This quote has been attributed to different people, frequently (and erroneously) to even Andrew Jackson, but in fact it was John W. Raper who said,
"There is no pleasure in having nothing to do; the fun is having lots to do and not doing it."
Oh, man, he sounds healthy! What a laid-back guy! No pressure gets to him? Where do you get that kind of attitude? I want some.
Because, in professional life of a frustrated CFO or Controller having lots to do and not doing it spells disaster, anxiety and depression, not fun. As the matter of fact, "not doing it" is frequently a symptom of a psychological condition experienced by high achievers with multiple responsibilities.
Have you been there, in that scary place? There is so much to do, your subconsciousness tells you that there is no way all these things can be done by you. Your entire being refuses to embark on all these tasks – you stop doing everything. You are so overwhelmed you become paralyzed. Everyday you tell yourself that tomorrow you will get on with it, and then you close your door and play solitaire all day. In other words, you are on your way to a fully blown burnout.
And if you work in a small or mid-size company, no outside help is coming: there are no Employee Assistance Programs or Stress Management Trainings. Nobody will even notice that something is wrong. You are on your own!
But, wait a minute… First of all, take a fucking Xanax and force yourself to use the moment of relaxation it gives you to not do anything at all, but think about your situation. Do it NOW!
Aren't you the self-reliant person who always handled your own problems and overcame all obstacles in front of you. How did you get here in the first place? How did you come to occupy this executive position? Where is that person? There must be some grains of him/her left in you.
Now, take your favorite yellow (or gray) notepad and write down all those tasks that terrify you so much – beats playing computer games. This very long list is your basis. Now start the next list. Title it "Delegate" and transfer here all those tasks you can delegate to your subordinates, or other departments. Every time you list an item to delegate, cross it out on the main list.
And don't tell me you cannot delegate anything – this is an emergency, you can and you must! If you are a one-person show, this is the right time to talk to your boss(es) about hiring help. Go to them with both lists – they might "surprise" you by saying they had no idea your were so overwhelmed.
The remainder of the base list needs to be further divided into four parts:
- Top priority (today and next three business days)
- Short-term plan (next two weeks)
- Long-term plan (next six to eight weeks)
- Tentative plan aka the back burner (next 4 months, or so).
The only list you are going to look at now is that much shorter Top Priority list. Calculate how many tasks you have there – let's say 8. If you work like me, your working day is at least 10 hours. The 4 business days allotted to this list is 40 hours. This means you have 5 hours for each task. That's it – start working on the first one.
Still cannot do it? Then you are in need of serious help – find yourself a good doctor.
You can find more advice in this post Time Organization as Anti-Frustration Tool.
The Frustrated CFO 