Be Your Own Best Boss for Healthier Productivity

So… In this post I’m going to be talking about myself in the third person as if I’m two different people. It’s not too late for you to turn back!

You’re still here? Buckle up and let’s go!

Have you ever sat down to write your to-do list for the day and thought “there’s no way I can get all of this done”, but you still wrote it down in the hopes that somehow you could pull it off?

It used to happen to me all the time. But lately I’ve had a lot of success by changing the way I think about planning and executing work.

I sometimes find it helpful to imagine myself as two separate people with distinct roles. It sounds odd, but it helps me examine the way I treat myself by asking the question: “Would I treat another person this way?”

For example, meet Boss Ben and Worker Ben.

Boss Ben is responsible for planning and creating the daily to-do list. Worker Ben is responsible for getting all of those tasks done efficiently and effectively the next day.

Here’s the problem: When it comes to managing Worker Ben, Boss Ben is kind of a jerk.

Boss Ben is very ambitious and has high expectations. He wants to get as much done as possible each day. Unfortunately he underestimates how long each task will take. He writes down 5 or 10 important tasks for the next day with no prioritization. He is overly optimistic about how much Worker Ben can accomplish in one day.

Not only that, he doesn’t do a good job of passing off each task to Worker Ben. Often the tasks are too vague, or don’t include the information needed to complete the task.

Now let’s hope that none of us would intentionally treat our employees in this way. So why would we do this to ourselves?

Let’s talk about Worker Ben:

Worker Ben knows from experience that Boss Ben probably didn’t think through the tasks properly ahead of time. With no priorities decided, Worker Ben naturally gravitates toward doing the tasks that are quick wins that makes him feel a sense of accomplishment.

He often questions whether certain tasks are even important at all. Maybe Boss Ben didn’t really think them through very well. Since Worker Ben doesn’t trust that Boss Ben made the best decision, it makes it easy for him to procrastinate.

Worker Ben usually does his best to get everything done, but it’s just not realistic. At the end of the day this leaves Worker Ben feeling frustrated and overwhelmed.

Sound familiar? If so, keep reading to see how we can fix it.

How to be your own best boss:

Let’s apply the principles of being a good boss to how you treat yourself.

Prioritize your tasks

Make it a habit to pick 1-3 top tasks for the day. I recommend choosing just one most important task. Then if you get to more, it’s a bonus!

Prepare the info you need

Collect any relevant files, documents, or information ahead of time so that you can just get started when it’s time to execute.

Set realistic goals

Don’t expect more from yourself than you would a good employee. Having unrealistic expectations will leave you disappointed.

Be kind to yourself

Don’t beat yourself up if you don’t accomplish everything you wanted to get done. Sometimes there are external factors outside of our control, or maybe we just have an off day. Be kind to yourself like you would a friend.

How to be your own best worker:

Let’s take a look at how imagining that you’re working for someone else can help you be more productive for yourself too.

Trust your plan

Be confident while you’re executing that you took the time to think through the task and the priorities.

Focus on execution

In worker mode keep your mind laser-focused on the best way to get the task done instead of questioning it, which can lead to procrastination.

Make yourself proud

Just like you’d want to make your boss proud, make yourself proud. Work hard so that you can look back at the end of the day and feel good about what you accomplished.

I ran this concept of this post past a few friends this week. Some of them immediately identified with this problem, and others looked at me like I was crazy.

How about you? Are you ever a bad boss to yourself?