Sunday, August 3, 2014

Everything all at once

When the work piles up, do you ever felt like you are trying to take a sip of water out of a fire hose? I know I often feel that way trying to attend to the many projects and priorities that are on my list. I remember years ago having a conversation about this with a mentor. I was explaining how I didn't feel effective trying to balance so many priorities. I just wanted to completely set aside some things to focus on one or two really important things. I think everyone feels that way about their work sometimes. There is never a shortage of things that need to be done.

It seems like there are always areas that need shored up in our professional lives and on top of that we have our personal lives, families, church, volunteer work, etc. on top of that. It's no wonder we may feel like we are getting blasted by a fire hose. It would sure be nice to focus on just one thing at a time.

But what I've found is I can't just completely set aside parts of my job entirely, or neglect my personal  life either. All of these responsibilities are important, but the key is to understand they are NOT of the same importance. And that's where prioritizing is so important. We need to invest the best of our time and energy into the areas that have the most impact, but we can't entirely ignore other less important priorities. They just don't get as much attention as the most important topics. Having focus as a leader doesn't mean ignoring stuff; instead, it just means understanding what is most important to help reach your goals.

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