Over the years, I've decided the answer to these questions is always 'yes.' I can now stop wasting brainpower trying to make a decision each time the issue comes up.
Would this be a good time to save the file I'm working on?
Should I take my organizer with me (versus leaving it here)?
Should I add this to my to do list?
Should I check my calendar before I agree to this appointment?
Should I write this on my calendar?
Should I check to see whether I have plans after work before I agree to stay late?
Should I check to see whether I have any early appointments before I decide to play one more game of
Should I do The Cycle today (versus slacking off)?
Should I fill my car's gas tank now (versus procrastinating until it is an emergency)?
Should I do this small task or chore now (versus procrastinating and hoping nobody notices or the task doesn't turn into an emergency)?
The answer to all of these questions is 'yes.' This list was developed over 10 painful years of getting into trouble (in small and big ways) by thinking about the question, weighing the benefits of both choices, and making a thoughtful but wrong decision. I was trying to be smart. It took me a long time to realize, 'Stop thinking! The answer is 'yes!'' Don't weigh the issues; don't waste brainpower making a decision; don't convince yourself that just this one time things will be different! If you have to ask yourself the question, the answer is 'Yes!'
In most cases, it takes longer to make a decision about a task than to do the task. Opening up my PDA and checking my calendar takes 10 seconds, but I can spend just as much time rationalizing that today my memory is good enough to not need to check.
Many of those questions are equivalent to asking, 'Should I trust my memory or my organizer's memory?' We already know that our memory is faulty; otherwise, we wouldn't be using an organizer, right? Use it!
It took me nearly 10 years to develop a rule for each of those questions, and, by amazing coincidence, for each of them the answer was the same. Save yourself many painful experiences and believe me: the answer is 'Yes!'
However, scheduling mini meetings with 15 people would have taken longer than the meetings themselves and wouldn't have worked in the chaotic environment of system administration. Therefore, every Monday and Thursday at 9 a.m., I would do my 'walk-around.' I would walk a particular path that went by each person's office. Their offices were, essentially, in three different clusters, so it was almost like having three mini status meetings. I would stop in, say 'hello,' and this would present them with an opportunity to bring up issues.
It would take me half a day to do this, but it was a really good opportunity to troubleshoot problems in real time, remove roadblocks, and solve the problem of people feeling ignored.
Our weekly staff meeting was on Tuesday morning. The Monday walk-around usually resolved a lot of issues that would normally tie up the Tuesday meeting, so we reduced the time allotted to our staff meetings. Shorter meetings are cool.
I was surprised at how well it worked. I was also surprised that anyone noticed. Alas, one day I was walking towards a cluster of offices, and I overheard someone saying, 'Here comes Tom for his Thursday visit,' followed by a little laughter.
OK, they were mocking me. Did I change? Did I vary the schedule to be less predictable and obvious? No. I'm too thickheaded for that.
However, I did notice that over time my staff started planning their schedule around my walks. Sometimes I would arrive and they'd have a list of issues on the whiteboard ready to discuss.
Here are two takeaways from this story:
Develop a routine that solves your problems.
Perform the routine on a predictable schedule, and others will plan their schedules around you.
Routine #5: The Check-In-with- Customers Walk-Around
