13. March Q&A: Home Productivity and Work Overload
Episode 13
It’s time for another Q&A episode here on the Learn and Work Smarter Podcast! In these fun monthly Q&A episodes, I answer questions submitted by listeners. That’s you!
Don’t forget – you can submit your questions too! There’s a form on the homepage of LearnAndWorkSmarter.com. All submissions are anonymous.
I answer two questions in this month’s Q&A:
Question 1: From a working professional struggling with creating productivity systems for home.
Question 2: From a working professional feeling overloaded with work and looking for advice.
Even if you’re not the one who submitted these questions, I encourage you to listen to the insights, as sometimes we hear answers to questions we didn’t even know we had.
✏️ ENROLL HERE SchoolHabits University→
Other Episodes Mentioned:
→ Episode 3: What’s an Admin Block and Why You Need One for Productivity
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March Q&A | Home Productivity and Work Overload | Learn and Work Smarter Podcast Episode 13
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The following transcript was autogenerated and may contain some interesting and silly errors. But in the name of efficiency and productivity, I am choosing not to spend my time fixing them. :)
[00:00:00]
Hello. And thank you for tuning in today. This is one of my monthly Q and A episodes where I'm going to answer listener questions.
These questions were submitted through the form at learnandworksmarter.com and you can do the same thing.
Head there: learnandworksmarter.com, go to the homepage and then submit your question through the form that you are going to see there.
Today, I'm going to answer two questions.
Both are from professionals, but I think you will find the information and some of the advice that I share relevant, even if you are a student because good work habits span contexts. Right?
So you can apply the things that you're going to learn today to whatever situation in life that you are currently at.
[00:01:00]
Okay. So we're going to get going with the first question, which I'm actually going to read. And it says,
I find that I can be really productive at work, but I'm a totally different person at home.
I get home from work exhausted every day and I feel that's when I procrastinate on the weekends, I have a ton of things to do for my home and family and some projects that I'm working on, but I feel like I just can't find the motivation to get them done.
Now, I say that because the fact that you are already productive and efficient at work is all the evidence that you need, that you are capable of being productive and efficient at home.
You already have that proof. All right. Now it's just going to be a matter of tweaking what you're doing at home so you feel better about your accomplishments there.
Now I also want to say that before we begin, I think it is [00:02:00] important that we don't always hold ourselves to the same standard at home as we do at work.
All right. It is okay to let our guard down and to slow down and to take a different piece at home as we do in our nine to five job with someone looking over our shoulder.
Sure. That's going to be busy seasons at home where maybe you're planning an event or it is a holiday or like me right now doing a massive home construction. Okay. There's always going to be busy times, but even still, it doesn't have the same energy as a comparable project at work, because at home we can just be ourselves with the people we love. Okay. And that's not necessarily the same um, situation that we find ourselves in at work.
Okay. So I'm just saying that disclaimer, to say, it's okay if we're not as productive in the same way at home as we are at work, because we cannot be on 24 hours a day.
Okay. So with that said, I [00:03:00] do have some advice I have a few tips.
Number one, I want you to get clear on what you actually want to accomplish at home. And then write this stuff down somewhere.
It doesn't have to be the same task management system that you use for work. But truthfully, I am a fan of having one task management system for work and for life you're honestly just going to have to see what works for you.
Personally, I use a paper planner and I put both home and work tasks in that same planner.
But if I have a ton going on during one of those like busy seasons, I don't know, a holiday or construction or whatever. And then sometimes I might separate, my home and tasks onto a separate list. Like even if it's just a sticky note on the front of my planner, just cause that's what personally my mind needs to function. But again, you're going to have to do what works for you.
My point is that you want to externalize all of your home tasks and projects, the things that you think you should be doing and feel guilty about not doing okay.
I [00:04:00] want you to externalize those. Get them out of your head, put them on a piece of paper or an apple note or something. And then once you get those out on paper, I want you to go through them ruthlessly.
You want to ask yourself, do all of these really need to happen? Can I have someone else do these?
Do I need to do this stuff now?
It's important to make sure that the things you are claiming you want to do and be productive on and feeling guilty about not doing are the things that are really worth doing in the first place.
And then after that, I would say pick, I don't know, one to two things on your list to tackle at a time. And then give yourself a deadline.
If you don't give yourself a deadline for those tasks then they likely won't get done at all. And they will remain on your list and, and provide, you know, a source of shame and a constant reminder of the things that you're not doing.
We don't want that. Now there's a principle where it says that a task expands to [00:05:00] fill the time that we allot to it.
All right. So if you don't give a deadline to these home tasks the same way that you have deadlines for your work tasks, those tasks could be indefinite. They could literally take for ever.
Well, let's say you're working on a home photo organization, task or project or whatever. And you give yourself 10 days to complete that project and you put that deadline on a calendar, then you can get it done in 10 days. And then each day in that 10 days you would devote, I don't know, maybe 45 minutes to that project for 10 days.
That's 450 minutes. That's. I don't know, like eight hours or something during a week, and you're going to get that project done and your list shrinks and the shame goes away.
And then it's important to remember that, you know, if you use this strategy to complete some of the items on your list, you know, As human beings, our obligations and tasks and projects, they don't end, and that's just what we call life.
And that's the beauty [00:06:00] of it. Right. So I don't want you to view this list that you're generating as like a one-time thing and you apply some strategies to get through it and now your list is clear.
No, your list is constantly going to have new things added to it, but you can't forget to add to the list. I want to remind you of the importance of externalizing, our tasks, even if they're home-related and getting them out on your head and adding them to the list.
And you would still apply the same level of scrutiny to new items on your list as you did to your original list. Right. And you would look at it and you say, do I need to do this? Can I have someone else do this task and does this task or project have to happen now?
Now, if you are talking about all of the daily things that you need to handle, that aren't necessarily like big projects, but they're the day-to-day things that have to get done after work. I don't know doing the laundry. Um, booking appointments, cleaning, food prep, errands things like that. Then I'm going to suggest that you use an admin block.
Now an admin block is short for [00:07:00] administration block. And I want you to listen to episode three, where I talk all about admin blocks and how you can use it for work and home to take care of the things that you need to take care of.
Now, if you schedule one to two admin blocks a week, 1, 2, 3. I don't know. It's a personal experiment, right? You're going to have to see what works for you. But if you schedule, let's say two admin blocks during a week, one on a weekend, and then one on a, I don't know, a Wednesday evening pick a weekday.
And you put those admin blocks on your calendar and you guard that time like it's an actual appointment, then you will have a really productive and healthy and comfortable level of life maintenance that is sustainable. Okay. And that is what we're looking for.
We don't want all of these life admin tasks, the day-to-day things to build up because that leaves us feeling overwhelmed and stress.
And again, full of shame. And especially if you are productive at work. All right. So now you have a contrast to compare the two versions of yourself. I'm [00:08:00] this way at home. Oh no. And I'm like this remarkable performer at work. That's even more material to feel shame about. Right? So something as simple as scheduling an admin block or two during the week, can have a dramatic impact on how you view your home performance- not that you want to perform when you're at home, but do you know what I mean? So then you feel like there's only one version of you. The, the one we love the one you love, the one that you feel okay with. Right? I feel like I just got really deep there, but. Oh, well,
Okay. So I feel like I may have rattled a little bit there.
So I'm going to review the strategies that I just shared with you.
I suggest you look at what systems you are using for work that are working for you and see if you can replicate any of those at home: task management systems, time management, things like that.
Number two: don't hold yourself to the same standard that you hold yourself to at work, because we can't be on 24 hours a day.
It is okay to slow down and have a different pace at home.
[00:09:00] Three. Externalize, all of the things that you say you need to do or want to do or should to do outside of work and put them somewhere. Uh, in a paper planner on a sheet of paper in apple notes, doesn't matter.
You just want to get them out of your head so you can see them and assess them and evaluate whether or not they're worth doing in the first place.
Number, I think this is four... I'm losing track. For anything that's worth keeping, give yourself a reasonable amount of time to complete them. Projects worth doing need deadlines.
And then lastly utilize the concept of an admin block to handle all of the day-to-day or life administration, things that have to happen.
And again, I talk all about that in episode three. I will leave the links in the show notes and if you're watching this on YouTube in the description box.
I hope that helps. I think this is a really great, great question. I think it's relevant, especially because a lot of people work from home and that productivity efficiency line is [00:10:00] often blurred, especially if you're working from home.
Okay, we are going to move on to our second question. Which is also from a working professional, feeling overwhelmed with the amount of work that they have to do. And I'm going to read the question.
Hi, Katie. I'm feeling stuck and getting conflicting advice from different people. I figure I would ask you what you thought. I like my job and I've been there about two years. I've only had one job before that, right out of college. And I was there for two years. Also. I work in sales. My question is about workload and boundaries. Lately I've been feeling like my workload is too much. And even though my boss tells us to leave at five 30, I find myself staying at the office until six 30 or seven to get my work done. I take a half hour lunch, but other than that, I feel like I'm using my time well. Conflicting advice I get is that some people tell me I just need to suck it up.
And other people tell me that I need to speak up to my boss and put up a boundary. What do you think?
Hmm.
Interesting question. It sounds like [00:11:00] you're working in an office and not at a home, which kind of changes the advice that I'm going to give you, because I feel like I would have a different approach if you were working from home. Okay.
I know you said you're using your time wisely at the office, but what I'm going to suggest that you do is actually create some numbers and evidence around that.
In other words, I want you to measure what you work on and when you work on it, So that means when you get to the office, I want you to keep like, A simple record on a piece of paper or something. From what you are doing from nine to five.
If you spend an hour answering emails, then write that down and measure it.
If you have a 45 minute meeting, measure that, write it down. If you have an impromptu conversation with them and like in the hallway or something, measure that and write it down, track everything until you leave the office at, I think you said five 30. This is just three to four days. This isn't every single day, three to four days.
It's an experiment.
And after this amount of time, you should have something visible that [00:12:00] tells you whether or not you are truly using your time while at the office.
And this is information that you will either use yourself or use in a conversation with a manager.
What do I mean by that? So it could be that by the end of this experiment, you realize that even though in your mind, you thought you were working on, I don't know, let's say a project from 11 to two. Your daily work log reveals that 60% of that time was spent responding to emails that came in and replying to, um, interacting with people who just like popped into your office.
Okay.
And this is really important information that you're going to need to restructure your days so that you are getting fewer interruptions.
Just so you know, by interruptions. I mean like other people and phone calls and emails and things. So like external or something internal like that urge to keep checking your email right now.
If this experiment really does reveal that you really do have enough time in the day, but it just seems, I don't know, to go out the window, then you're going to need to change something. Because if you don't change [00:13:00] something, then you're going to remain in the same situation with the same frustrations. All right.
So what can you change?
First, I want you to make sure that the things you're working on are truly the things that you should be working on. Because sometimes we fill our days with busy work that make us feel productive. But in reality, it's not something that actually moves the needle on the things that we actually want to achieve.
So are you doing any of this? Okay, now the way to figure that out is to look at the main things that you should be working on your actual job description. And schedule time in your day to take action on those projects. Now you could use something like time-blocking.
Now time-blocking is kind of like the opposite of the activity that I assigned you suggested you try, which is like, Go about your day and just write down what you're doing and when during specific times, right?
Time-blocking is when you dictate the terms. The one is data collection. The [00:14:00] first thing that I'm having you do to collect data on how are you actually spending your time that's data collection. You're not changing the way that you go about your day. You're assessing and just observing and collecting data on it.
Time-blocking. When , you look at the hours that you have available in your day and you designate specific tasks to specific times.
And for the most part, these things become non-negotiable. So you say, okay, I'm working on project a from 9 to 10 30. Period. From 9 to 10:30, you are doing nothing but working on that project, you're not checking an email.
If someone comes to your door and you say, Hey, you know what. I'm a, can I get back to you in, um, at 11? Or I forget what time. I just said, but can I get back to you in a bit? I mean, you're not answering your phone unless it's an emergency. You're not doing all those other little things that impulsively creep up into our minds as suddenly urgent tasks that we need to handle.
No. You wrote a time block pant plan for yourself that said I'm working on this thing from here to here. And you are going to hold yourself accountable and you are [00:15:00] going to be dependable to yourself and you're going to do that. Okay. And for the most part, that becomes non-negotiable.
Now another thing you could try is something like office hours.
Now, if you're watching on YouTube, you can like see that I'm doing air quotes when I say office hours. But it's the idea that if someone reaches out to you for a meeting or a conversation, or even a casual, like, Hey, do you have time for a minute to chat or something? Your response could be something like, yes, I'm available between two and four. Okay.
So we tried to answer in the affirmative, but with boundaries. And that is the same answer. You tell everybody over and over and over again. And that means that every hour outside of two and four, you spend working on what you need to do. You do your job. Okay. Between those non-office hours and you protect that time.
Now another thing that you could try, it's just an idea, but you could also consider taking your lunch break at a different time than most people. So most people take their lunch between like noon, right?
Maybe you postpone your lunch break [00:16:00] until 1: 30. And then that's when you get your work done. So you could apply a little strategy there. It's just an idea.
Now what could also come out of this experiment is that you realize that your time assessment that you did is totally accurate from the beginning.
And, your initial assessment when you wrote to me, like I'm using my time
well, maybe you really, really are. I just, I just need you to collect a data to confirm that because we are you know, terrible misjudgers of our own time.
But let's say you look at you complete your experiment and you're like, yep. Nope. That's what I thought I am absolutely maximizing my time.
Well, then that means that this experiment, this experience has generated information that you will use to have a constructive conversation with your manager.
It could be true that your manager might not know exactly what you have on your plate. They might not fully understand the scope of all of the projects you're working on. Okay.
And then it would be on you to bring that up and to work together, to make an adjustment to your schedule. Now, if this is an approach, that you're going to take, then you're going to want to be careful [00:17:00] not to present your case to your boss from a place that I have too much work to do. And like this isn't fair that. That doesn't work.
No one wants that. Instead, I suggest you come up with a few ideas and solutions on your own before you even speak to your boss.
That way you can present both the problem and the solution or a couple solutions at the same time. That approach usually yields a better outcome because managers want solutions.
They don't want problems.
So practically you could set up a meeting with your boss. Okay. If it's possible to do it in person. Um, and it could be something like you know, starting off with, Hey. I am working on project a, B, C, D. Okay. Now, remember this doesn't come from a place of complaint. And like rapport me, it comes from a place of just neutrality.
It comes from a place of, this is what I'm doing. Remove the emotion from it. Maybe they didn't know that you were involved in all of those projects.
And then you could say, um, I am in meetings four hours a week, and I was [00:18:00] thinking that perhaps we can move the deadline on project B so that I can focus on a C and one of my letters. And D for now. How does that sound?
Or something like that.
Okay. And, or maybe you have, it'd be best if you have two solutions kind of in the back of your mind. So if their boss is like, well, that doesn't work with you to say, okay, well, how about this?
Because in most cases, when you make a solid case complete with the evidence that you collected from your work log, your manager is going to want to work with you.
You know, I might add real quick here that you might end up using like both strategies that I shared (adjusting your own personal work systems and removing something from your plate, with the help of your boss, if necessary). That might actually be the best approach.
Okay. So. I hope these answers were helpful. And I want to remind you that you can submit your own questions to be answered on a future Q and A by going to learnandworksmarter.com. That is the website for this podcast.
And on the homepage. If you scroll down just a little bit, there is a form that you can fill out, with your question.
And [00:19:00] you can probably tell from this episode, everything is anonymous. All questions are confidential and I leave out any information like your name or your company, even if you do provide that in the form I'm not going to share any of that here.
So please ask away and feel confident that you are protected. Thank you for listening, please consider leaving a review and a rating.
Please please, that's so helpful. That really does make a world of difference. And remember. Never stop learning.
