How to Corral Your Work
Last time we saw how "Coral your work! sprang to life with the realization that work frequently spills into other areas where it doesn't belong. This spilling, or as we called it, bleeding, isn't uncommon amongst those of us whose work consists of lots to do with what seems like not enough time to do it. We suggested that the "summer doldrums" provide the perfect opportunity to address the problem forthwith: If things do indeed slow down a bit at work, we'll have a bit more time; so we can at least stop the bleeding now, maybe even find way to corral our work all the time.
To understand "corral your work" better, think of work as a horse. Like a prudent rancher, we keep our horse in a confined space to keep it under control. We let it out when it's time to put the horse to work. So too we want to confine or constrain our work. At the end of the day, when our work is done, we slam the gate shut and walk away. We get on with the rest of our life without it sticking its nose into our non-work life whenever and wherever it wants.
Before figuring out how to corral my work, I thought this was an ideal that could never be real. Now it's looking more real every day. In a moment, I'll tell you why. And while I'm guessing this might make sense to a lot of you, let's look at two possible exceptions.
First, if you happen to be a so-called "workaholic," the very concept of corralling your work may not sound so appealing. By design, you spend most of your waking hours working. If that's the case, all we can say is, "Get a life!" Work isn't - and shouldn't ever be - all-consuming. Beginning with God, and expanding to spouse and children, then to spiritual and physical fitness, we need time for what's really important. Indeed, it's critical that we carve out the very best moments of our day for God, family, and our spiritual lives, with a slice reserved for keeping our body, a temple of the Holy Spirit, in a healthy state. Ask yourself: Is it all about God and those you love and who love you, or is it all about you? Corral your work!
Second, if you're an employee on a short leash, you may think that corralling your work isn't possible. You have minimal control over what lands on your desk and less over when your work product is due. It's not like you run your own business, right? Well, having run a business, I assure you it's not been easier for me to corral my work compared to those times I've been an employee. In fact, it's harder to corral your work, especially if you're a sole proprietor with no, or few, employees. You're always "on." Every buck stops HERE. With all that, so far my experience with trying to corral my work has been positive - despite my initial skepticism. So even if you're one of those employees at the beck and call of others telling you what to do and when to do it, with a little creative thinking and determination you can corral your work. Heck, many of us can cut down on the time we need to get our work done simply be eliminating, participating in, or even listening to gossip; maybe we shrink our lunch hour (along with our waist line!); or come in a bit earlier, before the rest of our co-workers, which gives us more time with fewer distractions. Use your imagination; corral your work.
The point here: Anyone can do this. Really. Let's now get into exactly how I've managed to corral my work.
As discussed in past blogs, I have an organized list of tasks prepared at the beginning of every week (details available HERE, HERE, and HERE). This serves as the base of my orderly "system" for staying on top of my workflow. The system works quite well for getting everything done on time, but it didn't corral my work. No matter the volume of work to be done, somehow it always took up all my time. So even on a day with fewer tasks, I never could seem to put everything to bed. This or that item would spill over into my evenings and week-ends. I probably could have just continued this way. But then I'm not doing all I can to carve out and preserve the very best moments of my day for God, family, my spiritual life, etc. Something had to be done. So here's what I'm doing:
All of this required determination and self-control, along with one more technique. And if this seems ridiculously simple, even obvious, it is. But I'd never committed to it before. Here's that new technique.
Either at the end of the work week, or first thing Monday, I review my task list that's already sorted into days, and assign squeezed time slots. First thing Monday I'm focused on my first task with an awareness that the clock is ticking. When I'm done, I'm on to the next item. I do temper things with reasonable breaks, but I'm looking to get everything done early. When I do, I've got an "extra" chunk of time at the end of the day for the rest (and most important parts) of my life. (If ad hoc items creep up, I'll do those first.) With my already highly organized work flow now squeezed into tighter time compartments, I've effectively corralled my work. When I'm done, I slam the gate shut.
You've got to push yourself to make this work (Remember: determination and self-control). But this doesn’t have to be stressful. It’s just a matter of making and sticking to your decision: "I’m going to do this work at this time."
So if this sounds appealing to you, why not take advantage of the summer doldrums, when things are a bit calmer and quieter, and give it a shot? What happens when things pick up again? I'm pretty sure I can continue to corral my work, but we'll have to wait and see.
To understand "corral your work" better, think of work as a horse. Like a prudent rancher, we keep our horse in a confined space to keep it under control. We let it out when it's time to put the horse to work. So too we want to confine or constrain our work. At the end of the day, when our work is done, we slam the gate shut and walk away. We get on with the rest of our life without it sticking its nose into our non-work life whenever and wherever it wants.
Before figuring out how to corral my work, I thought this was an ideal that could never be real. Now it's looking more real every day. In a moment, I'll tell you why. And while I'm guessing this might make sense to a lot of you, let's look at two possible exceptions.
First, if you happen to be a so-called "workaholic," the very concept of corralling your work may not sound so appealing. By design, you spend most of your waking hours working. If that's the case, all we can say is, "Get a life!" Work isn't - and shouldn't ever be - all-consuming. Beginning with God, and expanding to spouse and children, then to spiritual and physical fitness, we need time for what's really important. Indeed, it's critical that we carve out the very best moments of our day for God, family, and our spiritual lives, with a slice reserved for keeping our body, a temple of the Holy Spirit, in a healthy state. Ask yourself: Is it all about God and those you love and who love you, or is it all about you? Corral your work!
Second, if you're an employee on a short leash, you may think that corralling your work isn't possible. You have minimal control over what lands on your desk and less over when your work product is due. It's not like you run your own business, right? Well, having run a business, I assure you it's not been easier for me to corral my work compared to those times I've been an employee. In fact, it's harder to corral your work, especially if you're a sole proprietor with no, or few, employees. You're always "on." Every buck stops HERE. With all that, so far my experience with trying to corral my work has been positive - despite my initial skepticism. So even if you're one of those employees at the beck and call of others telling you what to do and when to do it, with a little creative thinking and determination you can corral your work. Heck, many of us can cut down on the time we need to get our work done simply be eliminating, participating in, or even listening to gossip; maybe we shrink our lunch hour (along with our waist line!); or come in a bit earlier, before the rest of our co-workers, which gives us more time with fewer distractions. Use your imagination; corral your work.
The point here: Anyone can do this. Really. Let's now get into exactly how I've managed to corral my work.
As discussed in past blogs, I have an organized list of tasks prepared at the beginning of every week (details available HERE, HERE, and HERE). This serves as the base of my orderly "system" for staying on top of my workflow. The system works quite well for getting everything done on time, but it didn't corral my work. No matter the volume of work to be done, somehow it always took up all my time. So even on a day with fewer tasks, I never could seem to put everything to bed. This or that item would spill over into my evenings and week-ends. I probably could have just continued this way. But then I'm not doing all I can to carve out and preserve the very best moments of my day for God, family, my spiritual life, etc. Something had to be done. So here's what I'm doing:
- Cut down on checking email (I'd reduced this, but now it's restricted to morning, lunch, end of day).
- Stop treating every ad hoc task that sneaked into my day as a crisis to be addressed immediately (e.g., some emails that require an extended answer don't necessarily need that answer instantly, right?).
- Delegate what I didn't have to do myself.
- Squeeze my task list.
All of this required determination and self-control, along with one more technique. And if this seems ridiculously simple, even obvious, it is. But I'd never committed to it before. Here's that new technique.
Either at the end of the work week, or first thing Monday, I review my task list that's already sorted into days, and assign squeezed time slots. First thing Monday I'm focused on my first task with an awareness that the clock is ticking. When I'm done, I'm on to the next item. I do temper things with reasonable breaks, but I'm looking to get everything done early. When I do, I've got an "extra" chunk of time at the end of the day for the rest (and most important parts) of my life. (If ad hoc items creep up, I'll do those first.) With my already highly organized work flow now squeezed into tighter time compartments, I've effectively corralled my work. When I'm done, I slam the gate shut.
You've got to push yourself to make this work (Remember: determination and self-control). But this doesn’t have to be stressful. It’s just a matter of making and sticking to your decision: "I’m going to do this work at this time."
So if this sounds appealing to you, why not take advantage of the summer doldrums, when things are a bit calmer and quieter, and give it a shot? What happens when things pick up again? I'm pretty sure I can continue to corral my work, but we'll have to wait and see.
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