You have an important role to play in your organisation.
The work is never done.
Whether you work one hour a week or 168 hours, you’ll never be done. You’ll always be able to identify stuff that could be done.
And that’s for the simple reason that there always is stuff that could be done.
Why is this?
It’s because you’re not working to satisfy some externally imposed quota. You’re working to make progress in some way. And progress is only limited by your motivation, energy, ideas and your potential. And you can always improve and expand your potential by making changes in you.
So there you have it – you’ll never be done.
And there’s an obvious implication.
We all need to somehow get a sustainable and healthy boundary over the amount we work. Different strokes for different folks but we all need some sort of boundary. For example, I have a business. But I also have other roles – husband, father, brother, son, son-in-law, brother-in-law, cousin, nephew, uncle and grand-uncle. And that’s just family.
You’ve a similar list. And you’re a member of a community. And perhaps of some civic organisations. And perhaps some sort of church. And you’re also an individual that has interests and a body & mind to take care of.
Where to put the boundary? That’s a tricky one. But if you focus on establishing one you’re more likely to succeed.
It’s tricky for most people – including me. For example, I’ve recently put exercise ahead of work – work has to fit around exercise now – rather than the other way around. I made that change because both the body and the mind need exercise.
The promising thing though is that exercise has other benefits beyond the physical. For example, last month on a bike-ride I mapped out in my head how I was going to introduce a new service.
So don’t beat yourself up – there’ll always be more to do – no matter how hard you work. But, if you could do with a bit of help on being disciplined in identifying, sequencing and executing on the most important tasks, then my Accountability by Email (AbE) service might be just the ticket!
To get my regular emails on productivity and effectiveness, sign up in the box that’s somewhere on this page – top right corner perhaps – or maybe immediately below if you’re reading on a phone.