Cognitive Exertion
I wrote an article/piece yesterday about "Urgency Addiction" having read something about it on a website.
What this is, is the tendency of managers to put things off and not do something until it is absolutely essential. By leaving things until the last minute it then tends however to create pressure and sometime anxiety,
I have practiced this assiduously as someone with Asperger syndrome! Until "I" want or feel it necessary to do something, I will delay things. This is contrary to the way I know is best for me to work: start things early and work under my own steam to avoid pressure.
It took me about and hour and a half yesterday to write the article. By the end of it I was mentally exhausted, even though I was not under any personal pressure to complete or deliver from a "quality perspective",(other than my own of course).
I thought about how this affects me at work and how it impacts upon my productivity. If I have to do much mental or cognitive type of work it can be quite draining. Overcoming this problem mind can really enhance/improve my productivity and enable me to deliver work that is progressive and can really elevate my contribution.
I would be very interested to hear of any techniques that people have developed to address this problem?
Cognitive Exertion
Here are some thoughts - it’s probably easier to describe things I have found helpful rather than try to extract a general principle:
* For some tasks deal with them immediately - typically these will be things that would take longer to put off then to handle. Examples include yes / no replies to e-mail, very quick reading etc.
* Some tasks are best grouped and brought forward - e.g. back ground reading I try to do when travelling by train as it is 'protected time ' and also less useful for other work
*For larger tasks bring them forward to a future date and book time in the diary. This will typically be personal work time (e.g. writing a report), meeting time e.g. working with a group to decide something , or chasing for follow up time , e.g. if something has to be sent out for comment .
*Break large tasks into smaller ones and do not be afraid to maintain work in progress - just make sure that it is brought forward for further work to complete
*Consider scarce resources - e.g. if you have team members or co workers who are likely to occupied on other things or away on leave , prioritise getting their input
* Maintain good house keeping with files on your system e.g. current version, old version, meetings etc. so you keep tight version control.
Involvement of Other People
Tom
This is all good stuff and thank you for a most useful contribution!
The one that stuck out for me was the penultimate point: consider scarce resources.
I have been really guilty of this in the past but it is really important. I have all too often assumed that other people will be able able to provide resources/expertise/input when "I" want it. All to often this is not the case. You really do need to factor this in in the first place.
Most of this results from, I believe, the egocentricity that is part of the Asperger personality. We think about ourselves first-and-foremost and do not consider - unintentionally of course - the viewpoint or position of other people.
All too often they are unable to deliver and this causes anxiety on my part when part of the jigsaw puzzle is missing!
Now when I undertake a task at work I force myself to think of who else is involved, what their contribution may be and how I need to make them aware of what is required very early.