What are the things you absolutely need to get done today, this week, this month, this year?
What are those things, and why, what purpose do they serve?
If you do not have answers to these two questions, if you shrug them off with a “too many” or “they are important”, it is very likely you are not going anywhere. And when you go nowhere, you end up taking on more. An endless spiral of unimportant and unpurposeful.
When someone asks you how are you, focused is a thousand times better than busy.
When things do not go as planned, and you have to break the news to those who have helped, to those who have offered their ideas, their energy, their work, there is one thing that can make it worse.
Blaming the change of plan to others.
Of course, it works in the moment. It pushes away the shame for the loss, the difficult conversation, the necessary argument.
But as you regroup and start delivering against the new plan, no one will feel committed.
Find a reason to believe in instead, and motivate the changes with passion. Even when it was not you making the call, especially when it was not you making the call. Nobody likes change, but everyone is willing to accept it, if it makes sense.
Long term is always more important than short term. That is the distinctive sign of leadership.
When you start thinking that somebody has done something to hurt you, offend you or cut you off, do two things.
Take a break.
Reach out and have a conversation.
If you have knowledge, share it.
If you have an idea, share it.
If you have a project, share it.
If you learned something, share it.
If you plan something, share it.
If you have a purpose, share it.
If you have experience, share it.
It is the best way to broaden your perspective and actually get things done.
Work leaks into your personal life, news and preoccupations leak into your personal life, continuous demands of attention leak into your personal life.
And to some extent, that is fine.
At some point though, that becomes untenable, and that is precisely what you need to be aware of. When does that happen? How does that manifest? What can you do about it*?
Lacking a system that keeps this in check means gradually losing track of yourself, your thoughts, your strengths, your limits.
No work, preoccupation, demand can be tackled if that happens.
* I have recently started keeping two distinct apps for emails, one for personal emails (that I have heavily cleaned and optimized) and one for work emails. If you tend to drift to work stuff in your free time, you might give this a try.
You've got this 