How Important Is Planning ? Part 1

In an exempt (or salaried) role, you are not expected to perform your daily tasks on an hourly basis.  Instead, you are allowed the freedom and flexibility to work on whatever you choose ... as long as all the work gets done within the timeframe allowed.  Even though we would all like to believe that we would thrive in this kind of open environment, the harsh reality is that some people just do not have the skills to self-manage and ensure the work gets done.

I have recently begun to realize that effective planning is the key to success in an exempt role.  At my work we refer to this step as "Planning For Possible Outcomes" but ultimately it boils down to one thing: a sense of urgency.  Learning to create my own sense of urgency has enabled me to get things done on a regular basis and avoid the I'm so behind, I'll never catch up, there's too much to do feeling that many leaders often experience.  For those who would say "But Josh, you always say 'there's so much to do.'  Doesn;t that make you a liar or a hypocrite?"  My response is NO.  Because I am not behind on another person's timeline ... I am only behind on my timeline.

This may seem silly to you, but consider your own school experience.  When did you work hardest on a paper that you had two weeks to write?  Did you portion the work out a little each day?  Or did you cram it all in the last few days before it came due?  My guess is the latter describes most of us.  All I am doing is setting a deadline or goal to complete tasks earlier than the actual deadline.  And then I break the big items or projects into smaller portions, and set deadlines for myself on those as well.  Sure it takes time, but in the end I get a LOT of things done and maintain a healthy level of stress.

Song Of The Day:
A friend of mine first introduced me to The Smiths "How Soon Is Now?" in the late 80's, which is interesting to note because most folks only know the song because of the TV series Charmed.  I like this choice of song for today's post because now is however soon you make it (in the sense of planning ahead that is).  It's okay if that doesn't make sense to you.  It does to me.  Enjoy the song.

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Do You Prefer Feast Or Famine ?

Some days there is just not enough time to do it all.  On other days, there seems to be plenty of time with no real rush to get anything done.  There is never an absence of work (for me anyway) but there are some wide swings in the level of urgency regarding the work that I do.  Calls need to be reviewed, audited, analyzed, and sent for coaching.  Plans need to be made for future meetings (with my team, with various site committees, etc.).  Training needs to be completed.  And so on.

More often than not, these activities have a short turnaround time or deadline that creates a sense of urgency to completing the tasks.  I think of those as "feast" times, when there is so much to do that you have to work hard and smart to fit it all in.

But sometimes, nothing is really "due" for days or weeks.  There is a "famine" on urgent work, despite long "To Do" lists.  These times are nice periodically, especially at the end of a very LONG week filled with "feast" days.  But too many of them, or too many "famine" hours in one full day, can be more of a drain on me than the crazy-busy "feast" times.

I derive some of my energy from other people, but most comes from completing tasks and moving things forward.  I think that is why I secretly dread "famine" times.  Because at least when I am exhausted at the end of a "feast" day, I know it is because I urgently squeezed in so many tasks for that day - it was a good, productive, exhausting day.  But when I'm tired or worn out from a "famine" day, there is nothing to look back on and feel any real sense of pride about ... but I'm still exhausted!

Song Of The Day:
I absolutely love the original version of this song by Fun.  But when I heard this cover by Jake Coco, I fell in love with the song in a different way.  So when the feast is too heavy or the famine is slowly draining you, choose to "Carry On" and it will even out soon!

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