Find your Inner Monica Geller: Get everything done and stay sane while doing it

By Audrey Hood

Audrey Hood shares how being organized helps her minimize stress and find balance between work and home.

As professional communicators we’re often stretched to our limits. Even with small teams and small budgets, we’re regularly pressed to make big impacts. We need to get an audience and then we need to keep that audience engaged. So we try to use the channels available in creative ways to get positive outcomes, at the same time making sure we prove our value so this means we are given the chance to do more and drive even better results. And of course, we’re doing all of this during a pandemic, fostering connections among employees while at times feeling adrift ourselves. Is there any doubt we’re fatigued?

The question is, how do we keep ourselves energized, connected, and engaged in our work? And how do we avoid burnout?

My personal sanity-saving tactic might sound a little underwhelming. It’s not some newfangled technology or ground-breaking process. But it is tried and true, and allows me to get things done – and on time too. It also minimizes stress and anxiety and lets me save “brain-space” (I just made that up, but you can use it!) to focus on other things when the workday is done.

It’s “Being Organized.”

Fans of the ‘90’s tv series “Friends” will know what I mean when I say I tap into my inner Monica Geller. Some might say she was a little over the top in her meticulous ways, but I can identify with the satisfaction she gets in getting her ducks in a row. And here’s what it looks like for me.

Long ago, I recognized that no employer is going to set the boundaries for me. It is up to me to define my work/life parameters, mainly by deciding how much time I give to my work (outside of what I am being paid for). It also falls to me to find ways to manage my stress. I’ve found that setting these boundaries has been the greatest act of self-care I could exercise. Over the years, I’ve honed a few key methods to help me do that and still meet or exceed my work objectives.

1. Keep a detailed “WBS” of deliverables

Borrowed from the world of Project Management, a WBS is a Work Breakdown Structure – or a Work-Back Schedule. It’s kind of a “to do list” on steroids, and it gets granular. I break down every one of my major or recurring deliverables into its key parts. Then, starting with the date it’s due, I plan each step I’ll take to get there, taking into account how long each step will take, until I arrive at the date when I need to begin working on it.

I do this in an excel worksheet that I can filter and sort. Some deliverables are recurring; I can plan for them, and I’ll do this quarterly, bi-annually, or even annually. Other things are ad-hoc, and I’ll add them as I go.

True, doing this planning work takes some time. But the ROI (Return on Investment) is high, not just in time saved, but also in the amount of “brain-space” I create. I can let my mind unwind at the end of the day. I’m not anxiously ruminating on whether I’m on top of things. I don’t forget important tasks. Each week, I can see exactly what work is on the list and structure those seven days to accomplish it.

I can also see immediately if a given week or month will be an exceptionally heavy lift and could jeopardize my ability to meet deadlines or cause me to sacrifice quality. Which leads me to my next tactic.

2. Prioritize and re-prioritize

If something new is added to the list and it tips the scales in a way I can’t accommodate, I know it’s time to either call for help from a colleague or see what I can reprioritize.

And yes, during a crunch period it means I might choose to reprioritize personal tasks that aren’t critical to do right now so that I can invest more of my time and energy in my work. Sure, I need to stay on top of paying my bills and making sure we have toilet paper in the house, but is it important that I vacuum three times a week? Does that yard work have to be done right now?

Now, there is an inherent risk we run in our quest to be ultra-productive. When push comes to shove, we tend to deprioritize “play” in favour of getting the “work” done, and we remove activities (or rest) that could help us to replenish our reserves. We’ll order take-out instead of cooking a healthy meal. We’ll skip exercise. We’ll sacrifice sleep. We’ll stop calling friends or family to chat. We’ll put that favourite hobby aside, “just for now.” This is when we start to feel that between work-work and home-work, all we’re doing is work, and we start to lose our mojo.

Each person needs to decide for themselves which tasks are discretionary or flexible, but I urge you to consider that not everything needs to be perfect to be good enough. Sometimes good enough is perfect. It’s OK to let yourself off the hook sometimes.

3. Weekly meal planning

This one might seem a little off-centre, but I speak from personal experience when I say that this is a cornerstone habit. At the end of a busy day, I don’t have the mental capacity to come up with a meal idea for myself and my family and ensure that I have all the right ingredients on hand – as well as the time needed to prepare it!

Every Friday, I spend an hour planning our meals for the coming week and making our shopping list. We get the groceries on Saturdays, and rarely have to make an extra trip mid-week. This saves time and mental stress, not to mention money, and we’re able to serve healthy meals without resorting to calling for pizza or sushi on the regular.

4. Use my tech

To hold all the above together and save that “brain-space” for other more interesting things than my to-do list, I use technology to set up reminders such as the following:

✓ Start prepping for my meeting with Sam White on the Comms Calendar.

✓ Take the chicken out of the freezer on Tuesday so it’s thawed in time for Wednesday’s dinner.

✓ Download the survey results after the close date.

✓ Cancel my subscription to that app before it auto-renews.

✓ Send the team update for approval before the end of day.

✓ Angela’s birthday is next week, get a gift.

You get the idea. I have reminders popping up on my phone and laptop every day, several times a day, for both personal and work-related tasks. Combined with my WBS, these electronic prompts allow my mind to relax, and I can fall asleep peacefully each night.

That’s it. Nothing earth-shattering, just a few solid, practical ways that make a world of difference for me. I hope some of them will help you too!