Juggling Chainsaws
Everyday feels chaotic in our modern world. I don’t know anyone who just sits around and does nothing now a days. Electronics keep you connected, your children keep you running from event to event, your families keep you busy, your spouse keeps you busy, your job keeps you busy…it is a lot to handle.
Personally, my days are full of meetings, creative sessions, pitches, presentations and much more. Add to that the time that I require of myself when it comes to family, friends and personal development…I now have what could be considered an uncontrollable situation. It’s kind of like juggling chainsaws.
Learn How To Control The Chaos
When juggling chainsaws, you really don’t have a problem until you start catching them by the blades. So, to control the situation, you just need to make sure you catch those suckers by the handles. To do this, I set aside 15 minutes, every day, to organize the week moving forward. Let’s use yesterday as an example. The week prior (or last Wednesday) I placed the following on my calendar for yesterday and it looked like this. (Names will be excluded to protect the innocent…or something like that)
- 7:00am – Presentation rehearsal in Studio-B
- 8:00am – Presentation Pitch in Studio-B
- 10:00am – Creative Session with xxxx (x’s = client confidentiality, you get it)
- 11:00am – Presentation rehearsal in Studio-B
- Noon – Presentation Pitch in Studio-B
- 2:15pm – Partner Assessment with DSM, LSM, GM
- 4:00pm – Update xxxx presentation video elements
- 6:00pm – Dinner with xxxx
Now, that is the organized version of what yesterday looked like. A week prior…I had already received around 22 request from many different sources…all of which wanted something from me on the same day. Obviously there would not have been enough time to pull that type of volume off in one day.
Look, I know that this sounds obvious. “We are aware of how to organize Phillip!” That’s great…but I will tell you that I know many individuals that do not organize in this manner and the results are multiple open projects with no true deadlines, missed deadlines, and lack of focus.
Stop and take a look at a 15 minute approach during your day that could help you “catch those handles” on the chainsaws you are juggling. We just have to face facts, there is no such thing as “absent chaos” in our modern world. “Controlled Chaos” should be your goal…no matter whether it is personal or professional!
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