Overload & Overwhelm

REFLECTION: If you were running late in the morning and grabbed something to eat on the drive to work, how many of you would choose a bowl of milk and cereal? Not exactly top of list for a mobile snack, is it?

I’m guessing one Ontario woman wishes she hadn’t made that choice herself. Earlier this winter this cheerio scooping driver lost control on an icy highway, crashing into the roadside guideposts. Police found her – safe but embarrassed – covered in milk and cereal.

Her experience is one more – thankfully not tragic – example of what happens when we choose to multitask in thoughtless, irresponsible ways.

In his recent book, Dave Crenshaw explodes what he calls the ‘Myth of Multitasking’. Crenshaw maintains that multitasking is neither a reality nor efficient. (more…)

REFLECTION: A couple of months ago, I headed off to the physiotherapist with a complaint about a sore hip that was causing me to walk with a peg leg motion. To ace my pirate impersonation,  all I needed was a black patch over my eye and a parrot on my shoulder.

By the time I finished describing my symptoms to my very talented physio, she had zeroed in directly on the problem. Turns out the source of the pain wasn’t the hip at all – but a tightening of the deep muscles and ligaments than run under the glutes referring the pain down the leg.

The treatment? Twenty minutes of serious assault using the heel of her hand and point of her elbow – followed up over the next two weeks by regular self torture treatments with a tennis ball (very hi tech!) – and intermittent relief from an ice pack carried in the back pocket of my jeans. Ipso facto! Cured … at least for the time being.

I know! I know! That’s probably more than you wanted to hear! So, why am I telling you this?

Because I’ve noted in many situations  – physical and otherwise – that sometimes what we think is going on is not really what’s happening at all. (more…)

REFLECTION: It’s January in Saskatchewan, and the snow keeps falling. That means my neighbors and I keep shovelling. 

I know many of you are doing the same thing, and that it sometimes it feels like a never ending proposition. You clear the walks and the driveway at day’s end, and by next morning you’re knee or ankle deep all over again.

There are a lot of similarities here to the world of work and life in general. You clear a few items away through the day – and by the next morning, you’re snowed under all over again.

At least with the snow shovelling, there’s visible progress. You can see what you’ve cleared; and the banks at the side of the driveway grow taller day by day. At work, the signs of progress are much more subtle – and often it’s the piles ON your desk that grow taller day by day. (more…)

REFLECTION: Where will you invest your time, energy and attention in 2009? What kind of frittering and wastage do you hope to avoid?

Oddly enough, a new website, dressregistry.com, has prompted me to ask myself just those questions. This site is devoted to helping people (mostly women I would guess) avoid  the ‘ultimate fashion faux pas’ – wearing the same outfit as someone else to an important event.  If, for example, you happen to be invited to one of the January 20th US Presidential Inaugural Balls (and I know you’re all dying to attend), you can register your dress for the event at which it will be making its debut!

Call me fashionably naive or disinterested, but to this opportunity, I find myself having two reactions:  Why bother and who cares? (more…)

REFLECTION:  In my work with clients to reduce the impact of overload and overwhelm in their lives and workplaces, I’ve noticed how easily those quick fix responses to constant pressures become the daily MO (modus operandi).

Many of those expedient choices work against long term goals like personal and organizational health, productivity and sustainability.

Pausing to be more thoughtful about our choices and actions is a first step in short-circuiting that disconnect. (more…)

REFLECTION: I’m a big fan of Marshall Goldsmith and his thinking about human behaviour and leadership. And so it was no surprise that his brief article in the November 2008 Harvard Management Update caught my eye.

The article focuses on a common roadblock to advancing change in our lives.

Goldsmith refers to it as a fantasy held tightly by good people with great intentions. The fantasy delusion reads something like this: “I’m desperately busy at the moment. My life is out of control. My challenges are unique. The situation is temporary. Once the worst of it is over, THEN I’ll get started on X.”  

Does this script play in your life? I know it makes guest appearances in mine. (more…)

REFLECTION:  Are you familiar with the term, Hail Mary? Devout Catholics will recognize a Hail Mary is a Rosary prayer. A struggling football quarterback will throw a Hail Mary in the dying seconds of a losing game. He’ll toss the ball as long and deep as possible. desperately hoping to connect with a receiver in the end zone to put a few more points on the scoreboard.

As I work with clients to resolve their challenges of Overload and Overwhelm, it seems that Hail Marys are becoming more common in the workplace, too. (more…)

REFLECTION: It was late in the evening just before Hallowe’en. I was chatting on the phone with my daughter, and had just recited the litany of tasks tackled so far that day. It had been a demanding day in the office. I had followed up my post-work exercise class by running several errands on the way home. And, I’d invested a couple of hours getting things ready around the house to host a guest for the weekend.

As I finished giving report on my day, I heard myself say, “And I still HAVE TO carve the pumpkin before I can go to bed.”

Wise offspring played back my very own words. “You HAVE TO carve the pumpkin?” I could hear the raised eyebrow in her voice. She knows how much I enjoy creating those Hallowee’en jacks.

And in that moment, I realized I’d just loaded myself down with yet another DB – a Discretionary Burden. (more…)

REFLECTION:  I’d bet good money – even my own – that every single one of you takes a run at setting your own priorities on a regular basis. You scratch out that ‘to do’ list on paper or in the back of your mind. You star a few key actions. You assign the biggies an A or mark them #1. 

And more often than not, you find that the number of items that rank high on the list is still way beyond your capacity, given the resources (time, money, energy , etc) you have at your disposal.

This mismatch between workload and available resources is as an all too common concern. In fact, it’s no surprise that it ranks top of the list of causes of overload and overwhelm on my recent survey.

What I do find interesting, though, is that the approach that sits top of the list of best strategies for addressing the challenge of Overload and Overwhelm is ‘Resetting Collective Expectations’. (more…)

Ever wonder how to get some relief from collegial interruptions? Try this strategy complements of a recent seminar participant.  Hang a Closed sign on the door to your office.

That’s exactly what one creative individual did about 4:00 on a hectic Friday afternoon. The traffic to her door and desk had been hot and heavy all day long. She decided if she was ever going to get away for the weekend, she had to find a way to stem the endless tide of incoming tasks and questions. And so, up went the sign.

Apparently her action created quite a stir and a lot of laughs. And darned if she didn’t get away from the office at a decent hour. Of course every sign has a flip side, and Monday morning she was once again happily and graciously open for business.