Juggling Balls: What Keeps Yours in the Air?

February 4, 2009 by sparktalk

Right now, the best way to describe my career is that I am ‘juggling a lot of balls.’ For the record, I’m not suggesting I’m a clown, I’m saying that I have a lot on my plate. 80% of the time, I’m fine with it. In fact, I like it this way. I’d be bored if I didn’t have a lot going on. But, every 3 months or so, it seems like the balls collide and I go into a bit of a stress mode to get them back into a nice rhythmic juggling pattern.

This week is one of those times!

The good news is that over the years, I’ve developed a bunch of coping actions to get myself back on track. Here are just a few of the things I do:

Buy a new, clean notebook, sit down at the crack of dawn (when I’m most productive), and write out everything that is in my head….and I mean everything! I then organize it by category and prioritize each item with action steps and deadlines. By the time I’m done, I swear my mind is saying ‘Thank you for the break, it was getting too hard to keep track of all that stuff!”
Clean my house. Seeing it all organized and having it smell good relaxes me. (Sadly, I have two kids and two Pugs, so it doesn’t stay clean long.)
Park my car at the beach and listen to my favorite music full blast for 10 minutes or so. (Anyone want to guess what kind of music I like? First person to post the right answer below gets a free CAREEREALISM t-shirt!)
Set daily goals to get the pressing stuff off my list and reward myself with little treats. (A cup of tea from my favorite cafe, watch a movie, buy a new lipstick, grab a beer and read BusinessWeek from cover-to-cover in bed, etc.)

I was thinking about this tonight and it made me wonder: “How do other people get themselves back on track?” I’d love to hear about your unique coping actions when it gets chaotic. What do you do to return things to a more normal pace?

Please share your thoughts. I need some new ideas of how to keep the balls juggling…and I bet I’m not the only one!

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Filed Under: Career Advice (Articles), Climbing the Ladder & Managing Up
Tagged: action, advice, career, coping, job, juggling, stress, work

Comments

Tressa Robbins

Writing things down is definitely one of the best tools! I've found sometimes I don't even have to go back to it - just the act of writing down relieves the stress but more importantly helps me remember it without trying so hard. The other thing I'll do is put things in my Outlook calendar with a time and alarm to keep me on track and reminding me to log off of Twitter, Facebook or whatever and get back to the work at hand :-)

J.T. O'Donnell

I agree that it is the act of writing it out that calms me. I do lists on my Google Apps Home Page, but it's not the same. I print the calendar out too. Sometimes just holding it and seeing it not on a screen makes a difference. I wonder why?

Lola

Hi there..

I;m subscribed to your blog and alas what a great post today. Its always chaotic for everyone of us either at work or at home.. and mIne's a bit similar to yours.

- I put on the music full blast and sing to the top of my voice.
- I do things I never have time for (reading girlie magazines, watching TV - not a couch potato, so watching TV gives me time to refresh and revive my self.
- Take a long bath shower whilst singing at the top of my voice.. this works like magic.. lol
- I call friends whom I've not heard from in a long time and speak to them on the fone.

J.T. O'Donnell

The friends one is something I have to do more of! I re-connected with two dear friends a month ago on a con call and it did wonders for me. Thanks for reminding me!

PS - I can't remember the last time I took a bath, nice call!

Louise Fletcher

Great post. Usually I get more and more freaked out and then start getting snippy with everyone around me. I'n thinking your coping mechanisms are better ;-)

But I do find that sitting down and mapping out exactly what I want to do is helpful. Then I ask my husband (who is also my business partner) to help me think through the list and set priorities. Without that process, i tend to think I can just keep taking things on and somehow by sheer force of will I'll be able to get them all done.

Once we've had the conversation and I have my list, I feel so much better.

J.T. O'Donnell

Oh Louise, don't think for a second that I don't get freaked out and snippy - that's usually when I realize I need to put the coping actions in motion! :)

Having someone to talk to and even help take stuff of your plate is key. A new co-worker of mine met with me on Monday and took over several projects I was juggling, the difference is already showing. It's hard for me to let go of things, but when I do, I'm always saying, "Why didn't I do that sooner?"

I think it's great that you work with your husband. It's nice to be able to be on the same page about work.

Thanks for posting!

Swapna

Nice post.

I do the same - mostly 1. I write down everything and organize it. Then I relax and do something fun for some time to give myself a break. Then I get back to work.

J.T. O'Donnell

Thanks for posting Swapna. I'm going to have to do some research on why the physical process of writing it down is so helpful, it seems like it works for a lot of us.

Have a good day!

Juggling Balls: What Keeps Yours in the Air?

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