Work Like Water
In the quiet moments early in the morning I sometimes wax philosophical in pursuit of understanding my day-to-day existence. What is it that I really am doing? What difference does pushing 0’s and 1’s around? To the degree that I am successful, what makes my work stand apart from another? Is it creative ingenuity to solve problems? Yes, I think I have some of that. Is it a strong work ethic? Well, everyday I get up and do it again. Is it work done with integrity? Yes, I am not one to cut corners. At the end of the day I think a secret to my success is just getting stuff done. It has served me well.
I recently read a rather didactic book on productivity, familiar to many techies called "Getting Things Done." The basic premise of the book by David Allen is to immediately categorize info into buckets thereby either doing it, defering it or delegating it but not ignoring it and letting it pester you until you do something with it. By creating systems for storing tasks and projects you can literally forget about it and focus on solving real problems. I identified with it as something my first boss taught me many years ago.
While the system is tried and true, it didn’t help illuminate in my brain the way I work or more importantly the way my brain works. I have to categorize stuff constantly and come back to it frankly because my memory is just not that good. Half the time I forget my cell number or confuse numbers with my wife’s when asked by someone. So that’s fine and good.
Right now I’m staring at some pretty daunting deadlines this summer to launch an intranet, produce a video and create a website for an international symposium, develop some flash presentations and drive forward the regular agenda’s for development and upkeep of the main site at work. This doesn’t take into account the myriad of other processes and events happening outside of work.
I have come to see work like water. I have never been one to step-down from a challenge, but in the realm of productivity often I find from hour-to-hour the path of least resistance is the most productive. When it’s an opportune time to get a task done, do it. Constant evaluation of the full landscape reveals crevices in projects that I can fill.
As a random nonsequential thinker, I don’t know if I truly understand my thought processes. Left-brained thinkers like to break it apart for other left-brained thinkers. That is all fine and good and I appreciate its instructiveness. For me though, in the rubber-hits-the-road reality of today, this morning with much to get done, it’s just water flowing to the lowest points on the horizon.
Just hoping I don’t drown in the process.
Comments (4)
Hmmm…sounds like the world I left almost two years ago now, and since then, I question the extent to which I get things done. After being driven by a clock and bells for so many years, not having them to the same degree I once did, is somewhat disorienting. I do keep track of what matters, though, and really enjoy being able to just create. Now, if I could just be more productive. The water analogy is interesting.
Life is definitely more than work and I’m so intrigued by the path you are walking. Been thinking more lately about purpose in life stuff. It’s definitely more than a paycheck as obligatory as that part of life remains. Still, one must stay in touch with loftier ideals if really living is a priority.
The water analogy for me is squinting at my life and seeing what I do from a different perspective, perhaps blurry at times but also spotting I think some nuances that can only be seen from a different angle. Not looking for a methodology per say, but more freedom along the lines of finding the natural flow to what I do. Life’s more fun when you are in a flowy state.
I love the water analogy for work! While I tend to use several organizational systems in my work (like you I have a poor memory, thus a huge need to keep logically ordered systems), on my best days my working style has indeed been fluid (where I flow from challenge to challenge, fixing, re-assigning or nixing as I go. On my worst days, however, I see everything as immediate; on those days when I try to tackle everything at once, I get nothing done!
Brenda, I also find the days where most of what I touch seems to be a higher elevation item that I’ve not raised the water level to reach. Bummer are those days. I’m most content when I have a flow to my day/week. It’s amazing how productive those times are when I methodically work to knock-out one item after another.