“How are you today?” I asked Lisa when we started the session.
Lisa had the nervous smile I see many times when I work with executive clients. It is a smile that communicates to me: “I am here because I am committed to the coaching process,”
“What’s going on?” I asked smiling back.
“I have too many things pulling me in different directions right now that I am not sure what to tackle first, to tell you the truth – I don’t even have time to think about how am I feeling or doing right now.”
Lisa was overwhelmed. She was promoted a few weeks ago to the role of VP of Operations, her team size, due to an organizational change that has been tripled. She loves what she does, and she also wants to show her managers that they made the right decision promoting her and trusting her abilities. As you probably assume, she has so many tasks, so many new responsibilities, and she feels that she doesn’t have enough time, that she can’t possibly get everything done. Sounds familiar?
“Lisa, how about we try something that might help you feel more present and less overwhelmed?”
“Seriously? That would be fantastic, I am in!”
“Here is what we are going to do, Lisa, take your notebook or at least A4 paper.”
“Give me a sec!” Lisa said and grabbed paper big enough to do the exercise.
“Okay Lisa, here is what you are going to do, you are going to do what I call ‘a brain dump’ take as much time as you need to write down everything that is floating in your head right now: concerns, plans, to do, anything, and when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING, from work to personal from meetings to doctor appointments. Take as much time as you need I will wait quietly.”
I love seeing my clients getting everything out of their heads into the paper, some are going inwards quietly, thinking thoroughly while others sit on the edge of their chair filled with energy.
“Done!” Lisa said.
“How do you feel now?” I asked
“Oh gosh! I feel so much lighter, I actually feel relieved. I can see all the things I need to take care of, and actually the picture on paper is not as bad as when it was in my head. There are a few areas that I now realize that if I delegate to other people it will be so much easier for me, than doing it myself.”
“Yes, when you can see everything that was in your head, you have a picture and you can start to identify some trends and then make decisions on them, or choose what new actions you can take. The problem with keeping the planning items in our head, especially in roles like yours, is that we make them bigger and then we feel overwhelmed and some can even feel anxious. On paper, we can see our reality with clarity.”
Here is why Brain dump can help you be more strategic about how you manage your time:
1. Work with your brain not against it.
Many of us use our minds to remember things. But as David Rock writes in his book Brain at Work, the brain is not meant to multitask and accumulate information, but to create and understand patterns and help us make them part of our habits, or autopilot actions. We’re not supposed to keep things in our brain, not multitasking when we do that we get in its way. So do your brain a favor and write down your vision, goals, tasks on a piece of paper, a tablet, a computer-however you do it, and let your brain work on what it needs to work. When a million thoughts, or even just a few, are clouding your mind, the situation seems much bigger and creates anxiety or concerns. Once you write them down, they seem a bit smaller. So if you’re ever having trouble sleeping due to thoughts or concerns, get out of bed, write them down, and you’ll be able to sleep peacefully.
2. Identify the Trends
Now that you can see everything you have on a paper, you can start organizing your thoughts, look for trends, and then plan your actions.
Look carefully, what are some areas you can set some boundaries with yourself and others? I find that many times it is not other people who no boundaries, but actually we are the ones who don’t have boundaries and say yes to everything others ask us to do. So start by asking yourself: Is this a task I should/need/have to do, is it 100% true? If it is not, maybe it is time for some conversation with self or your managers about priorities – where your time should be spent?
Beyond the should/have/need – what are the tasks you want to do? Have you accomplished them or maybe by not setting boundaries you are out of focus?
Now, there are times we choose to say yes to tasks that are not 100% for us to do if it is to create trust, build relationships, or any other reason. I get it, at times it makes sense to say yes, to things you mostly would say no to.
Another important trend to look for in your list is delegation – does everything on the list must be done by you? Maybe your child caregiver can set the doctor's appointment for you? Maybe your team members are ready to learn new skills or make decisions that look different than your approach or solution, but can still bring good enough results?
What can someone else on your team (or at home) do instead of you? Delegate the tasks instead of doing everything yourself.
The last important trend to look for are strengths – our strengths can help our ship to sail, but at times when we focus too much on our strengths it can get us in trouble. A few days ago I coached a client that problem solving is one of his top strengths, it worked well when he worked as a successful salesperson But now when he was promoted to lead a team of 20 people he realized in our conversation that focusing his efforts on problem-solving is the easy way to go, it is easy to go there and show his people how to solve a problem or focus most of his day on solving problems. At the same time, this focus actually pulling him from feeling focused or creating strategic processes with his team. “It is so much easier doing problem-solving than going to what feels more complicated, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t bring the results my managers expect from me now – making processes more efficient and my team more independent. This strength is getting in my way…” Pay attention – where do you spend most of your day? How one of your favorite strengths can get in your way from bringing the results expected from you.
3. Move from tactical only thinking to strategic planning
Like the laundry pile in our house, anyone who likes to write long lists knows that the list will always stay long; you can’t achieve everything on a list with dozens and dozens of tasks. One of the main problems with long lists is that our focus stays on solving problems, we add another item and another item, and rather than planning and being intentional with what we want to achieve we let the list mislead our way and be reactive. When you are acting reactively, you are not thinking about the big picture, and often causing more work for yourself in the future instead of being focused to get the job done. Plan your week and your day, be intentional and focused, and you will find yourself being more productive, wiser, and doing what you want with your time.
Being intentional with your time is thinking strategically, being reflective, delegating tasks, realizing how many meetings you can actually fit in a day, and giving yourself the ability to create personal time outside of work for yourself like self-care, working out, or doing 5 minutes meditation after lunchtime.
How can you work on this muscle so you take the lead on your list rather than the list misleading you?
The Zen approach – have 2-3 main goals. Start with yearly goals, and then move to 6 months’ goals, then go to your monthly, weekly, and daily goals.
Weekly look - Every Friday afternoon, or during the weekend or Monday morning look at your calendar and define 2-3 goals for your week that must be accomplished. Sometimes I even challenge my clients to focus on only one goal.
Every morning before you start your workday and BEFORE you open your inbox, identify 1-3 goals that must be accomplished for the day.
Pay attention goals can be as simple as walking home, or go on a walk for 15 minutes during lunch break for self-care, or finish the report you need to write for your manager and you have 1 hour to sit quietly and do it with no distraction. Never set goals that are not realistic, if you have back to back meetings, it is probably not a good day to work on your report or look at a strategic plan.
As one of my clients just told me: it always looks so big in my has, planning and breaking things to small chunks makes a difference, from feeling that I am not capable I see that I can. So what are you waiting for? take a piece of paper and get started with your brain dump, you probably have tons of great ideas stuck in your head after reading this article.