Making the Maps: Work and Life

Escaping the busy trap and making hard decisions easier

What are they doing all day (in the other department, in the other organization)? This uncomfortable question strikes deep for us social sector professionals. Unlike our for profit counterparts, we are constantly worried that our work, organizations and lives are less justified since they are not generating direct quantifiable profit. We fall into these fears and down into the alluring busy trap where we do everything to appear busy (and thus validated) to others. This non-profit must be important/useful/valuable since I and my co workers are so busy all the time. 

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Wrong. This fear based approach to work in the social sector is harming our overall productivity and creating imagined stress. We can break out of this common but damaging pattern by knowing our overall life and work goals. Then we can use smart prioritization to know that we are working on the right things directly and deeply. 

Define what is important to you: Make a map for your work / life
How many strategic planning, management or evaluation processes have you attended in you social sector organization. I’ve been a part of around 40 over my 16 year career in the international humanitarian social sector. Why did it take me until a few years ago to start applying some of these ideas to myself? 

The mapping process is different from normal strategic planning process because it is systems oriented rather than goal oriented. Defining end states rather than specific goals lets you be flexible and adaptable in an unpredictable world but keeps you on the big picture right track. Develop metrics around specific project and experiments but avoid them for the overall assessment as you would have project too far in the future to be accurate. You also might run the risk of under promising not reaching the outer edge of your potential in order to meet your goals. 

The Process
For me making a life and work map had the following process:

The Awakening - realizing that things were good and mediocre, but that they could be so much better with self examination and purposeful action. 

Seeing things as they are - Taking an honest and sometimes painful look at yourself and your work, Moving away from delusional thinking to true assessment of your current status. 

Intervention of Ideas - Reading, learning, watching others who have traveled similar paths to learn the techniques of making a map, changing direction, or living the best life. 

Making the map - The map idea comes from Tony Robbins’s Massive Action Plan but tuned to our social sector environment. The components are below. As you design your work and life maps, get massively certain on the outcomes and missions that you are defining:

• Systems (Meditation, modeling for success, abundance orientation)
• Principles / Values (Principles that guide you)
• Limiting mindsets (limiting scripts that have been ingrained)
• Breaker scripts (scripts that I now use to overcome these mental blocks)
• Mission statements (I have different statement for different parts of my work, as well as on overarching statement for the big picture.)
• Why for each mission  (ultimate desired end state for each separate mission - what is the overall feeling and state that you are trying to achieve? This keeps the focus on a flexible outcome rather than narrow rigid goal)

My career map has these elements:

• Compelling outcome statements (what am I working for)
• Systems (web presence, products)
• Missions (divided into issue area)
• Clients (clear description of who I’m trying to help, I have different client groups established for each business mission)
• Business components (services, tools, networks, email lists)
• Ways of working (Mindset, strategy sessions, celebrating small wins)
• Principles / Values (Principles that guide your work)
• Exit strategy (what’s my ultimate exit strategy for my work, how would I pass this on?)

Practically speaking I have defined columns for each of these items in a Trello Board so that I can easily notate, review and evolve these maps. 

Techniques, tactics and actual pathways will always vary in the real world. Feeling the change that this mapping process brings is the key benefit. Committing to massive action on these items is the first step. Then it is time to execute the steps behind each element. Carve time and space into your weekly routine to take this massive action. Take purposive, micro steps on the macro vision. Trust in your system while always looking for ways to adapt and improve that system. 

The purpose of this process is to maximize your happiness and tranquility as you strive for your defined outcomes. We are never trading this moment for an imagined future. We are living and loving the struggle and the satisfaction that comes with the effort of moving toward your chosen outcome. 

Working on the right things
When people ask you how you are at work the social sector default is “so busy” and the scripted response is, “oh yeah, me too, this week is crazy”. Why is this week crazy? As a smart social sector professional you know your work and life goals. You know how to sort the various tasks to know the most important, and can make time to do the least urgent but most important activities for your best working hours. Try responding to this standard script exchange with: “I’m doing great, working really intensely on a few key things and getting them done really well”. 

Busy means you don’t control your time, environment or focus. Being smart and focused is where we all need to be as high performing social sector professionals. Controlling your focus and directing it the right things is what differentiates you in a social sector professional setting and helps you do the best work for those you are trying to help.  

Using the Maps
Using this technique of life and work mapping can help you have a good answer to the “what are they doing over there all day” most importantly for yourself. You also have a  good response when someone else asks this question. 

The life and work maps can also help you make difficult decisions with a clear mind. Before I had my maps in place, decision making was a stressful process with endless rounds of pro/con lists and paralyzing indecision, or a rapid yes or no answer that was based on my feelings in that moment rather than a real evaluation of the opportunity. 

Social Sector Titans are often faced with work related choices:

• Should I stay in my current job or work arrangement or seek something different? 
• How do I choose between a higher level position at an international location with higher professional and personal/family risk, or a more connected and satisfying personal/family arrangement with a lower level work arrangement?
• I’m losing my job, what do I do now? 

Decisions will always be challenging due to the psychological human tendency to experience the fear of missing out (FOMO). The maps can help you easily compare each opportunity to your work and life maps. How does the opportunity fit in with your travel on each map? Can you see each element fitting as a step toward the feelings, states and relationships that you ultimately seek? 

Knowing your end state and imagined future is a powerful way to measure incoming opportunity and tough choices in work and life. Always remember that we have the privilege of this choice, the lucky few with the hard work and luck to be able to decide between varying degrees of excellence. 

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