Much as we all yearn for weekends, vacations and sometimes an extra hour in our day to do nothing, there are those among us who find it difficult taking 5 minutes away from their work to use the bathroom or get a fresh breath of air.  Some folks continue to keep their nose to the grind, even when it’s completely under their control to take those pause moments. 

You know what I mean – it’s 2:00 p.m. and the lunch hour seems to have somehow slipped away.  Now you’re wondering if you should stop for lunch at all or wait till dinner OR maybe you’re really intending to take that break, but you just keep finishing one more thing first. 

The difference is if you feel yourself stuck in doing this more often than not.  Maybe you are someone who finds yourself listening longingly to someone else’s daily schedule and you wonder how they manage to fit it all in and have downtime too.  Others you notice take their three daily meal breaks and even a midafternoon break, but you feel you have too much to do. 

I’ve gotten alot more effective at taking my downtimes.  Nothing changed, but my own willingness to make myself more of a priority.  I rarely miss daily exercise or meals and even get a few personal errands done daily, vs. overload my weekend times.  Yet some of my clients (who will remain unnamed, but you know who you are),  fall into the pattern of missing out on their downtimes.  As a result, they have a blameworthy desire for the schedule of those unlike themselves.   Sound like you?

Know the difference between workaholism and working hard and if you find yourself in the first category, then seek some reputable support to help you overcome this behavior.  If you’re a hard worker but could use a more balanced approach to managing your day, consider hiring a coach to help you integrate more effective work habits and strategies to allow you that coveted downtime.

Most often in our busy business lives there are so many things to attend to that we invariably feel if we’re not on top of everything, we’re procrastinating, or worse – we consider ourselves unmotivated or lazy.

The truth is we’ve got alot going on and it’s more a matter of honoring our truer interests, setting priorities, being time efficient, or even letting go of things completely.

I recently had a deadline on a project I was moderately interested in completing, but I was still committed to do it. It wasn’t causing me stress when the deadline arrived, because it was actually the deadline before the real deadline.  That is, I’d set a date earlier to complete the project than when it was due.  So rather than feel as if I was procrastinating for skipping a day or two, I had given myself one extra day before I needed to begin work on it.  I used this to finish a project I was already on and enjoy some down time. 

No guilt needed for my so-called “procrastination.”

What is the true reason you put something off rather than do it now?

Today I was scanning a twelve page document to email to someone who didn’t have a fax.  On page eleven I somehow hit the wrong button and exited out of the document.  I was unable to pull up the scanned pages again; obviously my work had been erased.  I had been culling through my book shelf and pulling out dated books to get rid of at the same time and was distracted.  The joke on me was that I thought I was saving time by doing two things at once.  

But, I was getting more done, right?  Wrong.  Due to my unwillingness to sit patiently while I handled the scanning project in front of me, I lost the entire project and another half hour of my time starting again.  Both projects required similar brain channels rather than different ones, such as if one task was verbal and the other visual.  According to experts that was making my ability to focus on both a real challenge.  (Read more about how doing tasks that use entirely different brain channels can be done simulatenously: In Defense of Distraction)

So not all multitasking is inefficient.  If you’re walking to your office and notice along the way something that goes there, then it makes sense to pick it up and bring it with you.  But conducting two separate projects that divide your attention in opposing ways, is self-defeating and frequently leads to errors.  Rather than stumble into this problem again, I’ve decided to stop and ask myself if what I want to do next can simply wait a few minutes.  Or, does it have to get done simultaneously and, if so, am I willing to run the risk of error or wasted time if I can’t align my focus.

You can align your focus using your executive function, or self-control mechanism, of your brain and redirecting your attention.  But it isn’t an unconscious decision and can require hyperfocusing your energy to get both accomplished well.  Studies are being  constantly done to find the way the brain behaves best.  But it’s important to gauge the benefits or problems of multitasking for you.

Where have you found yourself redoing tasks because your focus wasn’t on it fully in the first place and how often does that occur vs. saving time and energy multitasking?

I’ve felt anxiety when I’ve seen a deadline looming, as my clients have and most of us have, at one time or another.  We typically panic unnecessarily because we either impose our own curfews on projects, or our deadline has suddenly arrived and we lost track of time because we didn’t put in the upfront planning. 

Here are a few tips to help you overcome the panic of deadlines and deal with them step-by-step:

1.  Decide if you’re really the one to do the task in the first place.  Is this a volunteer option or not?  Is there someone else more qualified to handle it than you?  You don’t have to always be the ring leader gathering the wagon trains into the circle.  If you’re not the  best equipped for the job, don’t have the know-how for it, or you’re able to pass on it and would like to—share the wealth and give someone else their turn.

2.  Find out the expected date and if there is any leeway with that date and time or not.  In either case, make a list of exactly what’s expected by the final date in order to stretch out your efforts in a systematic approach.  Be sure to consult your existing schedule and your availability to handle this.  Let your new list guide you rather than carrying around details in your head and causing you to unnecessarily worry it will get done.  Don’t let procrastination govern your planning and writing phase, for without it, you’ll be at the deadline sooner than you expected.

3.  Ask what’s really necessary to pull it off.  Are you being too detailed?  Maybe you’re missing the more important pieces?  Get clear on what’s needed and cut out what’s unnecessary.   If you’ve done #2 correctly, here you’ll fill in the time line for each important action.  A recent party for my Mom’s birthday had ten people emailing ideas back and forth (which was great for the initial brainstorming period).  But when there was any consensus, I pointed to it and built on it right away.  Others rallied and we could go forward.  Don’t get too stuck in planning, move into clear action.

4.  You won’t always feel like doing what’s in front of you.  There could be a myriad of reasons, including feeling tired.  Be sure to factor in extra time to allow these breaks and not have to go into pain and suffering to finish something.  If your situation requires a burst of energy output, breathe through it and be sure to give yourself recovery time after.

5.  Remember the old adage, “haste makes waste” and “the hurrier you go the behinder you get?”  Words couldn’t be more true.  When you rush, too many mistakes get made and important things are overlooked or too hastily finalized.  Find an effective rhythm, understanding and making room for the pace of others you’ll be working with.

6.  Play to your strengths.  Spend your time on what you’re best at and if there are others who you can consult with to short-circuit your efforts, no need to prove to anyone that you don’t need their help.  It’s all in how you position it.  If you want to show your competency and yet seek the agreement of someone familiar with your project, tell them you’ve got a few ideas on it already, but given their history with it, you’d like to hear their view to factor in with your own.  Whenever possible, recruit support.

Today I felt run down, but rather than work in a nap, I had a cup of coffee (mistake 1).  I felt awake, but uncomfortably jittery (I’m not a regular coffee consumer).  I’m in Mammoth with my husband for business and I’m working in the hotel room.  We have to stay another night but that hotel was booked, so I moved us down the street to another one.  Dragging the luggage to the new room and unpacking us again while my husband went off to his meeting, it occurred to me I’d left something behind.

I had left my underwear at the first hotel (mistake 2).  So, rather than taking my time to get there (was I worried the housekeeper would toss my undies?), I hurried to back my car out of the parking garage and banged into a cement pillar (mistake 3 and the wake up call).

I got out of the car and noticed my first obvious scrape just above and on the bumper area of my newer car.  Not a pleasant sight, but fairly minor.  Yet I was so thankful that it wasn’t worse and I didn’t hit anyone, that I began consciously refocusing and moving at a slower pace.

After picking up my undies in my previous hotel room (which were of course in the drawer where I’d left them), I got a nice salad and smoothie at a local restaurant and returned to the comfort of my hotel room to eat and then and write this blog. 

I am reminding myself that not every life lesson has to be learned by the jump-off-a-cliff-to-learn-what-it’s-like-to-hit-the-bottom approach.  Next time I vow to pay attention to any fear I’m giving myself over to, especially related to trivial matters, and put my focus where it’s needed.  This invariably slows anyone down and helps minimize the possibility of things going awry.

Where’s Your Focus When “Bad” Things Wake You Up?