Fortunately, Northern
Virginia largely escaped with only minor damage from Hurricane Sandy. But the situation
itself brought to mind again that the parallels between preparing for and
experiencing a hurricane and preparing for and handling our typical workday are
many.
Several years
ago, I was teaching a half-day class in Richmond, VA the morning that Hurricane
Isabel was to make landfall. One participant remarked during a break that he
had made no preparations. In fact, he was planning on eating “a big lunch” in
the cafeteria prior to their early release at 1pm. He had minimal food at home.
How often do
you know about upcoming deadlines or events, and still do little preparation or
planning? I hope this person ate “a huge lunch” prior to leaving work, since
finding food after Isabel passed through the Richmond area would have been
difficult at best.
You can learn
lessons from Sandy or Isabel, in both your daily personal and work lives. Each
day, you have to deal with “mini-hurricanes” (crises, phone interruptions,
drop-ins from your boss / colleagues / staff). Are you prepared for them? You
may be asking, “Prepare? How can I prepare?”
There are
things you can do. While you can’t predict the Who, What, Where, When or How of
the “mini-hurricanes”, you can plan your workload on the basis that reactive
demands will happen every day. Prepare by having a realistic daily workload / task
plan for the next few weeks. I call this “planning for the unplanned.”
Your plan may
not be perfect, but when the crisis occurs, you only need to adjust your plan.
You avoid high stress now by referring to your plan and responding confidently
to the new tasks assignments. You avoid the high stress later that comes from
tasks “piling up” as a result of your having previously made unrealistic
commitments.
That person
in Richmond years ago may have tried on the way home (at the last minute) to
stop for food and batteries. But by 1pm, Isabel, the rude uninvited guest, had
already arrived at his door.
