Where To Focus During A Pandemic
I'm seeing a lot of emails and webinars on how to stay productive, how to focus, and how to set up your desktop space to maximize productivity during the COVID pandemic. I'm not sure that they all address an underlying root issue, though: where to focus during a pandemic.
I'm not saying they're bad, I actually wrote one or two or those kinds of posts, myself.
But there's an important focus that is being ignored during this crazy time.
We're all stuck in our homes.
Some of us were laid off.
Some of us are scared to go to the grocery store.
Some of us are the ones picking up groceries for others.
Some of us are unaffected and bored (for now).
Some of us are on the front lines and watching their friends get sick.
How do I focus on what's important during a pandemic?
Yes, we should be productive.
Yes, we should be helpful.
Yes, we should do our part.
But even more important, during a time like this, is relationships.
With a little extra time on our hands, checking in with the people we love in our lives is even more important.
Isolation exacerbates fears and anxieties. It also can make you just plain crazy.
I don't know about you, but when I have extra time to think and work, it can make me overthink and overwork.
Anxiety, fear, and overthinking can make you lash out and be defensive. It can make you fight with the people who are on your own team.
Instead of indulging in excess Instagram, excess work, excess frozen pizza, or excess whatever you indulge in . . .
Try connecting with your family and friends to check-in.
When all of this is over, you will remember the fight and those who helped you through it.
Feeling motivated by a community is much more helpful than setting up your desk with just the right wood and just the right monitor and just the right headphones.
When the dust settles, the people around you will remember how you handled this stress and pressure--not that you used the pomodoro technique or even how much work you actually accomplished .
So, when we think about how this applies to our day-to-day, consider how it feels to have interacted with you.
This is a leadership opportunity.
The more we empathize and connect with each other, the more likely we are to trust one another.
The more we trust one another, the more we'll be able to rebuild our communities and world.
2 Minute Action:
Text a friend.
Leave a thank you note for your partner in the kitchen.
I guarantee that it can only take 2 minutes or less to make a difference to someone.
Say thank you.
And mean it.
Why People Don't Know How To Be Productive At Home
Sure, you're used to a different work routine.
Maybe you travel a lot. Maybe you commute to an office every day.
Whatever it is, many people are trying to figure out how to be productive at home.
Being off your normal routine is part of the problem, but here's a bigger part that is somehow in everyone's blind spot.
Accountability.
You might find yourself having to virtually report to your supervisor every day and leaving out the half-hour you did laundry and watched an episode of Tiger King.
You might find yourself without your usual gym buddy, sleeping in and slacking.
You might find yourself stacking up those nachos with extra cheese. I know I am.
When left to our own devices, there is little incentive for staying disciplined.
The lesson here is that we may be leaning a bit too much on external sources of discipline. When they disappear, we find ourselves 4 hours into Fortnite covered in Cheeto dust.
So, we overreact, overschedule ourselves and come up with a P-L-A-N.
That oughtta do it, right?
I don't know how to be productive at home because I don't have a PLAN!
Obviously, we know how this one ends.
Here's what I would recommend . . .
- Put down the productivity hacks.
- Put down the article on which software tool is right for you.
- Close the YouTube video on how to set up your desk for optimal workflow.
2 Minute Action:
Call or text three trusted people in your life.
Ask them if they are interested in being your accountability partner.
Ask them to text you each day to see if you're staying on top of the work you want to be doing.
You can also offer to return this favor and do the same for them.
Life is easier when you're on a team with people who have your back.
Set your life up this way and you'll be amazed at what you can do.
6 Tell-Tale Symptoms Of A Broken Workflow
Are any of these things part of your normal day-to-day?
- You are constantly being pulled in a million directions.
- You are constantly reacting to the "emergency of the day."
- You are constantly needed for approvals and reviews.
- You can't get your own work done because you are a slave to others'.
- You start early and finish late but still can't seem to get everything done.
- You feel busy all day, but you can't really point to anything specific that you finished at the end of it.
If you experience any one of these on a day-to-day basis, you could be in trouble.
We all experience these symptoms from time to time, but if it happens for too many days (or weeks) in a row, something is broken.Don't panic.It's normal to ebb and flow like this. What's not normal is experiencing these symptoms chronically.
Here are some things you can think/do/remember that will help alleviate these symptoms:
There is always an infinite amount of work to be done--so working harder or longer isn't a feasible long-term solution.Just because it's urgent doesn't mean it's important. Define what's important first, then go after what's important AND urgent.I can admit, it feels good to be needed, but if people can't move forward on their work because they need something from you, YOU are the bottleneck. Your team is counting on your to empower them with the tools and resources to move faster without you overseeing every little thing.Being busy doesn't mean you're productive. Productive means you have a measurable output. Busy is just an "energy consumption" metric that tells you your RPMs.
2 Minute Action:
Here are some options for today.
- Look up the Eisenhower Decision Matrix and use it to prioritize your tasks for today.
- Schedule a "retrospective" with your team, partner, colleagues, or clients. In it, you should ask "what went so well that we should keep doing it?" and "what should we stop doing or could be improved?"
- Create a Scrum board that makes it really clear what is done and what is still being worked on.
It's your responsibility to identify and solve problems in yourself, for your clients, for your patients, for your students, or for your team.Until you train and empower them to, no one else is going to do it for you.