Most of us spread ourselves thin at the best of times. This is only heightened with year-end deadlines and all of the holiday busyness. It’s enough to turn a calm, cool & collected professional into something akin to dried out turkey dinner … dry, burned out and downright nasty.

The challenge is that we only have control over so much of our time. There are the non-negotiable deadlines, the meetings the emails, and additional holiday gatherings that leave little time to get “our” work done.

And while I love the thought of cloning myself, we really do have to work with what we’ve got.

Here are some key strategies to keep us calm and cheerful right through into the New Year:

1)      Pick your top goal or project
Sure – you want to get through 18 projects.

So do I. But we both know that ain’t gonna happen this year.

Pick your number one goal. Focus on that. If you get it done, pat yourself on the back. And then move on to your next goal. Timothy Ferriss, author of The 4-Hour Workweek calls this ‘selective ignorance’ (which incidentally was the Webster’s 2010 Word of the Year). Essentially, Ferris recommends that we turn off and tune out the distractions so we can focus on what we really care about. I couldn’t agree more!

Related article: Why can’t we get this prioritizing thing right?

2)      Set short-term deadlines
It is much easier to stay productive in the short-term. Deadlines that are far off in the future are easy to ignore. Break a big goal down into small chunks and set short-term deadlines. Small, consistent wins do a great job of motivating us and add up to big changes rather quickly.

Related article: Does Procrastination Boil Down to Temptation?

3)      Tell someone
We can let ourselves off the hook too easily at times. So it can be pretty powerful to tell someone else. Pick someone who will do a good job of holding you accountable.

4)      Get rid of other jobs
What can you get rid of to lighten your load? The Pareto Principle states that 20% of what we do brings 80% of the impact. What low-value tasks are sucking up a lot of your time?

Once we know what our top priorities are, we need to seriously consider off-loading the other stuff.

There are lots of great approaches for identifying the lower-value activities. Mike Cloutier uses the 3 Balls approach to manage an overwhelming workload. In this article, he talks about glass balls (for the things that must be done), rubber balls (the things that should be done) and lead balls (the things that could be done). Stever Robbins uses the “prune, prune, prune” approach as a means of “coping with too much to do”.

5)      Leave a buffer
If you abide by the above tips, this one should be a breeze. Things come up – they always do. So build in some free time. And get to sleep early. It is amazing how much more productive we are after a good night’s sleep.

Related article: Is it time for a break yet?

Hopefully these five tips will help you from spreading yourself too thin. What are your sanity saving plans? I would love to hear your suggestions and tips.

In the best Dr. Phil voice that I could muster, I asked, “So how’s that workin’ for ya?”

As I suspected, in many ways it was working for him. Yes, this approach made things harder for those around him, and he ends up sacrificing more personal time than he wants to, and his stress level tends to be higher than ideal. But at the end of the day, he is still able to get things done.   And a lot done at that. By most accounts, he is a widely successful individual.

Changing our ways is hard at the best of times. But when the consequences of ‘last minute-itis’ are not that great, it is hard to break the habit.

Sometimes, other people almost give us too much of a break when we miss deadlines. We avoid penalties, when really we probably could benefit from a penalty once in awhile.

In these situations, we need to set our own standards. What does a deadline mean to you? Even if ignoring a deadline is essentially ‘penalty-free’, are you still going to do it? Your professional reputation, impact on others, personal life and stress level are on the line after all.

Focusing on getting things done sooner rather than later takes commitment and discipline. Are you up for the challenge?

Same deal applies if someone offers us $50 today versus $100 tomorrow -  most of us would choose to wait one day for the higher pay-out.

But as the wait time increases, most of us change our mind. If someone offered us $50 today versus $100 in a year, most would choose $50 today. The dollar difference remains the same, but something about the delayed reward prompts us to choose the immediate pay-out.

Even Kids Find it Hard to Resist Temptation

Not surprisingly, kids are no better off. A rather ‘cold-hearted’ group of Stanford researchers asked children to resist eating a marshmallow right in front of them. They told the children that they would get two marshmallows if they simply waited for 15 minutes. Then the researchers left the room and watched the children squirm. The request proved to be far too tempting for most children who gobbled up the single marshmallow within minutes.

Goals and Actions Don’t Always Line Up

Despite our best intentions, immediate actions don’t always line up with obvious long-term gains. We might want to wake up early to get cracking on that project, but our warm bed is just too cozy. We may want to lose a few inches for the upcoming holiday party, but find it hard to resist that double-chocolate fudge cookie at today’s luncheon buffet. You get the picture.

Short-term Sacrifices Are Not in our Nature

Scientists talk about our preference for short-term rewards, versus larger payoffs later. They use the term “hyperbolic discounting” to describe how we discount future gains when it requires short-term sacrifices.

In other words, we deem $50 today as more valuable than $100 a year from now. One marshmallow now is better than two later. And that cookie at lunch sure was yummy.

But What about Our Long-Term Goals?

It is worth saying that some children were able to resist the initial marshmallow temptation, thereby reaping the rewards of more treats. These children did so by distracting themselves with other short-term interests like turning away and kicking the desk.

And clearly, there are many times when we adults are able to achieve big, long-term goals.

How exactly are we able to do this, given our tendency to be side-tracked by short-term distractions?

Project managers talk about breaking big goals into smaller steps. David Allen talks about focusing on the next actionable step. And I consistently tout the benefits of short-term goals.

There is nothing like a little deadline pressure and accountability to help face a short-term sacrifice head on.

Sure, most of us procrastinate from time to time (myself included; don’t let my ‘Productivity Consultant’ title lead you to think that I don’t get tempted from time to time).  But now that I have learned the importance of the short-term, I am closer to kicking this habit for good.

We definitely know that focusing leads to better work. But do we really need to block out all noise in order to focus?  Couldn’t we just have a bit of background music?

Ironically, there are many indicators pointing to the fact that music might not be such a bad distraction after all.

1)      Music can block out distractions

Music can help to drown out other (more distracting) background noises. Music has also been found to engage the area of the brain involved with paying attention. This might help us to focus on the present task and avoid drifting off to other topics.

2)      Music may boost our concentration and productivity

Classical music has been cited as a great way to increase concentration and productivity. Some researchers claim that music helps us to organize incoming information. Other researchers cite that music with constant beats help us to march along in a productive fashion. Slow classical music (whose timing is about that of a human heart at rest) is supposed to help one concentrate best of all. Regardless, music without words tends to be recommended.

3)      Music may boost our learning

Researcher’s coined the “Mozart Effect” to describe the short-term enhancement of spatial-temporal skills (like those crucial in math and chess) after listening to Mozart’s compositions (which are very sequential). Does this translate into better problem solving skills in the workplace? This appears to be an untested question, but certainly an interesting theory.

Other researchers caution that this so-called “Mozart Effect” is minimal (or non-existent), however, so we should not expect to turn into geniuses by simply tuning into the classics. It is worth noting that Albert Einstein allegedly credited much of his intelligence to having learned to play the violin.

4)      Music can inspire creativity

Some proponents argue that music (especially upbeat tunes) helps to clear mental blocks and boost creativity. One author suggested that music occupies the part of our mind that hinders our creative abilities. “Like a soothing lullaby, music puts the worrisome unfocused part of the mind to sleep so the productive side can get to work.” Regardless, music can help to spice up a task.

5)      Music helps to improve our mood

It is hard to be truly productive if we are not in a good mood. Music has been shown to improve our mood, resulting in higher levels of dopamine – the ultimate feel-good neurotransmitter. Music has also been found to reduce stress hormone levels by as much as 41%. This alone could help lead to more flow and natural decisions in our day.

Summing it all up: does music help?

As with so many things, the questions still outweigh the answers. And some studies find no positive impact of music on our ability to focus.

Does music help you to focus? This may be a question that only you can answer. If the answer is yes, then by all means tune in.

Ironically, Ann Gomez sat in a coffee shop, humming along to music, while writing this blog.

The True Fire Fighters

Ironically, fire fighters (who are dealing with true crises) seem to be fairly calm.

Fire departments seem to live by the ethos “Let chaos reign, then rein in chaos”. With every second counting, they literally drop everything to respond to a fire.

Yet outside of these fires, they do many things to rein in the chaos. They test their equipment, they train and yes, they wash their trucks. When is the last time you saw a fire truck broken down on the side of the road?

How to Survive the Chaos

When a crisis hits, it often requires an ‘all-hands-on-deck’ approach and we (like the fire fighters) drop everything to respond.

Ironically, the things we do outside of times of crisis are the things that best prepare us:

1)      Set clear priorities: It’s okay to have a lot of goals. But the fastest way to get through them is to focus on one at a time. We only slow our progress when we perpetually jump from one thing to the next.

2)      Single-task: Multi-tasking is a myth. Focus is far more efficient and leads to better work. Turn your email off. They can survive without you (for a little while anyways).

3)      Establish simple systems: We waste time looking for information and generally getting bogged down. Establish simple systems to deal with the little things (email, To Do lists, paperwork, etc.) so you can get on with the doing.

4)      Set short-term deadlines: The evil procrastination goblin loves when we don’t have a deadline – at least not one in the short term. Set a deadline and tell someone else. A little bit of pressure is a great way to tighten our backlog.

5)      Strive for “good enough”: Better is the enemy of the good. Yes, things can usually be better, but is it worth the price? The U.S. Marine Corps uses the 70% rule: if you have 70% of the information, have done 70% of the analysis and feel 70% confident, then act.

6)      Push back: Is it really a crisis? Do you really need to drop everything? Remember that we train people how to work with us.

7)      Take a break: We absolutely need recovery time. Outside of crisis times, build in some breathers. Celebrate with you team. Or steal some personal time. Rest up for the next adrenaline rush.

You can handle the inevitable chaos

Fire departments cannot anticipate fires, so they need to prepare themselves to deal with these unpredictable events. You can too with a focus on upfront planning. If we can avoid hanging out on the edge of our capacity, the crisis won’t be able to send us over the edge, and we will finally be able to take 911 off of our speed-dial.

Screeeeeeech!!!

It's important to take breaks during your work day

Wait a second. Is it just me, or is life as busy as ever? I feel like that ‘zen’ summer feeling has snapped shut, as quick as a brand new school backpack.

Not that I am afraid of working hard, but the ‘relentlessness’ gets to me at times. With that said, I am determined to maintain a teeny bit of that good ol’ summer feeling all through the fall and winter.

I know, I know …

I know that the secret is to take more breaks. (I also know that I am supposed to floss each night but that isn’t happening too often.) The trouble is that once I ramp up with work, it doesn’t seem as though there is time to stop. There is always more to do.

A Lesson Learned

I needed to really convince myself that breaks were a good thing before committing to them. So I dug in and did some research, coming up with a pretty inspiring list.

Three great reasons to take a break:

1. We get more done

After a break, we come back to work more refreshed and focused, able to produce more work at a higher quality in less time. With less time available to work, we are forced to go right to the core of what needs to get done. We strip away the distracting tasks. We focus on our priorities. And at the end of the day, our impact is often higher.

2. We become more creative

Breaks can expose us to a different context and new ideas. Our imagination works best when we are relaxed and we often come back to work with some amazing ideas that lead to better work.

3. We keep things in perspective
Breaks provide us with an outlet from work frustrations. Whether we sweat it out at the gym or laugh it out over lunch with a friend, it is important to have releases in our day. When we step back, we often realize that things are not worth worrying about. (When we step really far back, we realize that most things fall into this category.) Breaks help us to roll with the punches at work, and not get too emotionally charged about the little things.

Without a doubt, there are times when we have to work hard. Really hard. Sure, we can all push through and skimp on sleep to meet a deadline. But using this approach over the long term seriously harms are productivity.

At the end of the day, breaks help to remind us to make time for the things that are important to us. And that leads to a better life. Now that is a balance I am willing to strike.

It started with a book endorsement and ended in an apology.  Oprah’s biggest self-admitted mistake in 25 years arose from a delegating blunder between her and her producers.

Oprah supported author James Frey in 2006 when we was at the centre of a media storm criticizing him for including untrue portions in his reported memoir A Million Little Pieces. He appeared on Larry King Live to defend his position and Oprah called in to lend her support (which coincidentally was the first time she had ever done so). As accusations against Frey continued to swirl, Oprah invited him on her show to clarify the story. When Frey admitted to several embellishments, Oprah lambasted him (something she came to regret). The future did not look bright for Frey after the Queen of talk-shows turned against him.

How did this go so wrong? The answer is routed in Oprah’s approach to delegating.

The 3 Critical Ingredients for Effective Delegating

Delegating is a fairly straight-forward process when you break it down: You assign the work, you check in on the progress and you provide feedback. As simple as this all sounds, we get into trouble when we skip key parts. Let’s consider what happened with Oprah:

Step 1: Assigning the Work

Generally, three questions need to be addressed when we assign work: What do we want? When do we want it? And how do we want it? The level of detail and direction depends on the situation and the experience of the person to whom we are delegating.

I have every confidence that Oprah has a good routine in place when she assigns work to her producers (such are preparing for the James Frey interview).

Step 2: Review the Work

Mutually, we need to determine how often we need to meet to review the work. Ideally, these meetings are scheduled in advance to make sure they don’t fall off the radar.

Lots of times, this crucial step gets skipped. Especially when the people we are delegating to are highly effective (as Oprah’s producers likely are) and we are busy ourselves (as Oprah undoubtedly is).

Step 3: Provide Feedback

The third step requires us to provide feedback. In fact, it is our obligation as a delegator. People learn by doing, and we can help them in this process by pointing out some blind spots. My understanding is that Oprah is excellent at providing feedback.

So Where Did Oprah Go Wrong?

Not to pick on Oprah – because in all honesty, I greatly admire her. But she slipped in a place where many also stumble: not holding regular reviews.

Oprah’s producers led Frey to believe that his 2006 interview with Oprah would have an atmosphere of ‘forgiveness and redemption’. Frey was not prepared for or expecting to be lambasted by Oprah.

The public was also surprised at Oprah’s harsh approach with Frey.  But the real surprise lay with Oprah, as she was not aware of what her producers had told Frey.

Had she reviewed the plan with her producers before the show (a crucial step in the delegating process), things might have gone differently. Oprah may have gotten lucky in the past skipping the reviews, but this time it came back to bite her.

Is there a happy ending?

After years of reflection and some criticism, Oprah admitted that her approach with Frey was too harsh. She invited Frey back on her show in 2011 to graciously apologize for her approach.

And how has James Frey fared through all of this? “”In a way, as bad as it was, it was one of the best things that happened to me. Sometimes you need to go through bad things to arrive at a good place.”

The problem is, once I had those files in my sight, other images started flooding to mind.  My file drawers are begging to be culled and my To Do list is due for an overhaul. (Seriously – did I really think I’d get to those tasks that had been sitting there for months?)

Confession #1: Productivity Consultant and all – my office organizing systems are starting to run amok. (Don’t even get me started about my garage.) This spring weather has opened my eyes to things I chose to “ignore” for a tad too long.

It’s come time to admit it: I need to get organized.

Usually I am organized. Honest. I just slipped a little over the winter.

Now I have always prided myself on being an organizing junkie. (Hey – we all need something to brag about.) It’s just that somehow things started to slip over the winter.

Confession #2: I like organizing. True statement. I like to put things in their place and to have calmness around me.   Judge me if you must, but I think that organizing is fun.

Unfortunately, a few really good excuses enabled me to fall off the wagon.

Fortunately, I am a pro when it comes to busting excuses. Here they are – with the reality check accompanying them. Hopefully my painful journey will help you to avoid plummeting into the same pit.

Excuse #1: I’m too busy working to spend time organizing

Reality Check: I can fit anything into my life, if I deem it to be important enough. And clearly yes, lots of things do not make the cut. (Case in point: I’m not doing too many sit-ups these days.)

So what I needed was a reminder that being organized is important. It saves me time (otherwise wasted looking for things), keeps me thinking more strategically (and less buried in the weeds) and helps me to be more proactive about my deadlines. (There is nothing less productive than always working in crisis mode.)

Excuse #2: I don’t have any spare time to get organized

Reality Check: I need to make the time.

After weeks of denial, my office manager realized that I needed help and took matters into her own hands: “Ann: we’re going to take 10 minutes to clear this credenza.” I tried to protest – I had a workshop that afternoon and countless other urgent things to do. But deep down I knew that any attempt to resist organizing was feeble.  She is one of those people who it’s hard to say no to. You know the kind. Anyhoo, it was the best thing for me.

Excuse #3: I know where everything is. I’m not losing any time by being disorganized!

Reality Check: I was wasting time (and impact) looking, sorting, re-printing …

Yes, there is a chance that I am an exception to the abundance of research out there indicating how much time people lose on a daily basis from being disorganized. But I’d probably have more luck with the lottery.

Excuse #4: It would take too long to set up – who has the time?

Reality Check: Getting organized doesn’t actually take that long.

I have helped countless clients organize their office. In most cases it has taken somewhere between 2-5 hours. And the beauty of this project is that you can break it down, and get a big visual payoff at each stage.

Excuse #5: Getting organized is painful (ok – this wasn’t my excuse, but I hear lots of other people say this)

Reality Check: Getting organized is one of the quickest returns on your investment. And there is nothing better than a good pay-off.

It is a simple activity that reaps immediate benefits. Turn on the music, recruit help, bring in some yummy snacks and make it fun.

Excuse #6: My job is more strategic; I don’t have to worry about the details

Reality Check: When I am not organized I tend to get caught up in the weeds and reactive (versus proactive). I also run the risk of becoming a bottleneck to other people (who are focused on the details).

Being organized is an important part of being able to see the bigger picture, staying proactive and staying focused on our goals.

 
Excuse #7: My job is simply too busy to stay organized

Reality Check: If it isn’t easy to maintain, it isn’t the right system for me.

There is no ‘one size fits all’ model here. There is no shame in trying a new system. (And even the best systems out there need to tweaking occasionally.) Figure out what isn’t working and adjust accordingly. Keep it simple though. When things get too fancy, they become too hard to maintain.

 
Excuse #8: A clear desk will make it look like I have nothing to do

Reality Check: No one seriously uses this excuse anymore, right?

It’s very easy to let the systems slip. So as the sun shines outside, I’m putting the spotlight on my trouble areas. No more excuses, it’s time to get organized. On that note, I am going to update my To Do list. Feel free to ask me to show it off the next time you see me. It will soon be a beauty.

But intuitively we know that feedback is good for us. It’s kinda like eating spinach – good for you, but it doesn’t taste good going down.

It occurred to me that it was time to stop freaking out and start facing the facts about feedback.

Face the fact #1: Whether you hear it or not, people are forming judgements about you.

While few people will take the time to compile and share their thoughts, most will be forming opinions about your performance. How clear are you on the impression you make? Do you come across as someone who knows your stuff? Do people find you easy to relate to? Are you the kind of person that people want on their team?

We all have our blind spots. And while it can be painful to hear about them, at least it gives us a chance to nip them in the bud. Years ago, after a presentation, someone told me that I looked a bit spastic in the way I was moving. Yes, he actually used the word spastic. If ever there was a time that I was hoping to be swallowed by a black hole, it was that time. But you know what? I stopped moving so ‘spastically’ (honestly – could he not find another word?) And thankfully, thousands of people have not had to witness it in the years since.

Face the fact #2: Things that get measured get results.

EBay incorporates a feedback loop so that buyers can rank sellers on a 5-star system. Consequently, sellers are motivated to provide superior customer service to continue getting high rankings, which leads to more sales opportunities down the road. The simple act of measuring customer service leads to higher customer service rankings. 

The genius is in the simplicity. The more we seek out specific feedback, the better we tend to perform on those specific areas.

Face the fact #3: It doesn’t help to put it off

Once-a-year feedback during your performance review doesn’t cut it. Harvard researchers found that employees who receive regular feedback perform better at work that those who do not. And this effect wasn’t just limited to the ‘way to go’ kind of feedback. It goes for both the positive and not-so-positive feedback.

I am not suggesting that you run around constantly saying “how am I doing?” to people. If you do, you’ll come across as too needy. Instead, you want to selectively invite people to provide you with specific feedback aligned to a few targeted things that you are working on.

Face the fact #4: Don’t bite the hand that feeds you

Feedback is a gift. Even if it doesn’t feel like a gift, it is still a gift. Anyone who takes the time to give you feedback is demonstrating that they are willing to invest in you – which takes some effort.

For one, they have to be willing to make time for you in the midst of their own busy life. Secondly, people tend not to want to hurt our feelings. Thirdly, sometimes people need something specific to focus their feedback on.

Someone who overcomes these three big obstacles deserves to be heard.

Face the fact #5: We need to prime the wheel for more feedback

Feedback providers quickly become vested in you. They want to hear how things are working and that their input has made a positive difference for you. Follow-up allows you to demonstrate that you are putting their valuable insights into practice. This can be as simple as a passing comment like “I tried that approach you recommended and it really helped.”

It’s not so freaky after all

No matter what level we are at, we are all doing our best to learn and grow. Feedback is one of the two most essential ingredients in learning[2]. [The other is challenge – but we’ll save that for another article.] The greater the challenge, the more important feedback becomes. And to be honest, the less we should be freaked out about it.

So much is said about our big priorities. Yet we know that the finest performances in life are often differentiated by the smallest details. And it is often these very same details – the little things – that can trip us up.

Professional athletes recognize that the slightest change in momentum can result in the difference between a celebratory win versus a devastating loss. Michael Phelps credits the tiny detail of keeping his head level to winning one of his gold medals.  

Rogers learned a costly lesson when a misplaced comma (of all things) in a multi-page contract ended up costing them more than $2 million (ouch!) in 2002.  

No doubt, we all aspire to stay on top of our details. But life moves fast and emails pile up faster than we can say “details matter”. So regardless of how much we aspire to show up early, hit a tight deadline and remember to do something, we can sometimes find ourselves drowning in the details.

5 Ways to Navigate the Details

Staying on top of all the little details requires an entirely different mindset than our big priorities.

1. Start at the top
Whether you are tackling a stack of papers or a pile of emails, start at the top of your list and work your way down sequentially. Other than a quick scan for hot topics, this is not the time to prioritize. Avoid cherry picking.

2.   Organize
Being organized helps us to process the details efficiently. One of the most common reasons why people put off the simple things is because it takes too much time to find the necessary information.

 3. Touch it Once
Ideally, we only touch an email / a bill / a phone message / etc. one time. The first time we read something is tied to when we act on it. Otherwise, we waste (quite a bit of) time re-reading.

4.   Make the time
Lots of people reserve time for their big chunks of work.  But very few people reserve time for the associated minutiae. Here is a rough guideline: if you are receiving 100 emails per day, you need two hours to process them.

5.   Cut back
Recognize that maybe you have too much on the go. If you still can’t stay on top of your details (despite all of the above), maybe there are some other things at play. Could you delay or delegate some projects? Does your team need to copy you on every email? Can you ask colleagues to bundle questions and save them for a weekly meeting?

Is Perfection Really the Goal?
What am I really recommending here? Do you need to perfectly attend to every last detail? Not a chance! We still need to protect the time for our priorities. And we have to accept the fact that we will stumble here and there. (Great accomplishments rarely arise without a few hiccups.)

 I am simply suggesting that the details (just like the big priorities) require their deserved attention. And with a good balance between our big and small tasks, we will all be swimming our way to (our own version of) Olympic glory.