WRITTEN BY JEFF SHIFFMAN, CO-OWNER OF BOOM BOX POST
It’s easy to get caught up in the hustle of the daily grind. Emails, texts, Slack messages, reminders and more are constantly competing for our attention during the workday (and often in the evening or or weekends). Are we truly meant to be on call this much? That’s a topic for another day! But what I do know is that in the race to pivot from one task to another, often times mistakes can be made, leading to time wasted, not gained. I’ve learned over the years that a pause at the right time can actually make a big difference in not only my well-being but also in my workload. Small mistakes can prove time consuming or send the wrong message. Here are some suggestions on how you can work some pauses into your day. You’ll be happy you did.
Take a moment
…and always proofread professional contact emails (i.e. job applications/introductions). There's nothing more unprofessional than receiving a cover letter with a bunch of typos. As a potential employer you are trying to impress, all you’ve told me is that you lack the ability to pay attention to detail. That, or you are prone to rush your work. Not great qualities in a candidate for hire. You need to use every tool at your exposure to convey professionalism in the short span of time you have my attention. One step beyond this would be to proofread every email you send. In the grand scheme of things, we’re talking about a matter of minutes each day to ensure you always look your best. That’s time well spent.
…and think, is this communication necessary? If I had to guess I'd say about 50% of business communication is unessential. Business travels at warp speed, which gives us the ability to go from thought to email in seconds. But realize that the email you are sending is setting a whole chain of events in motion. Take a moment. Is this something I can solve myself? Do I really want to escalate this to my superior, putting more work on their plate? In that same spirit, understand that mobilizing your team on a quick idea isn’t always the best use of their time. Delegation is essential to managing a team, but is this a task you could easily handle yourself? Just take a moment to think, do you really want to ask someone below you for help, adding this particular task to their plate when they could be productive elsewhere?
“realize that the email you are sending is setting a whole chain of events in motion. Take a moment. Is this something I can solve myself?”
…to think through just how many people are effected by your actions. Scheduling for instance, can involve so many different factors. In our case, just booking a mix means making sure the stage is free, the mixer is free, the supervising sound editor can attend and the predub mixer is free the day prior. Not to mention the affect moving a mix will have on external partners like composers. Make sure you have the details correct before you start such a complex process. So often I am emailed a calendar appointment only to be followed within minutes with a barrage of updates. It’s clear to me that the process was not properly thought through and that the sender doesn’t necessarily understand just how many of us are affected with all the changes. Be sure anything complicated is thought out to every detail before starting a storm of emails across many inboxes.
…and take a breath. I can get overwhelmed pretty quickly when things start to go South. Emails and messages start piling up and it's easy to think you have a crisis on your hand. But do you? One of the best lessons I have learned from meditation is to avoid jumping to emotion. Yes, the sky may be falling but who is really affected at this very moment? What’s the real deadline here? How quickly do you need to solve things? It is very possible that rushing to fix things may cause further errors or confusion. So take a moment and think everything through. It's something I certainly need to continue practicing. But when I do remember to take a breath, evaluating the situation for what it really is, I often find a smooth way forward.
“avoid jumping to emotion. Yes, the sky may be falling but who is really affected at this very moment? What’s the real deadline here?”
…for yourself. Work isn't everything. Build breaks into your day to reset. Leave the dark room with the bright computer monitors and take a ten minute walk outside in the sunshine. Pet your dog or cat. Play with your kids. Instead of watching the file transfer bars on your computer tick by, close your eyes and breath for a minute. Even a brief moment of something different will recharge your batteries and make the work day less of a burden.
How do you find time to work a moment for yourself into your workday? Share your suggestions in the comments.
Header image from Nimble Design Team