A critical part of being productive is getting a handle on where your work comes from. This is especially true for people who frequently find themselves feeling overwhelmed or overloaded. If you have the sense that you’re trying to drink from a fire hose, the only way to avoid drowning is to learn where the deluge is coming from and find a way to manage it. That means not only improving your ability to identify sources of work (aka things to do) but also learning how to recognize subtle inputs that turn into tasks and projects.
Assigned duties are a primary source of work for most people. These are the things that you are responsible for as part of being employed (including being self-employed). Anytime you see a job description, you’re looking at the mother of all assigned duties. And as any employee can tell you, your assigned duties are capable of reproduction—spawning more and more things to do—particularly if your job description is broad. Assigned duties can also creep and sprawl, often in response to the second source of work: inspiration.
Inspiration usually creates work from all the bright ideas about things you could or might do. Everything from write a novel to grow a garden to start a new marketing campaign. Every time you think of a way to improve a project that’s already underway, you’ve probably just had a visit from the work-generating inspiration fairy, who has not only made you feel nice but given something else to do.
Your roles in life are another source of work. Marriage and parenthood, home ownership, volunteering, relationships—if it falls under the heading of something you do that’s ongoing, it can be cast as a role and it’s a source of tasks and projects.
Requests are another huge source of work. These requests can be obvious or very subtle. If you’re in an autonomous work environment, you may have the ability to say ‘no’ or decline some requests.
In exploring where your work comes from, take a look at your task or project list and ask how that item came to be there. As you trace the history of the items on your lists, you’re likely to discover sources of work you were unaware of. By taking the time to understand where your work is coming from, you’ve taken an important step in managing your workflow.
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Thanks for the reminder to review my 20,000 foot list. My roles in my life are about to drastically change and your advice here will help me to stay centered and grounded.