Question of the Day

[ayoub]

Have you ever been so busy you can't prioritise what you have to do next because everything is critically important?

Comments

[fayruz.livejournal.com]

Yes. Pretty much every other day at work. But I prefer it to not having enough to do, I get bored very easily.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

I like a nice steady busy... Manic tends to get stressful...

[infinitywhisper.livejournal.com]

yep.

I delegate what I can delegate.

I multitask A LOT.

I breath one breath at a time.

And I tell myself it WILL get done.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Multitasking can often be the only way...

**hugs you**

[kosta-pasta.livejournal.com]

sure!
I even forget to pee when I am busy:)
we have a proverb here "when man shaves and pee at the same time it means he's busy, when he does neither -he's really busy"

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Good saying!

[sirenity.livejournal.com]

So instead you answer your friend's 'question of the day' in order to take a break from the madness of it all?

Who me? Noooooo. Why do you ask? ;)

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

LMAO!

[amberpixiewolf.livejournal.com]

Oooooh yes.

Cue caffene and reminding myself to breathe, whilst trying not to let my head spontainiously combust.

Pixie-splat would be a bitch to get out of the carpet ;)

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

We don't want pixie splats!

[pi-girl.livejournal.com]

I feel that way this week. :-/ That perfectly describes my week this week! :-p

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

YEah... I think this will go on until the new year...

[pi-girl.livejournal.com]

awe, thats what resolutions are for then!!! yay! :-)

[the-ravyn.livejournal.com]

Yep, and that when I reprioritize by time instead of importance.  In other words, what can I get done quickly so that I can have more time to spend on stuff that will take longer.

Good luck whittling down your list.  {{{HUGS}}}

[fox-bard.livejournal.com]

That's exactly how I do it.

How's that for family?

[warrior-olight.livejournal.com]

Hah, same here. My last bosses would get furious that I prioritized differntly than they but I met all my deadlines. Hmmm, except for the really stupid ones which I ignored. ;D

I went for the silly response in an attempt to make Ayoub smile.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Silliness is a ton of fun Bro!

[the-ravyn.livejournal.com]

HUZZAH!  Knowing we share another trait just flat out rocks my world!  ::dances::

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

**hugs you**

[artist-writer.livejournal.com]

OMG -- YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Yep... Ugh...

[warrior-olight.livejournal.com]

Why yes, yes I have.
I would go into detail on the subject but I have to:

1. Feed the cat
2. Make coffee
3. Bathe
4. Eat breakfast
5. Get dressed
6. Plan world domination

Hmmmm, upon reflection I think I had better bathe and then dress. Trying to dominate the world can be a tad difficult when running around in bunny slippers and robe. ;)

{{HUGS}} and {{LOVE}} brother

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

LMAO!

:D

**hugs and love** brother :D

[electricsoupie.livejournal.com]

nope, my life is a reverse rollercoaster.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

A reverse rollercoaster?

[mighty-rontor.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the Baltimore City Department of Public FUCKING Works!!!

Everyone has "a rush job." So I tell them, "I'll put your rush job in the pile with the other rush jobs." What I'd liek to tell them is that I'll do their rush job for blow jobs. I think that the rush-jobs-for-blow-jobs work policy would really slim down the bullshit factor at work!

^_^

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Only if all your coworkers are hot babes ;)

[fox-bard.livejournal.com]

Yeah. It was called college. ^__~

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Heh... Yeah.... they like overloading too!

nope

[joggingguy.livejournal.com]

One of the basic principles of maximizing computer throughput that I learned decades ago was that fact that the system needs change if the system is fully loaded. That is, the normal heuristic system that determines which jobs get priority ceases to function effectively at full load because the heuristic system itself cannot get enough time to run. So the answer was to switch to a "round-robin" type of scheduling at full load. Everything gets run in a circle for a specific amount of time. Run task 1 for N number of seconds, run task 2 for N number of seconds, run task 3 for N number of seconds, go back to task 1. This way, the system still gets work done while not wasting cycles on deciding.

I found this applies to people at work as well. People get frustrated because they get overloaded and then cannot figure out what to do next. The simple answer is: If everything is critical, then by definition everything has the same priority. Just pick something and work on it. Simple huh?

When I get a boss that gets irate because stuff isn't getting done fast enough for them and you are overloaded, the conversation becomes this:

"When is xyz going to be ready?"
"I don't know, I'm working on abc right now. Want me to switch?"
"Can't you work on everything at once?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because when the gas pedal is all the way to the floor, stomping it harder won't make the car go faster."
"*fume* Well, work on xyz."
"Ok."

LOL :-)

Re: nope

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

Great way to handle it!

[crescent-fresh.livejournal.com]

nope, can't say that i have.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

[kalquessa.livejournal.com]

Yes. So I quit that job and became a Shiny Receptionist of Doom for more money per hour. For teh win!!

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

YAY!

[laurel714.livejournal.com]

Yes.

I worked as an event promoter and in the press tower of a NASCAR track. In both jobs, I had to multi-task eleventy hundred things that all had to be done RIGHT THEN. When an event is going on, EVERYTHING is a priority. I quite liked working under the gun like that.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:D

It can be energising, and very rewarding!

[empatia.livejournal.com]

Yes...that's all my life is one thing to the next I don't stop, too many people depend on me, I think I need a vacation lol.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

LOL! **hugs**

[mysticpickle.livejournal.com]

Constantly!!

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

Yeah... but sometimes you need some downtime!

[donnickcottage.livejournal.com]

There was this time when my wife was leaving me and my mother had just died and my brother was dying and my father was talking suicide while packing to move 1500 miles away and my boss had quit putting my job in jeopardy... and I tried relationship therapy butmy ex demanded I do therapy on my own at the same time so I took a shot at it but the shrink wanted me to pick a topic to begin with and I couldn't choose between them all. That's not a "busy-ness" problem I know, but it is a lack of ability to prioritize.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

:(

That's rough, my friend...

[avis-noctis.livejournal.com]

Mmhmm. I hate putting one issue before another in terms of "importance" (especially when it comes to academia), so I tend to do little bits of each thing in a rotating fashion, unless one is vastly more time-sensitive than the others, in which case I will work more heavily on it, but still rotate my tasks.

[ayoub.livejournal.com]

That's a good way to do it :)