I was recently talking to my friend who is a musician and he told me how hard it is to keep the same rhythm in your life, especially when you are in the business world. I’m always so busy in the background trying to make it all work, but when I really think about it, that’s really difficult to do. I think it’s because we all expect others to be more organized than we are.
Sometimes, like when I was in my college dorm, I was in charge of all of the music and I had no idea what my friends were doing, or why they weren’t even listening. I just thought they were all trying to get through the day and that they were all very organized. But then I realized I was doing my job in a very different way than they were.
A lot of people would agree that it is difficult to make time for everyone, but if you think about it, it is absolutely easy when you go out to eat with your friends. Everyone has an agenda. Sometimes, like when I was in college, it was my friends who wanted to go out for ice cream, but often I was at the gym and people wanted to watch TV. They don’t want to have to sit and wait for your friends to come back from school.
The problem is that it’s very hard to get everyone on the same page and focus on them all, especially when it comes to time. When you have too many things going on, you start to lose focus, which is exactly the opposite of what you want to do. For example, one of the things I do is plan ahead and do a “calendar mix.
A good way to get everyone to get on the same page, is to create a rhythm of work. So a month’s worth of work is a month’s worth of events (which should not be more than a week long). For example, if I have a conference, I may have things to do in the morning, and a meeting at night. If I have a bunch of meetings, I may have a breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
That is exactly the same thing as what I do. The work is a rhythm. And the rhythm should be short and repetitive.
For example, I do a lot of meetings. But they are not a fixed part of my day. I would say I do them about once a month. I might take a day off the next month. In that way, I would have a rhythm.
This one is a little more subtle, but I think it really does apply to most companies. For example, during the day I might work on one task, and then head to the office. After work, I might work on another task, and then head home. This is all part of my work rhythm.
I’m sure you’re thinking, “Why am I talking about work rhythms? Isn’t that just for salespeople?” Well, yes, but it’s also for anyone who wants to make a difference, so why is it important to everyone? The answer is that it is important to everyone because they are the ones who have the time to make an impact.
