Keeping the Plates Spinning
One of the difficulties I’ve had in recent years is being able to manage all the things coming in, going out and circulating around my life. I always seem to have more projects than I can possibly handle at one time, but at the same time I’ve gotten enough done on all of them to move them forward. Now sometimes that’s been in dribs and drabs, sometimes in intermediate sprints and spurts and sometimes in seemingly unending marathons.
The conclusion I came to a while ago was to look at how each project was paced and make sure that the ebbs and flows of each tie in with my energy available in that area. Once I realized this, it was a small step to expand into finding ways to remind myself of all the next steps on all of my outstanding goals. I spent some time figuring out a productivity model that works for me, and nowadays my efforts are all blending into a nice activity level. I’ll be the first to admit it’s a hodge-podge of more than a couple of approaches.
Now, this might seem like a bit of a diversion in some ways when looking at managing your career but the reality is that managing your time is a foundation for planning. If you don’t know what you’re spending your time doing, or you do know but don’t feel like you have any control over it, you can’t plan for the future.
At all. On any time scale.
Does that seem ridiculous? Think about it. If I don’t have a picture of what’s hanging out there to be done, then I can’t figure out the best time to do it or possibly even what I need to be able to accomplish the tasks at hand.
Being able to plan your career, your life, even your week, relies on you being able to manage your time. It’s almost as important as having a picture of what you want, and it lets you get a clearer picture of the paths to your goals.
Naturally, I’ve got a couple of recommendations on places to start looking at your productivity and managing your time. The two sites that I consistently find the best information on personal productivity are www.lifehacker.com and www.lifehack.org. Both offer great information and great links out to other articles across the blogosphere and the larger web.
So go on, get productive!
Peter Fitzgerald is the founder of CareerSherpas.com and is currently working on his first book, conducting high-level business analysis, connecting individuals with ideas and opportunities, and attempting to learn the bagpipes.