Out of curiosity, what are the first things to fall by the wayside when you have unexpected things come up? Do you put off the same kinds of things at work as at home? (Is there overlap if you work at home?)
One week ago we found out we got the house! Yay! We made the offer almost five weeks ago, and had no idea when to expect a response. In addition to scheduling an inspection ASAP, attending said inspection, worrying while my husband and father-in-law debated whether the well was okay and if we needed more testing, and trying to lock in our interest rate on the mortgage, as the lawyer in the family I also felt obligated to read all the fine print, double check the language in our new addendums, and do some independent research on title insurance and closing. Well. I didn’t get much extra done this week! While it shouldn’t stress me out because everything important got done, I had high hopes for doing some additional marketing before heading up to Duluth for our annual Solo & Small Firms Conference. Fortunately, I’m very excited about the conference, so this is negating most of the disappointment I’m feeling over some lost marketing ideas.
Aside from excitement about the house and the conference, I’ve been thinking a lot about prioritizing and work. It’s especially hard when the priority determines not just in what order things happen, but what gets done and what doesn’t. (In law school I thought of this as triage instead of prioritizing, but that analogy is a little overblown here.)
Here’s what I missed out on last week:
- Ordering blog business cards. The ordering wouldn’t have taken so long, but I had to make a number of design decisions first.
- Keeping up with my inbox. All important emails are addressed, but this basically comes down to processing what I call “read and delete” emails, such as newsletters and event invitations.
- Working on my website. This still has to get done before the conference next week (personal deadline), but I might not get some of the graphics I wanted.
- Blogging. This is easier to put off at this point because I’m new here and know most of my readers, but I’m also trying to get into the habit of posting more regularly.
- My short term memory. Seriously. Must write everything down when it comes to mind. Thank goodness for my GTD habits!
What helped my sanity last week:
- Eating healthy; trip to the farmer’s market.
- Doing the dishes every day. (Even more important because I can see the kitchen from my office.)
- Keeping up with editing work, and all other work that actually had to get done last week. My stress level significantly increases if I know I have to make up for lost time on big projects.
- Researching everything. Where that fails, getting in touch with professional friends who could give me advice on closing and some other specialized topics.
- Meditation. Something I’ve been meaning to start for, oh, the last 2 months. Well, the last 2 months in earnest, after about 5 years of saying I would do it.
Big Picture: What have I learned from this?
- Don’t blow off organization.
- Keep pace with big projects so you don’t fall behind.
- Keep up with the daily tasks that bug you the most if you miss them, and don’t sweat the other stuff.
- Set aside an hour or two to make up time on the other stuff after things settle down.
- Hire someone else to help if you can afford it and have someone you trust. (e.g. hire someone to do business cards).
- Inform yourself. Though over-researching can be a way of avoiding a big decision or doing other unpleasant tasks, a little bit of information (and advice from people you trust when you can’t find the answer yourself) can go a long way in reducing stress and resolving problems.
- Find a way to relax. As much as I felt the urge to be busier, at some point productivity stars to go downhill when overloaded.
What lessons have you learned on prioritizing?
