Let’s talk about our work agenda.
Last Wednesday, I found myself at 3 o’clock in the afternoon, staring at my to-do list and realizing I had not yet started the most important thing of the week. I smacked my forehead in angst. Have you ever felt that way? Okay. So maybe you were only two and one-half hours into the first day of the week and you realized you had yet to start your number one priority?
The real question for all of us is simple. Are we being flexible – or are we simply letting others (people and circumstance) run our day?
For some of us, we can confuse being nice – with being too much of a people pleaser. For others, we want to be seen as one who can roll with the punches. In both situations, we end up doing whatever lands in front of us – at the peril of what our original intentions were.
While we do need to be flexible and we do need to help out the team at times, there always comes a time when we just need to close our door – turn off the phone – and focus on what we decide is important. Because we are the ones in control of our destiny. So, we need to hold ourselves accountable for sticking to our own agenda.
Now, I am not talking about emergencies or legitimate times when we need to stop for a while and do something else. I am referring to those times when everyone else is running our agenda. Specifically, when we feel we might as well throw our schedule out the window because we are not sticking to it. Both today and when we got sidetracked yesterday, and the day before that.
Worse, is when we have four or five different people needing “just a minute of your time,” That is when we end up two and a half hours into our day and wow! We are behind the eightball of starting the most important thing!
Here is a solution
Take time out. Regroup. Set a boundary for the rest of the day. You can put a sign on the door if necessary. Check your phone only on a break. Explain to others that you have a deadline and need to stick with it right now. Say it all with a smile. Then focus on what you need to accomplish in 60 or 90-minute spurts of time.
You can do it. Because seriously. Whose agenda is it anyway?
Should you be interested in learning more ideas, reach out here or here.
