Making time by making space

Does your work require just one type of activity? I’m betting it’s more than that.

In any given week, I probably have a dozen different types of work that need my attention.

Relationships to build and maintain, tough technical problems to solve, long-term strategic plans to attend to, short-term crises that must be handled.

All of those access different parts of my brain.

And it can be really tough to switch from one mode of thinking to another.

For example, for the last two weeks I've been-neck deep in a fun and challenging custom-development project for a client. This is the kind of project that, if I let it, could easily consume my thoughts — all day, every day.

But in the meantime, I know it's important and valuable for me to spend time on other tasks. Like planning and organizing for CiviCon 2025, generating useful contact to my daily mailing list, and answering inquiries from new potential clients.

To make sure I don't get stuck in one thing, I have a simple practice:

I make time by making space.

For writing my daily emails, I get away from my desk and go outside. For planning and strategy, I get away from my desk and take paper and pencil to a cafe or a kitchen table.

And I stay there until the task is done.

Your situation is not so different.

What practical steps do you take to help your brain switch from one mode to another?

Does a short drive or a walk around the block help you clear your mind? Is it worth blocking out an hour each week, or even each day, to focus on important matters that are hard to get your head around?

Here's the thing:

In an ideal world you’d probably have a large team of people to lean on for all kinds of different tasks. But in the real world, most of us don't have that.

It's up to us to make the time and space to focus on all the things that fall to us for the success of our mission.

All the best,
A.