time for anything else”.

But it should always come from you. No one else will recognize what is too much and what is important for you.

So please prioritize and adjust, even if it means jumping out of the pan you know into the unknown, you may actually be surprised that you feel much happier and there’s life outside.

You can always follow a more pragmatic approach and do baby-steps and start by saying No – it’s important too!

Motivation

I’ve watched this video a couple of times now, but it’s really good and a simple way of explaining how motivation works. I remember from my classes the pyramid of needs:

Everyone knows that right? Right? But why do I have the feeling that because some people are really quite money-driven they forget about this basic fact, that motivation is far more than that!

For me one of the key things is around a sense of belonging, feeling respect, feeling part of something, that it’s easier to approach your manager and talk about worries, issues, anything! That behind your boss there is actually a person that cares and listens (actively) If you feel you can do that, how easy to you believe it would be to share a good idea?

But why then only a few companies really understand that seriously?

Do you recognize when it’s enough? 10 reasons to stop working so hard

I just saw this article and I had to share it. First of all because it fits into what I do. I do tend to  overwork and I do not say NO enough times, and many other times I don’t recognize when to stop and just carrying on doing a bit more (like that old story of the frog in the pan)

1. Quantity kills quality. You want to be excellent at what you do. But the more tasks you take on, the smaller your chance of doing an excellent job at any of them. Cutting as many items off your task list as you can ups the odds that you’ll do a killer job on the things that matter most.

2. Sleep matters. “The way to a more productive, more inspired, more joyful life is getting enough sleep,” Arianna Huffington said in a 2011 TED talk. She would know. She fainted from exhaustion and broke her cheekbone and is now something of a sleep evangelist. “I was recently having dinner with a guy who bragged that he’d gotten only four hours’ sleep the night before,” she continued. She considered retorting: “If you had gotten five, this dinner would have been a lot more interesting.”

3. You suck when it counts. I can tell you from experience that going into a meeting tired and distracted means you will suck in that meeting. You’ll be bad at generating new ideas, finding creative solutions to problems, and worst of all you’ll suck at listening attentively to the people around you. That disrespects them and wastes their time as well as yours.

4. Your mood is a buzzkill. The kind of irritability and impatience that goes with being overworked and behind schedule will cast a black cloud over the people around you both at work and at home. If you’re an employee, it will damage your career. If you’re a small business owner, it will harm your business.

5. Your judgment is impaired. The research is conclusive: sleep deprivation impairs decision-making. As a leader, poor judgment is something you can’t afford. Crossing some tasks off your to-do list, handing them to someone else, or finishing some things late is well worth it if it means you bring your full concentration and intelligence to the tough decisions your job requires.

6. You’re setting a bad example. The work schedule and tone you set for yourself will likely be mirrored by the smartest and most ambitious of your employees. What kind of leaders and bosses do you want them to be? Do you want the benefit of their brightest ideas and best judgment? Then don’t create an environment where everyone vies to see how many hours they can work without falling over.

7. There will always be more work. If you run your own business, there’s always a new project to start, a new customer to pursue, or a new technology to try out. You’ll never be out of new work to do. And if you work for someone else, getting a lot done will lead to being given more tasks. That can be a good thing, but only if you have the time and energy to do them with excellence.

8. You’re hurting your relationships. Somewhere along the way my husband sat me down and insisted that I make some time to talk with him every day. I’m blessed not only with a strong marriage but an unusually outspoken spouse. There may be people in your life feeling as shut out as he was who haven’t come out and said so. Don’t wait until it’s too late.

9. You’re screwing up your health. Did Mita Diran know she was risking her life by working so hard? It seems clear from her tweets that she didn’t, and if she had, she’d have made a different choice. I’m sure you’re smart enough not to work 30 hours straight, but do you let your work schedule interfere with things like healthy eating and regular exercise, not to mention sleep? If so, then it’s possible you’re shortening your life by overwork. Is it worth it?

10. Most of the work is less important than you think. A few years ago, hospice worker Bronnie Ware famously published the top five regrets she heard from her dying patients. Those who’d had careers all regretted the number of hours they spent at work. But many of her patients also spoke of dreams they wished they’d fulfilled.

Do you know when it’s too much for you? Can you say no? If you won’t, I can tell you no one else will! As long as you keep on doing there’ll always be more to come. Room for thought 🙂