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7
Setting Priorities
(although it should), but make sure that you
periodically take time to pause and check yourself
against the big picture.
TACTIC #2:
Do One Thing (at a Time)
WHAT HAS TOP PRIORITY?
I know that you’re sure that you are the exception
to the rule, but the cold hard truth is that humans
are not made to multitask. We suck at it. Our
brain can really only do one thing at once. When
we try to multitask, our brain simply switches
rapidly between the different tasks and loses
efficiency and energy in the process. (It’s why
you’re so much more tired after spending a
day juggling multiple activities.) So once you
understand what important things you’re trying
to accomplish and what it’s going to take to
get them done, you need to pick the single,
most important activity and focus exclusively
on that activity until you’re ready to move on to
something else.
AND THAT MEANS THAT
YOU NEED TO PRIORITIZE.
Prioritization can often seem to be an impossible
task. “But I can’t prioritize. EVERYTHING must get
done today!” I’ve said it. You’ve said it. At times,
it may even be true. But the reality is that we can
only accomplish so many things in any given time
period, so ignoring that reality doesn’t help you.
You just need to pick what is most important and
focus on that one thing. It’s the fastest and surest
way to get it all done.
WHERE ARE YOUR BALANCE POINTS?
One of the problems that we have with doing
one thing at a time is that those big important
activities normally take a long time. When we
focus on just that one thing, a LOT of small little
things can end up on the back burner and can
begin to frustrate those that are counting on you
to handle them. Which is why you need to create
“balance points.” Think of these as logical break
points. Places where you will take a break and go
handle some of the smaller priorities that still need
your attention. The trick is to try to identify these
balance points in advance so that you will not be
reactive. For instance, I’ve been working on our
new membership platform. I decided in advance
that once I had figured out all of the platform
components and tested it enough that I knew it
would work and that I could engage my team to
start working on other parts of it, that I would take
a break and work on other important things.
DO YOU NEED TO REPRIORITIZE?
Despite your best efforts, the reality of our world
is that things move and change very quickly. And
the larger, more important a project is, the longer
it will take – and the more likely that priorities
will shift. To ensure that you remain focused on
the right things, you need to periodically do a
priority check to make sure that you’re focused
on the most important thing next. This just
happened today. I’ve been heads down on our
new membership platform, had reached my
break point and during a briefing with my partner,
we realized that I needed to reprioritize some
work around our new TV channel. So for the next
day or so, the membership site is on hold while
I put my focus on our channel. The key here,
however, is that this was a deliberate choice,
not a reaction. You must remain in control or risk
losing your focus.
TACTIC #3:
Take a Break
THE FINAL TACTIC IS THE SIMPLEST,
BUT ALSO THE HARDEST TO DO.
Sometimes, you just need to take a break. If
you’re anything like me, you have this massive
list of things you want to get done. And even
if you’ve done everything that I just described,
all you really end up with is a never-ending
hyper-charged march forward. In a lot of ways
that’s awesome. But you will eventually break –
and probably at the most important and least
inopportune time. So every now and then you
need to remember to pull back and give yourself
some breathing room.
I ACTUALLY THINK THIS
HAPPENS ON THREE LEVELS:
• The 5 Minute Break:
While there are
differing opinions (and scientific findings)
about this, I generally believe that a person
can be truly focused for no more than 45 –
60 minutes at a time. (That’s why multi-hour
meetings are often not very productive!) So
every hour or so, you should give yourself a
little 5 minute breather. Get up. Walk around.
Day dream. Check out Facebook. Seriously,
do anything that simply relieves your mind of
that heavy focus.
• The Power Down:
If you’re like me, you push
hard all day long and then keep on going into
the night. A lot of times, I’ll take a break and
have dinner with the family, maybe watch a
show or whatever and then get back at it long
into the night. But frankly, that’s not the best
plan. You will be much more productive if you
can end the day with some kind of “power
down” – doing something that allows your
brain to actively disengage from the important
things you’re focused on. I find reading a book
is often the best way of doing this, but just
find something that works for you.
• The Escape:
If you’re in a period of intense
focus (which is probably the normal state,
right?), you also need to find opportunities to
escape and give your brain muscle a “time
to heal.” In my opinion, this works best if you
do it during what your brain thinks is normally
“work time.” Take a hike in the middle of the
day on a Tuesday. Go kayaking. Heck, even
going shopping can do the trick. But by
escaping from your area of heavy focus for
a little bit, you’ll give your brain a chance to
reset and then come back and hit it hard!
Prioritization can often seem to be an impossible task. “But
I can’t prioritize. EVERYTHING must get done today!”
I’ve said it. You’ve said it. At times, it may even be true.
