Did you do enough? Did you do the right things? At the right time? And, what and when will you do what needs to be done moving forward?
Goals are funny; don’t have any and you may not move your career or company forward…but having goals for goals sake, without them being prioritized, planned for or accomplished is mostly also wasted time. Achieverbation, if you will.
As I sit here writing, cup of black coffee in hand, reflecting on where I am in life, all that I need to do I am asking myself the same questions from above.
Did I do enough? Did I do the right things? At the right time? And, what and when will I do what needs to be done moving forward?
It feels daunting sometimes. I believe right now the surveying industry all over is blessed with an abundance of work. It’s both good and bad at the same time (more good than bad, though). There are challenges, I guess, is a better way to put it. Challenge is good for growth.
In my business, growth and the demand of these pandemic/hopefully-reaching-post-pandemic surging times has been challenging, fun, stressful, successful, but also pushing the envelope towards complete collapse at times.
So I sit here, sipping that black coffee, on the first Sunday in May, reflecting and measuring on what my team got done in April. We’ve been preparing, tracking and reviewing weekly goals in a more formal way for about 2 months now and it is really paying off. We accomplished a lot last month and moved many projects forward. And yet, there is still much more to do.
I could go on and on about what I’m doing goal-wise and to improve my productivity. I use a combination of a few different strategies, systems and techniques, but I’m far from perfecting any of it yet. And I don’t think getting to perfect execution and productivity is possible. The journey and consistent growth is what is important, I think. I am human and so are you. We are not robots, we just use them!
I’ll leave you with a few thoughts about what I am working on and have found to work (for me):
- Set (SMART) goals. SMART is the acronym for specific, measureable, attainable, relevant and time-bound.
- Plan, plan, plan and plan. Plan your year, plan your month, plan your week and plan your day.
- Daily, limit and only work on a few (3 or less) of the most important projects and tasks that help you achieve your goals. I am working on uni-tasking, my term for the opposite of multi-tasking. Multi-tasking important projects and tasks probably means that your only getting a little bit done at a time, and poorly and taking longer than if you instead did only one thing at a time, at the expense of finishing little or anything in a timely manner.
- Delegate, but don’t dump. Delegation, done right, is training. One of the biggest issues in the surveying industry is the lack of training and trained people. So, lessen your workload while expanding your teams skills and knowledge.
- Review, review, review, and review. Review your year, review your month, review your week and review your day. Importantly, review what happened, what could’ve been done better and what you will do in the future to be and do better.
- Do. Doing and getting work done is sometimes overlooked and under appreciated nowadays. Make doing, and finishing, a priority.
Please let me know your thoughts and what is or is not working for you. Thank you, have a great day (month and year) and be brilliant!