Compartmentalise your brain
My last 6 months has been full on, with some big, meaty things on my plate. The most common question I get these days as a vCOO for more than one start-up at a time, is 'How do you handle the context switching?' I have only just realised this is one of my superpowers, as I thought most people do what I do - but no! The people who ask typically cannot imagining dealing with things the way I do, so I thought I'd write it down to see if it helps anyone who struggles with holding many different tasks, priorities and thoughts in you brain at any one time. Of course, this works for me, but finding your own processes is what is key.
We have to begin many years ago now, before your life could be run on a device of some kind. I'm talking late 90's - to me that wasn't long ago in my head, but I need to remind myself that I am now 45, not 19 anymore! In those days, there used to be a large market for 'time management through diarising' with beautiful leather-bound planners being the status symbol of the time. At 19yrs, I was sent on a course through my work, run by Daytimer who I see is STILL at it. They were the top of the pile when it came to cool planning techniques. When I went to this full day (!) course, they taught a way of prioritising and planning that somehow, has stuck with me through the rest of my career! I am a ruthless prioritiser. Thanks for that Daytimer! I will cover off a little about how I do that soon.
The second thing I didn't realise that shaped how I compartmentalise my brain, is working in project management for a chunk of my career. Running multiple large projects at one time forces you into a disciplined work practice, otherwise things get out of control very quickly. For 10 years I held what I feel like is a 3D chess game in my head, and the further along I got, the more layers were added.
To best describe what happens in my mind, is to think of a filing system, held within a node-like systems architecture. The nodes are the higher level context 'file storage room', and within each room there are filing cabinets with labelled files. In here, context switching is as simple as leaving one room and entering another, and picking up a file. Luckily, the ruthless prioritisation I have learnt means I'm not running to all of the rooms, randomly picking up files that look interesting. I have higher priority rooms that are closer to me at all times, and I have small rooms that I might get time for every month or so. Luckily, modern tools have enabled me to do this even better!
I find it very important to have one core thing/process/tool that everything runs out of. In my case, my calendar is King. I calendar everything, including personal appointments, thinking time, social events and reminders. I have four independent calendars, some from the companies I work with so they can see exactly when I am in the office and when I am available for meetings. The others are my personal calendar (kids / husbands have many appointments to remember too!) and my BizOps Agency calendar. My most favourite thing is my Master View of all of the calendars in one - its looks wild but its super helpful and clear about what and where I need to be. The calendar works like my prioritisation tool, and I make sure that if its in my calendar then it is the next most important thing to be done. This is like my file room map, that shifts as required. I have this also synched with my phone, so I can get reminders anywhere, and I can view all calendars in one list view.
Hanging from this central core process, comes emails, slack channels and to do lists, all from the account that is needed. For example, within my BizOps email, I use the 'My Tasks' function to quickly note where I left things, and what still needs to be done. Same with the other accounts I have. many slack channels to help with ad hoc comms and questions that people need answered. I repeat the same process with browser windows. I have four browser windows open on my laptop with the relevant tabs open, and I minimise the other three when I'm working on the most important thing.
Another absolutely life saving tool I use is the reMarkable which I cannot live without. If you have ever considered getting one it is worth its weight in gold. It is an extension of my brain, and holds the notes within the 'file' I pick up. I have folders and notebooks within the reMarkable that reflects the same process, so I can always get right back to where I left off. I am a visual thinker so this helps me get ideas and processes out, without any other distractions. It synchs with my desktop app so the images I scrawl and notes I take are easy to work with once complete.
Back to the prioritisation. Quite honestly, my most valuable asset is my ability to prioritise quickly and ruthlessly, and I wish more people learnt to do this. I won't go into the system that Daytimer taught, as my own has evolved since then, but the key things to remember when prioritising are:
Your To-Do list will always be too long, so only look at that weekly unless something changes
When you look at it, make sure everything is on it, and put things in rough priority order with numbers 1 to infinity, but only concentrate on the top 10-15 numbers being right
Challenge yourself about why things are where they are, and shuffle accordingly
Take the top 5 things and get those in your calendar. If there is still room, add some more, but really, no more that 15 things a week as they just have you running, and the order and priority will likely change by then anyway.
Stick to your calendar. Change will always happen but you get to decide whether it gets priority or not. Take the new thing, assess it against the other things already prioritised and scheduled. If it is important and urgent then add it in and adjust the remaining, likely taking some of the lesser important tasks off. Otherwise, it can wait until the next prioritisation session a few days from now.
Communicate expectations with people who want things done - if they say 'hey can you do things?' you say 'Yes - I should be able to get that to you on X day', and most people accept that, in particular if you do what you say you will regularly.
Repeat! If it gets mucked up, you can always stop and replan. But, don't steal time from things. If you do, thats when it gets hurried and stressful as things back up. This should a controllable and flexible process that helps you do your best work.
So, as I near the end of my calendar slot for writing this post (LOL! 3min to spare!) I'll summarise by saying, there are really only three things to hold true:
Choose a core process and use it religiously
Learn to prioritise ruthlessly
Always do what you say you will do
I hope this insight into how my brain's filing system works helps you feel more normal, and you gained some protips out of it :)
Diana
