Work feels way busier now than it used to feel. I remember when, for media planners, fourth quarter planning for the following year was crazy and then the rest of the year was used for maintenance, reviewing new opportunities to save for next year, and working on new business and small side projects that come up.
With the change in the economy and the testability of online, year-long plans are a thing of the past. Some of my clients still don’t have their budgets worked out for 2011, some only give seasonal budgets in order to optimize the next season’s plans based on the results, and some had a year-long plan and every quarter it’s completely changed because their business/the environment has changed.
So this is leaving us in planning mode all year long. Plus, online is never set it and forget it, so we’re optimizing and pumping out reports on a continual basis. And we’re starting to find that juggling it all is creating a workload we’ve never seen before. It’s overwhelming.
And while this is happening to us, I see it also happening with creatives, account people, even our accountants. Everyone has to kick up their efficiency in high gear and create more output than ever before.
Luckily, I’ve had the chance to attend Franklin Covey seminars, supervisor seminars, and other workshops on time management. I have actually found that, if I could have any job in the world, I would be a consultant for people to help with time management and help companies figure out more efficient processes for producing work. I’ve seen so many people look at their to-do list and get frozen in figuring out what to do next and what’s the highest priority. I’ve seen companies get stuck in bureaucracy and take twice as long to get something done, or not be able to get it done at all, because “it’s the way they’ve always done it.”
I want to share with you some of my lessons I’ve learned through my busy life. But alas, it looks like I’ve run out of room for this blog post (trying to keep it always under 500 words so you’ll keep reading them). So check out next week’s post where you can get a lesson on ABCs, 123s, monkeys/time sucks, and micro-listing.
Patti is still learning 