It'll Happen When it Happens
There’s only so much you can do in a day. Despite your visions of accomplishing a miles-long task list in just a couple of hours, reality has a way of spoiling things.
Modern technology, including social media, has painted a picture for all of us that there is infinite scale available to us at our fingertips. Everywhere I turn, there’s another app promising to increase my productivity.
While we’re certainly enabled to do a lot more in any given day than we used to, what gets lost in all of this is the hard truth that there are only so many hours in that day. Things will inevitably present themselves out of nowhere, and there are limits to our bandwidths for work, and our attention spans.
It’s also important to point out that I don’t think we were put here to work every waking hour of our lives, so what’s the point in trying to?
We’re left with a conundrum… We feel the need to get more done, but we don’t want to be working non-stop. So when is it enough?
I think it’s impossible to be truly objective and fair with an answer. It’s going to vary from person to person, but one thing is becoming increasingly clear to me- it’s probably less than we think.
A couple of months ago, I woke up bright and early on a Tuesday, and in those first waking moments reminded myself of what was on my schedule for the day… Early work on projects before a list of calls and meetings, concluding with a webinar for a client that started at 8 pm…
I finally realized for myself that I didn’t want to work fifteen-hour days in perpetuity. I may have even said it out loud.
I love what I do. I love helping people, and I love it when they see things for themselves that I could see all along. I’ve never been so rewarded by my work as I am right now. Fifteen hour days are a part of the gig sometimes, but do I need to do that to myself every day? No. Neither do you.
When you ratchet the perceived urgency of every project you start to the point where it feels like you have to be working on something all day, every day, the unnecessary stress you cause yourself actually makes you less productive.
You start to press. It’s harder to focus. You make poor decisions. You’re not doing your best work, and it looks a lot like Quixote fighting windmills.
I decided to make a change… I limited the number of things I could work on at one time. I spent a long time thinking about priorities and what needed to be done first. That meant tough decisions about what needed to wait. Then I got to work. It was my own PARE process on display.
As soon as I gave myself the space (and the grace) I needed, I got more work done. I got to cross projects off my list. I started doing better work, and that work is being recognized.
Does it still sting that I didn’t hit some of the deadlines that I set for myself? Sure, a little… But what matters is that the work gets done, and done well. Those deadlines were arbitrary, to begin with.
You’ve heard me say this before… If you focus on a process, you’ll get results. If you focus on results, you’ll get frustrated. That statement has proven to be true every. single. time.
You can’t make that prospect buy any faster than they’re comfortable, but you can avoid slowing things down in the sales process by not missing opportunities to advance it.
I know you have several proposals to write, but you can only write one at a time. You’re not slowing things down by focusing, and you’re certainly not speeding things up by trying to multitask.
When you add unnecessary urgency to any process, it’s harder to do your best work. Who suffers when you don’t do your best work? Everybody.
Do your own PARE process and identify the project that needs your attention immediately. Do everything you can do right now, and make sure the next step is scheduled. Then move to your next project, do the same, and so on.
It’ll become very clear, and very quickly, what a reasonable capacity is for you. It may feel like less than you’re capable of, but objectively, I’m willing to bet that the results you create are far greater than they are right now.
This is not a piece about boundaries so much as it’s a piece about expectations. Give yourself the space to be your very best, and you may be surprised at the outcome.
As I’ve given myself more space recently, the impact of the work I’m doing has taken a sharp upward turn. I’m more patient, I listen better, I think more clearly, and I’m more creative. I also have a much more positive attitude and I have not been this inspired in what feels like years.
Interestingly enough, this all leads to me doing more hours of work, but not because I have to, but because I’m inspired to.
Try it for yourself, just for a couple of weeks, and let me know how it works for you. Let me know how it goes by joining the conversation in my free online community.
Jeff Bajorek
Real. Authentic. Experience.
There’s a big difference between knowing how to sell and being able to. Jeff Bajorek spent over a decade in the field as a top performer. He’s been in your shoes. He knows what it will take. He can help you succeed.
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