Stepping Away from the Chaos
“It’s all about finding the calm in the chaos.”
- Donna Karan
I had a GREAT friend when I was coaching. He was smart. He was a great tactician. He was a great technical coach. He lived in chaos. CONSTANTLY!
I was talking to the guy my friend worked for on the football staff. He told me, “You know your friend would be a coordinator on any other team, if he got the f@#k out of his own way.”
I couldn’t agree more. He caused each and every one of his own problems.
Do you know people like this? Are you like this? Always in a hurry. Never having enough time. Constantly chasing. Usually, late. And … “it’s not your fault”.
Living In Chaos
I understand “shit happens” sometimes at the worst time possible. I had a chance to be the head strength coach at a major college football team, and then I was diagnosed with cancer, and the school dropped my name from the process. I had nothing to do with it. Shit happened.
But in most cases, individuals cause their own chaos. They’ll argue and give you “excuses” for why they are always running out of time. Why their work is substandard. Why they had to stay late. Why they came to the meeting late. Why they lost the information that they needed. Why their car ran out of gas.
Yes, they always seem to have legit excuses for all the chaos. Shit does happen. But not the same shit every week. When it becomes repetitive then it’s not the “shit” that is happening, it becomes the “shit” that you are neglecting to do when you have time to do it is not getting done. This traffic jam of projects that need to be done builds up; which leads to the chaos. The problem is not “chance”, it’s caused by the person.
Climbing Out of the Chaos
So how can we stop the “shit storm” that surrounds us? Two words:
Time Management.
Time management is about using the time you have as efficiently as possible. It’s about taking control of your life and making sure that it allows you to show your true strengths and abilities. Here is a simple plan to better organize your time:
· Make a Schedule: Understand what each hour of each day will require of you. These are the known items that you deal with each day.
· Follow Your Schedule: It’s easy to write stuff down but it’s hard to follow up and make sure you stay on that schedule.
· Leave Air in Your Schedule: Some projects take longer than others. Sometimes we miscalculate how long a project will take to complete. Always leave time. Also, if something takes less time, move an item up in its scheduled spot and start working to get ahead
· STOP PROCRASTINATING: Stop underestimating the time that it will require to finish a task. Remember it wasn’t the visible ice that sank the Titanic, it was the ice that they didn’t account for (that was not visible) that was the demise of the “unsinkable” cruise liner. Too many times we see a project that we have allotted a certain amount of time to. But because we think it won’t take as much time, we decide to hang out in the break room or watch some social media clips. When we get around to working on the project, we see that we miscalculated and the job is bigger than we estimated. So, we fall behind, which snowballs into other projects not getting done. Get the job done on schedule by staying on schedule stop putting it off.
· Plan Ahead: Take advantage of your personal time to take care of your personal needs. Don’t wait until it becomes an issue to take care of these items. I never let my truck get under a half tank of gas. I also have my tires checked four times a year. I also service my car when it is due. I added this to my “daily schedule”. I also set my clothes out, my breakfast items and my keys and other items, the night before. I also set two alarms. One plugged in and another that is either battery operated or my phone. Stay one step ahead of “shit happening” by planning ahead!
· Find Order: Too many people who are always in chaos cause this themselves by living in an environment that is chaotic. Instead of filing items, they throw them on their desks. Instead of making a list of people to contact they just hope to remember to call them. To fix this set up a “rolodex” of business cards and contact info, either on their phone, computer or the old style of a physical rolodex where they can get in contact with who they need to help expedite their life. When you get a new schedule pin it up on your wall or mirror. Make note on your phone by setting alarms and alerts on your phone. When you are climbing the ladder things come fast and furious. Make sure you are controlling your chaos by keeping your environment under control.
These are six simple steps to working on your Time Management skills. This will help you to organize what you claim to be a “chaotic world” that is out to get you. In truth, it is a plan that simplifies all of the rough spots in your life.
To show you how it can be used, here are the scenarios where excuses were used that I listed earlier in the article. After the excuse you will find how one of the six steps of Time Management could have been used to prevent the “shit” from happening:
Excuse / Solution
I have listed the six excuses that I mentioned earlier in the article. Using time management here is how these can be solved very easily.
Scenario #1
Excuse: They always stay later because they’re always behind in their work because they were given more work.
Solution: Make a Schedule: If they plan ahead, they know when they will be overloaded. To expand their time, they could come in earlier and get ahead of your daily schedule. My good friend Kris Richard would be the first coach in the building. He would start his day hours ahead of the rest of the staff. At this time of the morning the office is quiet. He got his work done so that all he had to do after practice was to meet with his players and go over the practice film and then he was out of the building. The rest of the staff hung out in the cafeteria “yucking it up”. His priority was finishing his work to go spend time with his family rather than sit around with people who didn’t see their family as a priority.
Scenario #2
Excuse: Their work was substandard because they didn’t have time to get it the way they wanted it.
Solution: Follow the Schedule: Had they done the work when they had the time, they would have done the work that was expected. No excuses. But they deviated from the schedule. Instead of building their Power Point presentation the night before, they put it off until the next morning. Only to find the computer system was down. If they prioritized their schedule, they would always have time to do quality work.
Scenario #3
Excuse: They haven’t finished their work because it took longer than they had planned, and they ran out of time.
Solution: Leave Air in Your Schedule: This is where you beat “shit happening”. Always leave time in your schedule to make sure that you have an answer when things go longer than scheduled. We have all been in that “fifteen-minute meeting” that ended up lasting an hour. This could screw up a “tight schedule”, but if we leave time in our schedule for events like this you will stay on schedule.
Scenario #4
Excuse: They were late because they were on a phone call trying to find the answers they were looking for.
Solution: Stop Procrastinating: The person you were on the phone with could have answered your question in 2 minutes. Instead, you decided to “catch up” with your buddy. You lose track of time, “oh shit, I got to run”, and you’re late for another meeting. Here is an idea, after you get the answer, you are looking for tell your buddy that you will call them that evening, or during the upcoming weekend. But, then again, this would use “their” time, when “your” time is free for them.
Scenario #5
Excuse: They didn’t have time all week to stop and fill up their car.
Solution: Plan Ahead: Every night when you drive home you will pass by a gas station. When your car gets near a half tank … fill it up. It takes half as long as it does to fill up a full tank. When your tank is full you will always be prepared for whatever is thrown at you in the area of travel.
Scenario #6
Excuse: They can’t find the directions to the meeting so they show up late.
Solution: Find Order: My friend was always late because he never wrote down the meeting time, or he lost the minute-by-minute itinerary that was handed out to every person on the team, as well as having it sent to his email, which happened to be on the phone that he didn’t charge.
It’s So Simple Yet It’s Also Impossible
It’s as easy as that. When we take control of what we control we live a simple life. But, for some, it is impossible. Time Management means you must slow down and live within the lines of order. Chaos is more fun because it leaves more free time for the individual. When they are late or unprepared the world moves on with or without them.
The chaotic person doesn’t see the problem. They have already built their wall of excuses which never includes a mirror, from which they could see the cause of ALL of their issues.
And this is why my friend never scratched the surface of how far he could have climbed in his career. He stood in his own way. When opportunities to move up to an elevated position came, he was passed over for a younger, less chaotic choice. Who didn’t have to have excuses, because they did their job, when it was time to do the work that was at hand. Their ordered life allowed the people who the hiring to feel confident that they would be successful in their new position.
My friend would always have an excuse for why he had been passed over.
Find order in your life and you will never have to make an excuse.
Have an amazing day!
