(October 21, 2024 Newsletter)
I’ve experienced it and I’m sure you have too: things pile up until one day you start to panic at how buried you’ve become.
Maybe your inbox is overflowing when it used to be under control.
Maybe your to-do list is spilling over onto a second page when you used to be able to keep it short.
Maybe you get a reminder message from a team member asking – for the third time – for something you promised to get back to them a week ago.
You say to yourself, “Let me just grab a few minutes between meetings to get this thing done and I’ll be back on course,” but when you do that one little thing you realize how interconnected the to-dos or emails are. All you want to do is shut the screen.
How do you get out from under the mess?
Why it matters
It’s inevitable that at some point the work will be coming at you faster than you can do it. This could be when you start a new role, when you come back from vacation or leave, or when there’s a shakeup on your team that leaves you filling a gap.
The worst way I’ve seen leaders deal with this is to get into the unsustainable habit of waking up regularly before the sun rises or clearing the cache every weekend.
This is a great recipe for burnout; one that will work in the short term but grind you down eventually. Let’s agree that you don’t want this.
So how can you clear the cache in a responsible way?
Clear your calendar – sometimes what’s needed is to take one day, cancel your meetings, and tackle the items that have piled up.
Make time gradually – if that’s not possible, give yourself a reasonable timeframe by which you’ll have dug out, and make smaller chunks of uninterrupted time.
Delegate some of the work – you might need to swallow your pride and ask for help on things you’ve been holding onto. If this is the case, try to give clear instructions even if everything feels like a tangled ball of yarn.
Determine what caused the pileup so you can fix it – if this is a regular problem, you’ll need to reconsider your workload and/or reporting structure. Who can take on more responsibility? What projects can you say no to? What timelines need to be adjusted?
Don’t panic – the Inner Critic can get loud and extra obnoxious in moments like this. If you’re hearing self-deprecating thoughts in a loop, make some space around them (replace “I’m so incompetent” with “My Inner Critic is saying I’m incompetent”), respond with some love and humor, or otherwise speak kindly to yourself to not spin the loop out of control.
Final thought: If you tend to set aside time for such projects and then override it with other urgent tasks or meetings, know that A. you’re not alone and B. it doesn’t have to be that way.
Let someone you trust know that this is how you need to spend your time so they can help you stick to it – that could your assistant, a team member, or even me.
The Coaching Corner
Expanding resources
While it can feel good to be relied on, the best thing you can do for your team members is help them identify what and who else can be resources. Here are four prompts to try out:
Where else could you find the answer?
Who else could help you solve that?
______ (Person) is great at that and would love to show you how they do it. Why don’t you reach out and schedule some time to learn from them.
I think you already know the answer – what’s your gut telling you?
That last one is my favorite, since you can help them recognize that they are often their own best resource.
Recommendations
“The Urgent Call for More Human Leaders” – recent Forbes article that’s good food for thought on being a more human-centered leader.
“How to talk to people you don’t respect” – a great blog from the team at Crucial Learning
Like some of you, I’ve been trying to wrap my head and heart around the idea that it’s been one year since the October 7th massacre in Israel. I went back and re-read the three newsletters I sent out in October last year and offer them here for those who will find value in reading them:
- 10/10/23: How to be present for those in pain
- 10/16/23: Focusing when you feel like you just can’t
- 10/23/23: Finding the words
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