Contributed by Mike Luckett, Senior Engineer, PPM Consultants
A vital skill set I have learned over my 33 years of environmental consulting is the art of “juggling”. I had a head start. I grew up listening to Kentucky basketball games on the radio (before cable) and could not sit still. My dad was a tennis player so I would toss some readily available tennis balls around while listening to the games, and I eventually taught myself some rudimentary three-ball juggling. I learned to throw one of the balls from behind my back and even through my legs while keeping them in the air. I also learned very quickly that the slightest loss of focus resulted in tennis balls bouncing around my living room and my dad promptly telling me to be quiet so he could hear the game.
Upon entering the workforce, life was simple. Your boss or someone above them told you what they wanted done and you did it. As I advanced and began to manage projects and people, I realized I was going to have to polish up my old juggling skills. I found that what I planned to work on often was quite different than what I actually worked on that day. Generally, it was a few days and 10 projects later before I actually got to what I had originally planned to do. And that was if I was disciplined. As I write this I am finishing a day that involved a site visit for an SPCC plan, a review of a remediation corrective action plan, planning personnel to complete soil and groundwater sampling at two separate facilities, finalizing a FRP plan, reviewing a phase II assessment and making due diligence recommendations for a potential client transaction, assisting with revisions on a water permit, resending an order for a part on a remediation system, and a managers meeting. That was by 1:00 pm! A lot of you, I’m sure, juggle many balls in the air everyday as well. The question is, how do you keep all of the balls in the air and not lose one over the fence and another under the couch? …. It’s an epidemic that many of us face!
Though there is no cure all for this, in my experience and reading, I have come across four methods of time management that have helped me become a better juggler.
- Tackle big things early. I read a good book about not letting big things slide called Eat That Frog. Odds are many people have. I think the best advice from that book is to make time to tackle something big early in the day. If you wait, you might never get to it. Been there, done that.
- Make time to finish the easy stuff. It’s easy to get lost in the easy stuff and never have time for the big things. Its equally easy to get caught up in the big thing and let the easy stuff slide a few days longer than it should have. My plan is to have targeted time in a day for both (while leaving time for the other thousand things that walk through your door).
- Have a library day. In another book called How to Become CEO, the author recommended having one library day a month. Don’t go to the office and don’t get caught up in project work. Spend a day doing expense reports, logs, paperwork, receipts, budget reports, etc. that you can’t ever get to during a regular day. I have done a “library day” before just to get caught up. It does help.
- Make an appointment with yourself. You make appointments for meetings with others. Book time in your calendar to make an appointment with yourself to work on a specific project. That way you can tell others, “I’m sorry, I’m booked at that time”.
The most important advice is probably to make a plan and then stick to it. Whatever your method, follow your plan, and don’t let work overwhelm you. Then you to will be a good juggler. If you have something to insert into my daily juggling plan, feel free to reach out to me mike.luckett@ppmco.com. I embrace the challenge!