Is Your “Balanced Life” on the Back Burner?

by Karla Brandau, CSP

Is your “balanced life” on the back burner? Probably so, if you are struggling to get the basic work done just to keep your job. Since 9/11 many people in the trenches have been in overload work status, working 50 to 60 hours a week.

Workers in the trenches are the backbone of organizations and rarely get the consideration given to the lower 10% which the organization is trying to get rid of or the upper 10% the organization is trying to keep from going to the highest bidder.

If you consider yourself working in the trenches, let’s concentrate on getting your work done faster, then balance will happen naturally.

How do you work faster?

First, never leave work without making your task list for the next day. Discipline yourself to spend the last 10-15 minutes at work closing out and documenting what you completed. Go ahead and add the little stuff that was not initially on your task list but demanded your attention. It will feel good to get all of those extra checks.

After you have closed out your day, take the second step: look with fresh eyes toward tomorrow. Look for tasks you did not complete today. As you examine uncompleted tasks, don’t get overwhelmed. There will always be more to do in one day than you can physically do. Make the best choices you can and hopefully the tasks that are left will be a minimum of waste and inconvenience.

After a look at the uncompleted tasks, check your goals. Check workgroup project deadlines. Check your manager’s urgencies.

Through this process, a comprehensive task list for the next day starts to form.

Now you are ready for the third step: Prioritize the tasks and decide which task you will start on when you get into work the next morning. If you decide which task is number one, you jump-start your productivity. You won’t waste time at 8:00 a.m. – high productivity time – musing where to begin or being overwhelmed and deciding that a third cup of coffee it just what you need, as you proceed to the break room.

To summarize, how does this process you work faster?

When you step through your office door, you are ready to work because you:

1. Know where to start
2. Are focused by a prioritized list
3. Can easily return to your focus and your list when interrupted
4. Don’t lose momentum wondering what comes next

In addition, if you follow this procedure and make your work plan before you leave work, you are free to shut the door on work. Your fears about getting it all done will be calmed…everything is neatly planned in its time slots for the next day.

Then you can put work on the back burner and turn up the heat on balance. Enjoy your family, your dog, your cat, your golf game, the football game on TV or whatever else relaxes you and refreshes your mind. You will truly get more done from the trenches the next day.

Make sure you check our UPCOMING PROGRAMS page for current opportunities to get the Time Management skills you need from Karla and the Time for Results team.