When You Don't Get It All Done

It's the end of the first week of classes, and I'll be leaving today with many things undone.  Actually, I often leave work with many things on my to-do list, but usually they are things that can wait.  I have some things that I try very hard to complete by the end of the week, such as minutes of our management team meetings, and I don't much like it when I don't get those things done.

When I was a new assistant professor many years ago, I felt this pressure greatly.  I had very high standards for what I should accomplish in a given day or week, and I frequently found myself not meeting those standards.  One Friday when I was heading home for the weekend, I ran into a colleague.  I was feeling pretty bad about all the things I hadn't gotten done, so I transferred those feelings into a somewhat snarky comment to my colleague:  "So, are you all done?"  He replied, "I'm not done, but I am stopping for the day."  This comment helped me immeasurably.  What a good thought that I could choose to stop and then start another day or week fresh and ready to go.  From then on, I tried hard to consciously agree to stop working when I was tired and to recognize I could do my best work when I allowed myself some rest and relaxation.

So, what are some things you can do when you recognize you aren't going to get it all done?

• Revise your priorities and schedule some tasks into the next day or next week.
• Use your defensive calendaring to set aside time to get caught up.
• Look for things that you don't really have to do and give them up.
• Depending on your job requirements and your family obligations, you might want to fit some work time into your evening or weekend.  But don't overdo this;  remember how important that rest and relaxation time can be.

Last week I promised a cool prize for the best response to my post, and I got a great response from Mandie Johnson, so she'll get the prize on Monday.  Now I'm rethinking how to encourage responses.  Should I offer a prize to everyone who posts?  Or should I just be happy that some of you seem to be reading this?