Tools for the Pivot: How to Get Back on Track After Every Transition
"You asked, let’s talk about it…” series.
I worked with a coaching client last week, and she's awesome. I will not get too specific, because I'm always bound by confidentiality! But I think what she has to say and the questions she asks will resonate with my readers and listeners. And I told her that she could absolutely expect that her question might end up in future articles and episodes!
It’s summer. We know that.
It’s summer, she is a busy professional, a professional working mom who also owns her own business. She’s awesome, a great person and highly productive. With the kids home and the shift to summer schedules, though, the schedule has gotten more complex and she is struggling a bit.
She shared that the routine she had worked to create this Spring as we worked together (she did all the work for sure!) had been working well while school was in session. She had identified the different roles and responsibilities in her life. She created productivity blocks for her work days and maintenance blocks for tasks around the house and for self care. (Like I said, she’s awesome!)
She had figured things out, which was great, but the schedule has changed and she has to figure it out again. Sound familiar? Yeah, me too.
What she asked for specifically were “tools for the pivot”. Rules for the pivot, tools for pivoting. As we talked it through, though, the tools weren’t for surviving and thriving this summer - they have that down and are having fun! The tools for the pivot are for managing many more transition times during the day and still getting work done.
Can you relate? I can.
Her workload hasn’t changed with the season, but she identified that she has more transitions in her day when the kids are off than she does when they're in school. 9 months of the year, she drops them at school, goes home, spends a few minutes on house tasks, then proceeds with her regularly scheduled workday. She picks them up from school, maybe they have evening activities, they go to bed, and she puts in a few more work hours. Summer, though… everyone gets up later, goes to bed later, has a variety of activities during the day and or are just home more.
She wanted to look at “Tools for the pivot”, to re-focus as the pivots happen moment to moment in her workday. The pivot is more granular than a pivot for the season. It’s more like, “I just dropped off my son at soccer camp. I have an hour until I need to pick him up. I can either take my computer with me and just stay, or I can come home and try to work from home, but I still need to be back here again in an hour. And what am I supposed to be doing in this hour, anyway?!” Her pivot is a pivot back to productivity.
Makes sense to me. And this isn’t just a summer question, or a working mom with kids home question. It’s an All Of Us question. I've said before... on my podcast and then other times, that getting good at transitions can improve all the moments in your day.
One suggestion resonated with her, and perhaps it will resonate with you as well! Enter - my post-it note.
I mentioned to my client that I had a post-it note above my desk. I love post-it notes, of course, I have them in dozens of colors, they’re just so cheery! But I only keep a few in my line of sight. I shared with the client one in particular I made as a tool for myself for those Pivot Times, as my client calls them. I needed an easy and consistent way to re-focus every time I transitioned in my day.
It is titled “Start the Work”, and has two columns.
The left side is a list of the things I need to “QUICKLY CHECK ON” as I sit down to do the work, whether I have 20 minutes or 5 hours. The right side is “Do the Work”. Starting the work and Checking on the things and Doing The Work are three different steps. And they all need to happen.
The list reminds me to check on, in order,
To Do List
The journal where I jot things down when I am out and about
Personal email
POM (my company) email
Texts
Phone Calls
The good news is, very often, when I sit down in my office or get home from a client appointment (transition times for me), nothing new has come up since the last check in and I can get on with my planned work on my to-do list.
And, sometimes, after Checking In, something new and urgent has come up, for example a text from a client about tomorrow’s appointment or a call from the doctor’s office, and I deal with that before getting back to my planned work.
The practice remains, though. It is so easy to get off track, or forget what it is I intended to get done today. So I realized long ago that I could use a quick list to check in on - just CHECK - as I transition back to productive time - to conquer distraction and set myself up to succeed. And hopefully get to Doing the Work a little quicker or more smoothly.
The other idea for today is another post-it note.
When I mentioned to this client the Post-It with the Start of Work and Checking In process listed, I showed her my post-it on my desk, and right next to it is my “Homing” Post-it note, too. (https://www.peaceofmindpo.com/blog/the-importance-of-filling-your-cup)
Perhaps to you, it seems crazy that I need to leave myself a note to take care of myself. But I do. And if a note helps that happen, let’s have a note. I won't judge me. I hope you don't either.
On the Homing list are:
Drink Water
Playlist
Snack or Meal
Shower? Change clothes.
Next event?
Transition bags
Bookkeeping
Curtains, lights, check the mail
And she really liked this list, too. She said WATER! Because we’re all dehydrated all the time.
First, What would that list look like for you?
The “Homing” post it note idea resonated with this client, and also sparked an idea to try this with her kids. Her kids are of an age where getting into this process for them, teaching them the skills to walk this through for themselves, is timely.
That could be a project they work together on as a family - with their own post-it notes! Maybe their lists include, for summer:
Drink water, and or pack a water bottle
Have a healthy snack / pack a healthy snack
Unload your bag from [soccer, volleyball, swim, a sleepover], and repack it for our next adventure.
Shower / change clothes / brush your teeth (or whatever other habit / skill they’re working on), etc.
Today’s suggestions of creating Quick Lists to help us master transitions rely on a few other productivity tools we’ve recently looked at:
Knowing our to-do list is ready
Knowing we have consistent ways to make our plan for the day
Routines
Self-care
The secret isn’t the post-it note, of course. The secret is to have a quick mental checklist that we create with intention and then consistency to get us back on track after our work has been interrupted, either by a work meeting or soccer practice. Regardless of the distraction, we create a reliable way to get back on track, to get things done so we can go do other things!
If you struggle with being productive when your day is choppy, consider creating and using your own quick-list at times of transition to help you get back on track.
And, if you want to take the next step and make a quick list of self care tasks for yourself in those transition moments to help you take care of you, or even help the people around you make their lists too - so much the better!
Let me know how these ideas work for you!
