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Dear friends,
Happy summer! Even in San Francisco we are enjoying some lovely sunshine, and I hope you are too. How is your work pace? I was looking forward to a summer lull, but it hasn’t happened yet. My days seem more packed than ever, and my usual planning strategies are not keeping me from falling behind. So let’s talk about coping with, if not exactly embracing, work chaos. I’m talking about that feeling of having multiple demands come at you unexpectedly, going from meeting to meeting without surfacing long enough to think through a logical plan, and burning through the work time set aside on your calendar without getting the important stuff done.
I described my feeling of being lost in chaos to my coach, and that coaching session led to my first piece of advice: Talk through your chaos with another person. Listing out all of the time-sensitive responsibilities and structural constraints I have in the next few months, on both the professional and personal fronts, reminded me that I truly have a lot going on. I was able to put aside my self-doubt more easily because I could recognize that the demands on me would be stressful for anyone.
The next step is asking whether you truly have to do everything on your plate. In the past I have found ways to delegate some work, extricate myself from commitments, or simplify work plans. Right now, everything I have planned is essential and can only be done by me. So where does that leave me and my preference for intentional, well-paced, productive and non-stressful work days?
My coach asked, “is there any way for you to avoid a grueling pace and last-minute demands, given what you have to get done?” We concluded that chaos is inevitable for me, at least in the short-to-medium term. If you can’t prevent or fight it, accept the chaos. To me, accepting the chaos means just doing the next thing and not thinking about the length of the to-do list. It means I may need extra reminders from colleagues and extra time to get things done. Most importantly, it means asking for grace from others- and from myself- when I don’t meet my goals for the day or the week. There is more flexibility in the work- in all spheres- than I thought there was, and I expect you will find the same.
Many of you know that I dislike doing my work at the last-minute, and I aim to always respect deadlines, even self-imposed ones. It feels chaotic to me to be juggling multiple time-sensitive asks, and it is part of my identity to be a reliable collaborator who does her part to keep projects moving. With multiple non-negotiable demands over the last couple of months, I have felt like my responsibilities are sweeping me along like the tide. I prefer to actively manage my life and set my course deliberately, as I imagine you do. This month I am remembering that when you’re caught up in a strong current, it never helps to fight it. You just exhaust yourself. Instead, let yourself be carried and keep moving in the direction of the shore. It may take longer to get there, but you will make it. I’ll keep you posted on my chaos, and let me know how you are handling yours!
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Warmly,
Urmimala