It has been that final long weekend of the summer, and the weather has been glorious.

Having the extra day really does make all the difference – I even managed to put pen to paper, helped along by a great conversation with Paul Jozefak this week on all things AI (thanks, Paul!).

It has been a while since my last note, and I’ve been reflecting on just why this is.

Writing is something that I enjoyed after all, yet over the summer it seemed to fall away, as though I had run out of ideas or things to say.

Now, I don’t necessarily think that this was the case, but there has been plenty going on, and certainly the world around AI – and in general – it has been stimulating.

Only this week, for example, Microsoft launched COPILOT for Excel… a bit of a game changer, I think. Also, exploring the role of AI for extended research has been proving super useful and informative, too.

I think the reason for the pause, though, as always, comes down to time and priorities… Sometimes it seems life simply catches up with you.

Between work commitments and what sometimes feels like the non-stop duties of an unpaid taxi driver, time gets squeezed.

What hours there are at the weekend, those usually set aside for writing seemed to be replaced by the need to complete video editing, hours which in turn wer replaced by other work needing to be completed for customers.

Now, of course, this is not all bad – the work is a good thing. Now it is at this point people often use the phrase “it’s a good problem to have”… I know, I know. But the keyword in this sentence is problem – a problem is still a problem, and so something needs to give!

Without resolution, at times this can feel like being on a treadmill – just getting through the things that need to be done. And whilst you can run on a treadmill for a while, eventually you get exhausted… or fall off!

So, what do you do when life fills up with urgent and important tasks (and let’s be honest – quite a few urgent but not important ones too)?

Do I stop mowing the lawn? Stop making bread? Stop spending time catching up with the latest season of Foundation on Apple TV?

OK, the last one can maybe wait, but the danger in pushing aside these “important but not urgent” things is that your life becomes more dull. These things are often, the spice of life – the activities that help you grow, learn something new, and stay energised. So my resolution has been to look for efficiencies or re-assess the priorities once it has settled down… maybe in some cases, important trumps urgent!

The same, of course, is true at work too. We all face a constant stream of urgent demands, many of them driven by others.

But are we making time for those important and maybe not urgent tasks? The ones that you enjoy, that are a bit of fun, allowing us to develop and feel fulfilled over the long run?

Something worth pondering as I head outside to clear the early windfalls from the apple tree (urgent but not important – LOL).

Have a good week, all.

This past week, I was back in Manchester for the PSR event, discussing how we can better use data and collaboration to support customers.

The weather was glorious, and even the moon popped out to advertise Premier Inn later in the evening.

As with quite a few events recently, I spent some time front of house chairing, helping to keep things running along. It can be a busy time, and also challenging, juggling responsibilities for content delivery while also making time to chat with everyone.

There is a fabulous book, Black Box Thinking, that mentions this… the concept of task loading. When managing multiple competing priorities at once, it becomes increasingly difficult to multitask effectively, and at times I found this a bit of a struggle here. There is, after all only so much you can do and think about, before it becomes overwhelming. So if you were at the event, and I seemed distracted, my apologies, this falls in the category of ‘things to do better next time’.

However, it also made me pause to think about how this dynamic can play out in our wider day-to-day work lives.

When deadlines pile up and priorities compete for attention, it’s also true that these, often smaller, interpersonal moments are the ones that get sidelined. It is being ‘stressed’ I suppose. Yet it is also these very moments that are often the most important for building relationships. The things that don’t show up on the to-do list can make some of the biggest differences in how we all work together.

Multitasking Myth

We often tell ourselves we can multitask.

These days it seems it is common to see people replying to emails during meetings, checking their phone for the next message or simply pushing to get things done as fast as possible.

It’s okay, we all do it! I think somewhat a function of technology (because we can) and need (because we have so many things we need to do) in today’s world.

Even last night I was ‘multi-tasking’ watching a movie on TV (Conclave, it is quite topical)… checking real life details, locations, where I know that actor from, etc.. in the background during the movie… the whole multi-tasking behaviour is getting quite pervasive.

However, the truth is, when the cognitive load gets too high, something has to give. Be it details of the film, or missing chatting with folks in a meeting. You can feel it.

Making time

So what is the solution… I mean we are not about to be asked to do less, know less or be asked to get less done and whilst sitting around the beach relaxing is a great dream, when not on holiday, it is probably not sustainable over the long run!

The day-to-day reality of work and the work day can be complex, but by taking a work event as an analogy, can we look at this as a work day microcosm to help think about solutions?

Thinking of it in this way, I suppose, makes it is really quite simple: we need to be more deliberate about creating free space (at events and in our workday), for these conversations and these connections.

The free space doesn’t have goals, objectives and is probably not on the to-do list. This is the reason it is hard, often, to protect the time. This is the real challenge.

We need to build this free space in, to try to step out of the purely transactional mindset a little, to create the time to chat, relax and enjoy it all a bit more. After all, it matters.

And, whilst it matters for ourselves, it also matters for colleagues. Be it you are a leader, manager or owner of a company, think about how to let other people build in time too, it allows us all to work a little smarter.

Looking forward

So whilst I do think double tasking in front of TV will continue to be a struggle… I mean, how else would I have found out that there are exactly 117 miles of track between Manchester Piccadilly and Milton Keynes station.. so at full speed would take less than an hour… fascinating! 🙂

Workwise, I do think this is something that can be more easily built in and definitely something to ponder a little more once the week starts properly (it is something we have already built in for the next event!).

Hope you have had a nice long weekend (May day in the UK).

Have a good week, everyone.