The key to getting unburied at work (and never letting it happen again)

“It’s really clear that the most precious resource we have is time.” Steve Jobs

In a world of time-saving hacks – brushing your teeth in the shower, listening to podcasts during workouts, and eating dinner in front of the TV – why doesn’t the workday ever seem long enough? A forty hour week can stretch to fifty or sixty, just to feel like you’re getting everything accomplished. But it feels…messy. Too many days where you come home, tired, and wonder when the day got away from you. Plagued by unread emails, incomplete projects, and an overfull calendar.

Every organization risks burning out employees like you – determined workers who put in the hours to get the job done. It’s a vicious cycle. Someone shows they can perform at a high-level so they’re continually relied on, but businesses fail to find the line between using talent and abusing talent. You’re the hammer, and every project is a nail.

Fortunately, there’s something you can do about it.

You’re in control

You’re in the driver’s seat. You control your work schedule and have the most say over how crazy it should get at work. You’re the best advocate for you. Take ownership of how you spend your time. No one is going to rescue you from a dysfunctional work environment or unhealthy habits. If you want something to change then you’ll have to instigate those changes. It’s your job to establish boundaries and set norms for how you expect to spend your time.

This is an important shift because it takes you out of the victimization mindset that prevents you from seeing things clearly. People in high-stress, high-output industries are prone to think of work as happening to them not with them. But even in these environments, you have power over how chaotic it gets. The trick is developing the tools to wield that power.

Understand what your priorities should be

Take ten minutes and write out the answer to this question: “what initiatives/projects are most important to the success of my department/company?” Stop after you’ve listed six items, then, rank them from most to least urgent. You should be spending most of your time and energy on this core list of items. Take an additional ten minutes to look ahead over the next four weeks and proactively reserve 4-8 hours every week in one or two hour blocks to focus specifically on your core list of items (in the order in which you’ve listed them).

Every week, consult this list of projects and make sure you’re focusing your time and energy on your list of six before you get distracted by anything else. When wondering if you’re being productive enough, consult this list and decide if you’re making substantive progress. Plan to update this list monthly to refresh your priorities (as they can change dynamically).

Cut out the wasted energy

Now that you have your core priorities mapped out, take twenty minutes to go through your calendar and to-do lists to find items or meetings that are not connected to your top six. Make a list of any commitments that aren’t aligned. Take ten minutes to write an email to your peer, boss, employee, or other interested party saying the following:

“Hey [person], I’ve just reviewed all my current commitments and realized I’ve unintentionally over-committed myself on a couple of projects. In order to make sure I stay on track with the most important projects I’m working on, I’m requesting [to be removed from this committee, an extended deadline, assistance, permission to pass off the action item to someone else]. I appreciate your understanding, happy to discuss further if you have questions.”

Feel free to tweak this template to match the norms in your office. Don’t overthink the emails. Just write them out and send as many as necessary.

Is everyone going to be okay with you taking a step back? No. But most people will. Even if only 50% of the people you email respond positively, you’re still far better off than when you started and have successfully given yourself more time and energy to complete your core work.

Practice setting boundaries

“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say ‘no’ to almost everything.” I love this quote, attributed to Warren Buffet, because it reinforces that we all have limits. The most compassionate and dedicated leaders are also the ones who have the unhealthiest work habits because they say yes to everything. They don’t want to disappoint anyone or let anyone down. So they try to be all things to all people. If you say yes to everything, you aren’t really saying yes to anything, because you’re giving everyone only a tiny fraction of your available focus.

The thing everyone should be saying when anyone asks them to put something new on their plate is “maybe”. Instead, too often we say “yes” or “sure” or “happy to help”. We make our willingness to contribute unconditional. Your support and effort is not unconditional. It is very much conditional.

Here are things you should know before saying yes to more work:

How exactly do you want my help?

What’s the time-frame?

How important is this?

Who will I be working with?

Can I de-prioritize other work?

Does it fit into my six core priorities?

If you say yes before you know the above factors then you’re digging your own grave. Too many of us let our desire to be helpful and valuable outweigh our common sense. We overburden ourselves and end up victimized by our own good nature.

Practice saying “I’m open to helping, but can you tell me more about the project? I want to be sure I understand more before I commit.” Sometimes your maybes will turn into “yes” and other times they’ll turn into “no”.

It will be natural for you to worry that people will hold it against you or that you won’t be seen as a team player. If people feel like you’ve taken their request seriously then they’re less likely to give you a hard time for managing your commitments.

Some of the actions outlined above are going to seem a little strange and awkward. That’s natural. These are new skills and will be uncomfortable at first. But keep in mind what’s at stake. If you don’t develop the tools necessary to establish healthy boundaries and better work habits, you’re going to perpetuate an unhealthy and unsustainable work routine and you’re going to produce work that’s below standard. Neither of these outcomes is what you want out of this job. Give yourself the chance to have the kind of experience at work that you want and you deserve.

Think I’ve missed something? Let me know. Message me on Twitter or send me an email. Appreciate my advice? Share this post with someone who could benefit.

Good luck out there.

-Patrick

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