personal development

What to do when there’s too much to do

by Shelby Sapusek on February 7, 2012

Today, I offer up a guest post from my editor Shelby Sapusek. This piece was written earlier this month as we set out to launch SheHe Media and added a few clients at the same time. It’s stayed just as busy and reading her post as I get it ready for publication has helped me keep it all in perspective. Here’s hoping you find it useful as well.

We have all been there. You just returned from a week-long business trip or vacation and the sight of the work stacked on your desk is discouraging. Maybe you finally landed that big client you’ve been chasing for the past year and now the realization of the work ahead of you is setting in.

I know this feeling. It’s called being overwhelmed with work.

A good problem?

How many times has someone told you that too much work is “a good problem to have?” In theory, that’s true. More work equals more business, which equals more revenue. If the reason I have more work is because a few new clients made their way to my doorstep, that’s fine. However, that’s not always the case.

Sometimes having more work is a direct result of unforeseen circumstances related to your business. A computer or server crash puts you behind several days. A project that you thought would take two weeks ends up taking three. A client changes his or her mind about a project and you have to go back to the drawing board.

Having more work because of situations like these isn’t necessarily a good problem to have. It brings about a sense of losing control.

Lose your control freak

We all like to be in control of what goes on around us. Most of us realize that it’s not possible to be in control all the time. Life is messy, and business is no different.

If you insist on being a control freak about your business, unforeseen situations will drive you absolutely crazy. Problems arise every day in business and you have to maintain the mindset to solve them.

Control freaks focus only on the problems. Those who let go of the freak and practice flexibility will be able to find the solutions.

Big picture vs. small picture

Where do you want to be in five years? What do you want to have done by tomorrow? Sometimes that first question is easier to answer than the last one.

When I’m feeling overwhelmed, I put away the large picture frame and prop up the small one. I take a deep breath and grab my notebook. I make a list of everything I need to do and then prioritize it. I try to be realistic about the time I will need to dedicate to each task. I remind myself that I am one person and I can only do so much.

Here is what needs to get done today. I will worry about tomorrow when it gets here.

Be selfish about your time

Clocks are an evil thing. They shake us awake with a shrill of their alarms. They tick, tick, tick away the minutes and hours throughout the day. They continuously remind us of that 5 p.m. deadline looming.

I don’t wear a watch. I haven’t worn one for years. Even though I can easily check the time on my iPhone and am surrounded by glowing numbers displayed on my kitchen appliances, wearing a watch signifies being a slave to the clock to me.

While I try to give myself realistic time estimates, the truth is that a project will take the time it takes. I’m selfish about the time it takes to do quality work. Do I want it done now or do I want it done right?

I’m also selfish about time in a personal manner. It’s important that I take time to eat, walk my dog and do my exercise routine. When I finally close the lid on my computer some time between 6 and 9 p.m. each night, I allow myself 30 minutes of solitude by soaking in the tub and reading a book.

I’ve found that when I’m selfish with my time both professionally and personally, I feel less overwhelmed day to day.

Take that deep breath

Feeling overwhelmed is based on stress and fear; neither of which are beneficial to productivity.

Yes, I feel overwhelmed sometimes. When I do, I walk away from my laptop and put down my iPhone. I take that deep breath and remind myself that I can’t control everything. I pull out my notebook and focus on flexibility. I avoid the glaring clock and take the time I need.

The work will be there when I’m ready to tackle it without feeling overwhelmed.

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How to remain relevant like Madonna

by JimRaffel on February 6, 2012

image of madonnaWhy are folks so impressed that Madonna at “her age” has remained relevant for the better part of 30 years? Sure, audiences in the entertainment industry can be fickle, but don’t we all face the challenge of remaining relevant in our chosen careers? Last night, I watched her performance during the Super Bowl and then watched my Twitter stream to confirm that she’s still got it. Not everyone loved her show, but people of all ages and background connected with her performance.

What Madonna does that you should be doing

When I hear someone referred to as “being relevant,” it makes me think that they are “in touch” with the contemporary times and technology. My mom is in her – oh wait, I’m 47, so you figure it out – and she still embraces new technology and keeps up to date on current popular culture. That helps her remain relevant or in touch with her grandchildren who range in age from their late-teens to early 30s.

That’s what Madonna does. She doesn’t produce the same kind of art today that she did 30 years ago. She doesn’t put on the same kind of concert she did 30 years ago. She watches contemporary culture, and last night included current popular artist like Nicky Minaj, Cee Lo Green and LMFAO in her show. She watches contemporary technology and she embraces it. She writes songs that are relevant and in touch with the times. She wears fashion that is on the cutting edge of whatever is “in” and “hot.” She choreographs dance moves that old fans are impressed with that she can still perform and new fans will just see as “in.” Sure in her early 50s she’s not as flexible as she used to be, but she still gets out there and does what needs to be done.

She’s not a one-hit wonder. In 30 years, she’s put out some work that I’d have to say is not so great. We’ll just call those mistakes made along the way. She didn’t quit or go back to writing the music that started her career. Instead, she studied what was going on around her and gave it another try. She puts in the time, she studies, she practices and she trusts her own instincts. She also knows when to pull out the songs that are timeless as she did last night with “Like a Prayer.”

How you can model Madonna’s success

I’ve been working the better part of 25 years in my chosen profession. I’d like to think I’ve remained relevant and in touch with the times. I certainly don’t work the same way I did 25 years ago, and I hardly recognize the industry in which I work. You are probably already doing many of the things it takes to remain relevant and in touch. Below is my incomplete list of what works.

1. Read trade journals and other literature specific to your chosen profession.

2. Follow news sources that focus more on trends and technology and less on sensationalistic stories of the day. The Wall Street Journal is a good example of this.

3. Spend time with people different than you. Surround yourself with people outside your comfort zone. I made a commitment to do that about three years ago and the richness of my circle of friends increased dramatically. Along with that comes a better understanding of what makes people tick.

4. Each January, look at what you are doing in your professional life. Resolve to stop doing some things so that you can devote time to learning new things. For example, we are dropping a whole product line from one of my companies. That will free up time to make a more successful product line better. In the short term. that costs us some sales. In the long term, it should make us more relevant and in touch.

5. Don’t coast. There is no such thing as a cushy job. There’s nothing wrong with downtime and scheduled breaks. However, make sure they don’t last months or years.

What are you doing to remain relevant in your chosen career like Madonna is doing in hers?

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The 2012 Plan

January 2, 2012
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Planning works. A year ago, I shared The 2011 Plan and last week I shared the success story of that plan when I wrote “How to make what you write come true.” Finding a planning method that works for you is, unfortunately, not so easy. I’ve settled on a method that combines Chris Brogan’s three [...]

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Deciding who to help

December 30, 2011
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When you own a business, have a successful blog and 4000+ followers on Twitter, folks ask you for help with their causes. The “asks” for help come in many forms but most often as direct messages or @ messages on Twitter asking to contribute and spread the word. While none of the requests are ignored, [...]

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Reverse Your Thinking

December 13, 2011
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The last 5 percent of the research and development project can make you or break you. You’ll get to that point where the technology is almost working. You could just about commercialize it; but not quite. This is the point when you need to change your thinking. Incremental and linear progress is great and has [...]

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Urgency

December 9, 2011

As another year comes to a close… Stop to ponder where you are compared to where you wanted to be. You’ve accomplished a great deal, right? Yet, it doesn’t feel like enough. You had bigger plans for this year. Now what? It’s simple really. The year is not over … not yet. Face what’s left [...]

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Be like the Badgers – stick to your game plan and play in the Rose Bowl

December 5, 2011
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This past Saturday night, the Wisconsin Badgers defeated the Michigan State Spartans in the first ever Big 10 championship game and secured a coveted spot to play in the Rose Bowl. If you’re not a college football fan, just trust me that this is a big deal for the team. This was not an easy [...]

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Think outside your comfort zone

December 2, 2011
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Over the Thanksgiving holiday, my daughter Allison Raffel was home from college and asked me to read some of her writing. Of the half-dozen pieces I read, this one spoke to me more than the others. Upon asking myself why, I realized it’s because it forced me to think outside my comfort zone. Thinking is [...]

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Use your experience

November 25, 2011
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The other day I was watching our cat, Patches, as I started to grind some coffee. She froze and looked around. It was a far cry from the reaction she had a dozen years ago as a kitten in this house. Back then, she would have taken off running. It would have likely ended with [...]

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Launch vs. Ramp-Up

November 22, 2011
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For the last two years, I’ve found myself in almost constant launch mode. There have been lots of finish lines to cross. As I look back on it, that’s the easy part and it’s done with sheer determination and motivation. Then the hard part comes: Ramping up the launch into a money-making venture. That part [...]

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