Multi-tasking is fundamental to being a good account or project manager. You have to juggle projects, people, comms, meetings, events and often other random odd jobs for social media or marketing. So many priorities on a daily basis.
Wait, hold up - that doesn't make sense. Priorities? It defeats the point. The whole purpose of a priority is that is there only one. Yet we live in a society where priorities has become a thing. Today I'm unpacking why I changed my priorities mindset to priority (singular); why it leads to better work; and how to not let it go.
Finding my low
It start at rock bottom (well not quite, but it was a rough day). Three client dramas at once; my phone buzzing off the table; and a big international client arriving for our first face-to-face in about 45 minutes. Then my boss asks me to join in on another meeting later that arvo.
For the first time in my entire professional life I started to break down. Okay not quite cry, but my eyes got teary and I felt my chin quiver. Which for me is a big deal because I'm not a crier outside of the Notebook and ET (strange, I know). I wasn't in a good state to manage my accounts properly or make fast, confident decisions.
As a Type A personality (like most account and project managers) I'm driven to succeed and be in control. Lack of this naturally brings on stress. To be fair, a bit of stress is fine. It's clinically proven that self-regulation of energy and some stress levels is healthy. But you have to keep it balanced, which in that moment - I did not.
Time for a breather
My work wife saw the pressure hit me and sat me down (don't we love work wives!). She then told me something that had me shook. A glass shattering moment. You can't keep managing all of these accounts as priorities. Logically, you can only have one priority at a time. There is no such thing as priorities. It's a modern day myth.
The myth of priorities
Have you read Essentialism by Greg McKeown? My work wife had and I needed to.
He unpacks the history of the word priority and how it's changed (riveting I know, but bear with me). Pretty much, it came into the English language in the 1400s. It's singular - the first or prior thing. Come the 1900s and we started to pluralise the word.
"Illogically, we reasoned that by changing the word we could bend reality. Somehow we would now be able to have multiple “first” things. People and companies routinely try to do just that...This gave the impression of many things being the priority but actually meant nothing was.”
–Greg McKeown
Each time you transition from one priority to another, you pay a mental toll. And when you're stressed this toll is much higher. Apparently it takes 64 seconds to refocus on a task after quickly checking your email. And the average person checks their email every 37 minutes.
You can see balancing priorities adds up quickly. We live in a society where 'multi-tasking' is deemed a valuable skill. But the real skill is honing in on one priority, avoiding distractions and nailing it from the get-go.
Finding my bigger picture
So after this enlightening chat with my work wife, I returned to my desk and looked at the 3 x client issues + 2 x meetings I had on my plate.
Priority numero uno
I picked out what I deemed to be the most urgent priority and started there. Prepped the work internally and called the client with an update. Explained I had an upcoming meeting but rest assured, her ticket was being worked on whilst I was unavailable (at our urgency rate of course).
Urgent or urgent?
I then called my remaining two clients and explained the time required to fix their issues + the urgency rate imposed on top. Suddenly their priority work wasn't such a priority after all. They were happy to wait till tomorrow and have their tasks completed at our standard rate.
Oh wow-ee look at that. How the tables have turned as soon as the dollar figures go up. And for good reason. If we're dropping everything to help them, it's coming at the expense of other work and a mental cost for my teams headspace.
Saying no
I then eliminated the fluff. I went to my manager and turned down the arvo meeting. He'd have to reschedule or go without me. To be honest, I think he respected and trusted my decision to just say no. It showed initiative and I felt lighter knowing my afternoon could be refocused on other tasks.
Deep sigh
I was doing a lot better by the time my client arrived 45 mins later. Things were under control and I could enjoy the meeting without my mind wandering to my many other priorities (which no longer exist!). Nope, I now had one priority. Here and now. Being present.
Continuing with that mindset
It's been a few years since that glass shattering moment, and I still need to reiterate and remind myself about honing in on one priority and the bigger picture.
To maintain good habits I will turn off comms on desktop & mobile or shut down email all together.
Other times I'll use my personal laptop to work on one task. It helps me avoid any work related notifications in general.
I've also blocked out time in my calendar as a do not disturb warning or be upfront with colleagues before I start a task (e.g. don't bother me for 1 x hour please and thank you).
I've also left the office entirely. Change of scenery at the local coffee shop is nice and gets me in a different mindset (plus is a good excuse for a tasty treat).
I'd like to think my actions to focus on one priority at a time is rubbing off on my colleagues as well and plants the seed for long term behavioural changes throughout the team!