Whilst I’m all for being busy, the last few months have had that extra sprinkle of eeep on top. I’ve been very lucky that work has not even let up with the expected Christmas lull. The downside of this has to be my lack of blog and own project working on. As many of you know this past year I’ve been battling a few health issues and as a result some of the treatments have taken a lot out of me. This has all added up to my usual good coping mechanisms for work loads to break down.
This week I was reading an article entitled ‘Triple Your Productivity Tomorrow’ over at Pick the Brain. The approach suggested is when you have pile ups of work to take a ‘Project-Kill Day’. These are days where the phone goes off, the IM is logged out and you book blocks of focused work time in. I really like this idea and have used similar methods before with my Saturday’s. Saturday for me is a great day in the sense of catch up. I have very few and often no clients that work Saturdays and as a result my attention can be fully directed onto work without diversions. I’ve started to bring this back again with more of a booking in of this day than the casual self agreement I had to do work on Saturdays.
One problem I’ve found over the past year with the issues my health has created, has been that my usual organised chaos has quickly turned into disorganised mayhem. I think the root of this was that it started off as disorganised chaos to begin with. I may have managed to keep my head above it all this year but things definitely could have been improved. With that thought really enters my plan for 2008. I’m making less casual arrangements with myself and more official ones. I’m going to look at myself as a project and take more control over things that I do. In part I have done a bit of this in 2007 but there are a few mechanisms I have yet to add to my armory. I really do see it like an armory though – I’m battling disorganisation.
So, what am I doing to sort this out? First up, I’m taking my usual Christmas holiday sort out. Each year in our house Christmas is the time for sorting our those ‘piles’ and things that got ignored all year. I make sure all accounts are up to date, all drawers cleared and sorted, all old clothes taken to charity shops, all in and out trays dealt with. There really is nothing like starting the new year with a clean slate. This year I’m also going to be taking the lead from the article I mentioned and booking up time in my calendar for every week a ‘Project-Kill Day’. The way I see it anyone’s organisation can be improved upon and it’s so easy even if you have mechanisms in place for a life u-turn to make it all fall apart. This year was proof to me that I need to not only stick with what I’ve been doing but need to up the anti on a few things. That’s my organisational goal for 2008, what’s yours?
The way you described “Project Kill Day” is clearly prioritizing work, and even if it is a real passion or at least pays the electricity bill, it is worth considering its importance in life. I love my work (usually), and have several decades of experience, but there are even other parts of my life that are vitally important to my very being.
I am muslim by religion. I do not celeberate chirstmiss but EID and other religious events.
The concept i have for christmas is quite opposite from your artical in my mind. I thought christmas is all about holidays, being with your family friends and may be with poor people helping them out in their lives .
But as you mentioned that you do most of your work which was neglected in rest of the year, dont you think you miss out being with your friends family and others the way one should be on such events like christmas and eids? What i think this will create another gap as you do things which you neglected before, when do you fil up this gap which you left on christmas for your friends family.I think one should not do any thing but to be happy spread happiness within your family by sharing every thing you have.
what do you think?
@Cheryl: yes it really is about prioritising and also focusing. I’ve recently chosen to also see non work like the house accounts and so on to be ‘work’ in the sense of how I deal and organise. They deserve just the same approach and have benefited from it.
@Diar: I don’t neglect work in the year I more use the time for a good catch up and really nothing is to say you can’t combine both sorting and family. I have this year made time as I do every year for both. I don’t like gaps and don’t plan on leaving them in any aspect :)