Category: intentionality

Stephen Covey wrote about the essential Quadrant 2, where activities live that are Important, but not Urgent. It is so easy to neglect work that falls in this category, principally because it doesn’t make its way onto your calendar.

I find myself with an empty-ish schedule, tricking my brain into thinking I am “free,” but if I look at the projects I could/should be completing, they are all important tasks, just ones without a deadline. This includes things like updating the syllabus from my last class, completing a final report for a project, and categorizing past dots. There is no due date, so it’s up to me to find the motivation to work on them.

Quadrant 2 activities also include personal enhancements such as fitness and relationships. Unless (and until) I make them a priority or put them on the calendar, those, too, often get pushed aside for less important but compelling time-fillers.

It’s a curse of formal education that we are trained to live by the deadline. Assignments are due. Class periods are structured. Our many years of schooling are externally driven, and we don’t always learn how to prioritize and do the Q2 tasks.

Take a moment today to break that pattern. Translate something important into a deadline. Commit to calling a friend by Sunday. Identify a specific time to do some reflection. Add time to your calendar to start a Q2 project. Schedule time to go for a walk.

It’s the important that urgently needs our attention.

I write this from the floor of my living room, sitting on one dog bed in an attempt to comfort my dog lying next to me on another bed. She’s recovering from doggie ACL surgery, but the rehab is not going so well. She wants to be comforted by Mom, so here I am.

I’m her de facto physical therapist and am in unknown territory. If she’s limping, does walking help or hurt? Do the exercises do more harm than good? Should I let her leg rest or continue with the therapy?

I thought of a scene in the Crazy Rich Asians movie where the teacher beats the student in a gaming scenario because she is playing to win, while he is playing not to lose. It’s a shift in mindset that makes you more risk-averse and causes you to miss out on opportunities.

When I found myself holding back and second-guessing, trying to do no harm, more than to help heal, it was time to schedule another X-ray to validate how I should proceed. Play to win.

My class has been reading material from Harvard Business Review that covers the difference between aspirations, mission, vision, strategy, and values. Much of it devolves into a semantics debate, but the essence is clear: you must envision a future state and develop a method to get you there. “Achieving an aspiration requires a strategy,” Casadesus-Masanell writes. It “should involve both heads and hearts.” (This sounds a lot like yesterday’s dot (#4835), where leadership is plumbing and poetry — there seems to be a theme here.)

Another way to describe this was made in a much more pedestrian manner through a social media meme that read: “One Day” is a dream. “Day One” is a decision.

As we begin the new year with lofty resolutions and dreams of a better future, do the hard work of implementation to realize those goals. Aspirations, dreams, and poetry require strategies, decisions, and plumbing to become reality.

Sources: Setting Aspirations, Mission, Vision, and Values by Ramon Casadesus-Masanell, Harvard Business Publishing, and Meme from Action for Happiness

I had a conversation with a colleague who was torn between different paths to pursue in the next phase of his career. He works for himself now and keeps bouncing between multiple avenues that could lead to professional or personal success. Instead of having angst over choosing one, I encouraged him to think of his work as a portfolio, and instead to consider what proportion of work he wanted in each area.

I have found this type of path to be rewarding for my own journey. I describe it to others as an “organizational infielder,” with a portfolio of multiple clients, utilizing varied skill sets, and working on projects of differing length. All my work has an organizational development thread through it, whether that be teaching, writing, coaching, training, consulting, facilitating, or project management, but no one piece dominates my time or income stream.

If you work for an organization, you can also view your work from a portfolio lens, treating your key responsibilities as independent sectors that can be mixed and matched as your skills and energy levels change. Perhaps this view can enlighten you as to a side hustle to pursue or a different emphasis for your next career move.

Relieve yourself of the burden of choosing “one thing” as your job or one task that you perform. See your work and contributions as a portfolio and curate the components to your liking.