The corporate world is a cacophonous melee of individuals, ambitious and content ones alike, scurrying to survive by the day
The corporate world is a cacophonous melee of individuals, ambitious and content ones alike, scurrying to survive by the day
Chasing unrealistic deadlines, juggling between multiple priorities and trying to keep everyone who matters happy has become a norm for most of us caught in this rut. And when the going is so chaotic, there are bound to be casualties – our personal lives, peace of mind and happiness.
There are numerous tools available at the click of a button to help us manage our time better or to prioritize among the many deliverables we might be juggling with. We are all aware of such tools and have been exposed to them in every second training program that we attend. Yet, how many us can claim for these tools to have transformed our lives? How many of us have gained control of it by maintaining to-do lists or by plotting our deliverables on a priority-importance matrix?
Time-Management Vs Self-Management
Not many, I would guess. In fact, I happen to know someone who diligently practiced some of these methods and yet had to withdraw from a meeting he was chairing at midnight because the delivery boy carrying flowers for his wife – which he had ordered for their anniversary – had reached his residence.
On the other hand, there are those among us who seem unhurried and in-control on most occasions, very few albeit. These people are just as productive as anyone else at work and they manage to be so without burning the proverbial midnight oil in office. They are also able to devote time to their hobbies and family, and are often found up to date on movies, sports events and latest seasons of popular shows on Netflix. If you observe closely you will find that this set of individuals overlaps significantly with the positive and happy folks that everyone wants on their team. High performers, in short.
What then is the mantra that enables some people to stretch their twenty-four hours to accommodate all that they wish to fit into it?
The answer lies in AAD. Action, Agility and Discipline, if I am to transcend above the corporate fascination for acronyms. We have a natural tendency to delay acting on items that are outside our comfort zone, leading to inadvertent delays and last-minute scurrying. Just act, jump into the waters and you will figure out how to swim.
Agility is about not leaving small tasks – an email or a message that needs to be sent for instance – lingering at the back of our minds, and instead getting them done and over with at the soonest possible. This prevents small things, which might acquire dire proportions later, from being missed out. The last one, Discipline, is self-explanatory. If you decide to finish something on a given day, don’t allow yourself the privilege of postponing it. Simple, isn’t it?
This Opinion Piece was first published in the print version of SUBURB October 2019 issue.