When The Week Has Fewer Days Than The Work
Links mentioned in today’s episode:
Collisions often happen at the worst possible times and often, when you least expect them to. This week, I’m experiencing a collision of my own. I need five full working days and have just about three. So for this episode, I’m going to work through this collision, with you, in real time, plus I’m going to share three things that I’m doing about it that you can try in your own life.
What sounds like a time management problem is actually a structural problem. So press play and let’s get started. Ditch the color coding calendar, grab your notebook, and learn how to create more structure around your work week.
I promised you that at some point during this season, you’d hear me working through a collision in real time, before I have it figured out, and well, life said now was a great time for one. I am right in the middle of a collision, and I’m sharing the three things I’m doing about it that you can use in your own week too.
The week that didn’t add up
There’s a lot going on this week. I have two big client proposals, two podcast episodes due to my editor, and a full strategy day with a client. Also, on Tuesday I am doing a photo shoot that takes the entire day, and Friday is a teacher workday, so there’s no school. To add on top of that, unfortunately, my husband found out he had to travel, last minute. So basically I have a stacked week that needs five full working days, and I really only have three full working days and will be solo-parenting for the week as well.
Needless to say, Sunday night my anxiety was high and I was having trouble sleeping, with a real sense of impending doom about how it would all get done. And I did what I always do: I put my blinders on. I told myself that I’ll work in the evenings, or I’ll get up at five. I’ll get it done. Please note that just because I can name Collision points on this podcast doesn’t mean I don’t fall victim to every one of them.
A Structural Problem Not Time Management Problem
My first reaction was to beat myself up. My second reaction was to move things around, get up early, stay up late. That’s the time management answer. It helps a little, but it doesn’t fix what’s actually going on. Telling a busy mom she should have caught this sooner isn’t realistic.
When something like a work trip or a sick child takes down your whole week, it means that your system was built for a week that doesn’t actually exist.
3 Action Steps To Work Through This Collision
Before we get to those steps, if you have the capacity to hire help, absolutely do that. A second set of hands is real infrastructure and delegation is important to me, but sometimes you can’t hire quite yet. Everything that I’m doing this week to work through this collision works without hiring anyone.
1: Learn Your Real Working Number
Most of us plan our businesses around the five-day week we wish we had, so every time the week gets shorter, we make up the difference with late nights, weekends, and early mornings. Your real working number is what’s left after pickups, appointments, travel, and sick days, all the stuff that’s relatively predictable even if you don’t know when it’ll hit.
To find it, look back at your last four weeks and count the days you actually got real work done, not the days you planned to. Before you say yes to a deadline, check it against that number. If your average from those four weeks is 32 hours and you continue to plan your weeks for 40 working hours, you’ll constantly be in this situation. Your real working number is whatever’s left after the rest of your life takes what it needs.
2: Write Your Cut List
A cut list is taking a look at all your tasks on your “todo list” this week and deciding which ones can be “cut” or put on pause. We have a decreased work week and so we need to decide and come to terms with which tasks are and are not the priority this week.
What I ended up doing for this week was split my tasks into what’s due to someone else and what’s only due to me. This made the cut list very easy for me. Every week’s filter for your cut list may be different depending on your needs. Creating a cut list can be difficult to come to terms with, but if you don’t your life will only continue colliding. If you don’t actually stop and look at the structure and the patterns and start building around those, you will only continue to repeat the same patterns and experience the same chaos week after week.
Lastly, write your cut list on a calm day. I didn’t write mine Sunday night when I was feeling anxious. I wrote it this morning after a slow start, after my coffee, and after my daughter was heading off to school. If you write it while you’re in a state of overwhelm, you’ll make the decision out of stress. Everything will feel urgent and it’ll only be harder to make the cuts.
3: Protect Your Time
After making my cut list, I actually got great news! Turns out the Boys and Girls Club is open on Friday, so my daughter now has somewhere to go during her Teacher work day, and I can get my Friday working hours back. It’s so tempting to fill it immediately with all the tasks I had initially “cut” or moved to next week. But you know what? I didn’t. I left it totally open because let’s be honest, I need the buffer time. I have a lot of stressors this week and so I might need some breathing room by Friday. If I spend the buffer the second I get it, I’m right back in the week I was trying to get out of. Give yourself at least 24 hours before filling your time and see how you feel.
What I end up doing on Friday will be a game time decision. If I wake up rejuvenated, I’ll dig into the other tasks. If not, that’s okay too. I’ve already accepted that they weren’t going to get done this week, and so anything extra that does get done will be a bonus.
What’s coming next
Next week is going to be a little vulnerable! I’m bringing on my therapist, the person I mentioned in the very first episode and an important part of how I’ve worked through so much of what we’re talking about in this show. It’s a little exposing, and we’re going deep on what it’s like running two big things on one nervous system. Be sure to follow the show so that you get the notification when the next episode is available.
If you’re walking through one of these kinds of weeks right now, know that you’re not alone. Remember just because I’m behind the mic talking about these kinds of things doesn’t mean that I’m not right there in the muck with you. Please share this with a friend who may also benefit from these 3 action steps to help them navigate through a busy work week!
Quote of the Episode
“Your real working number is whatever’s left after the rest of your life takes what it needs.”
Ashley Sterken
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