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Fifteen more minutes

I am leaving on a trip Sunday morning, and the mere thought of going to the airport got me thinking. It got me thinking about the power of 15 more minutes. Let me explain.

There are two ways most of us generally travel.

The first is what most of us do. You think about your flight time, map out your trip to the airport and then leave on time. Along the way, you do your best to avoid traffic, repeatedly checking your smart phone to make sure you’re on track. But by the time you walk inside, you’re five minutes behind. You consider cutting the security line but you don’t … losing more time than you thought.  By the time you get through security you realize you’ve another five minutes, maybe even ten. So you take throw your computer inside a different part of your bag, get repacked as fast as you can and pick up the pace. Many of us can’t get that food we were craving, some of us are forced to start jogging, hoping … praying the doors haven’t shut. In the end, you barely made your flight.

The second way is to leave for the airport 15 minutes earlier. We don’t rush because it feels so early. You don’t spend time checking your clock and never once did you consider jogging, let alone running.

If you travel the first way, you’re sure to get stressed out. Sure you’ll maximize your time but you’ll also maximize chances of missing your flight, sweating by the time you get to your seat and not having enough space for your carry-on.

If you travel the second way, you don’t stress. There’s no chance of missing your flight. And if you want it, you can grab a bite on the way.

So what’s the lesson you ask? It’s probably different for everyone. But here are three:

1. First, is the importance of buffer time. Even just a little can change your entire day.
2. Second, the easiest thing to do is to do what we’re supposed to – in this case leave on time. But sometimes doing a little extra can make the difference.
3. Finally, the easiest way to deal with chaos and all the stress that comes with it, might just be to avoid it altogether.

So the next time you have a flight … or better yet … any important appointment, meeting, due date or deadline, consider getting started just a little earlier.  In most cases, option #1 will be the most tempting but option #2 will be better.

Tags: Management

Hurry up and wait …

is a classic thing that happens to most of us. It happens when for part of the time you are working as hard as you can to get something done, but then once you finish, you have to stop and have to wait wondering if hurrying was ever worth it.

Think about it.

Movie crews hurry to finish setting up but then they wait for the director to finish the scene before scrambling for the next scene. Authors hurry to finish their books and blog posts, but then wait for someone to comment on it or give you a book deal.  We hurry and sign the contract, then wait for the lawyers to send their comments and revisions. And government officials — they are even worse than lawyers. You write a memo or brief as fast as you can to give to your superior, just to turn around and wait for hours just to be able to have a meeting with them.

But it’s not just a business concept. It also happens in our personal lives.

We apply to MBA programs or take the Bar exam, expending every bit of energy we have. But then we wait for months to get the result back. Or we call a girl that we like, leave a voicemail and sit around waiting for her to call us back, wasting hours in the meantime.

And in the end, many of us spend as much of our time waiting as we do working.

I propose that the best way to fill up that waiting time is to work on something else. Build in time for new projects. Set up time to revise old ones. And work on things you care about.  Not only does it help to pass the time, but it means you are continuing to work on your craft and getting better at things you care about.

And more importantly, for some of us, it helps you take your mind off of the stakes of what you’re waiting for.

Tags: Management

Talking things through

One of the best ways to thing through decisions is to talk things through. It might sound simple but it can be powerful. Especially if you talk to someone that knows you well or to someone that knows more than you about the decision you are making.

Think about it:

It will force you to talk about a decision you may be avoiding.

It’s almost certainly going to get you thinking about new information you failed to consider.

You’ll definitely gain new perspective on the things, ideally from someone much more knowledgeable than you.

The more proactively you think about the issues before, the more likely you’ll come up with something insightful.

Sometimes, the person across the table might be the smartest person you know, but the real benefit still doesn’t even come from hearing them. Instead it comes from talking with them, telling them about your decision, confiding in them and seeing how they think about the problem.

Because in the end, there’s usually not a single answer to the question. So the smartest people aren’t racing to find the one and only-one right answer. Instead they have the courage to admit what they don’t know, understand that their mentors or colleagues might not know it either, but that they can help them look at the landscape of choices and think about the options ahead.

So the next time you’re deciding about career options, graduate school, or anything else, try talking things through.

You’ll be surprised at what you can come up with.

Tags: Management

Doing the things you need

In today’s hyperactive Internet driven culture, it’s easier than ever to do anything – log on the net, check email, message your friends, get interrupted with work—except the things you really need.

Like figuring out your schedule.

Making a touch decision.

Persisting through to speak to a live person.

Ten thousand things can get in the way of doing these things, every single day. And if you’re not in the mode of being productive, it’s hard. And these distractions can set you back hours, if not more.

But the things you need are the most valuable. They can’t be bought on Amazon, can’t be given to your assistant, and can’t be put off much longer.

How do we get some of these things done sooner?

Tags: Management