cbillowes/curious-programmer-helium

---
title: "Days that rush away"
cover: "https://picsum.photos/1600/800/?image=396"
date:   2016-05-09 23:30:10 +0200
category: "tech"
tags:
    - Productivity
---

> Are you busy but don't feel productive? I feel this way sometimes. It is
> exhausting. How can we find ways to feel fulfilled and accomplished at the
> end of the day?

Rushed days leave me feeling exhausted. Today was one of those days. Events
were back-to-back. Emails and instant messages were streaming in. There was
little time to breathe.

Have I fallen victim to "[rush hour syndrome](http://smartblogs.com/leadership/2014/05/19/the-rush-syndrome-how-it-affects-your-health-and-your-job/)"?

When days get filled to the brim with noise and tasks that cannot be completed,
how can we not feel exhausted and unaccomplished? Surely this can't be healthy.

-   **It's affected my memory**: And not in a good way. My memory gets worse
    when I'm doing too many things at once. Stand-ups are challenging as I struggle
    to recall the mixture of interlaced tasks that I juggled the day before.

-   **Quality suffers**: If I can't focus on something and do that well, the
    quality will take a knock. Constant context-switching and multi-tasking
    are a real threat.

-   **Expectations aren't met**: If I am too busy I struggle to get round to
    [managing expectations](/blog/manage-expectations). If business is expecting
    something but there is something else keeping me busy, they need to be aware of
    it.

-   **TODOs spiraling out of control**: Production bugs, changes, queries, issues,
    improvements, suggestions... the list just grows. It feels like a mountain
    growing on my back.

## What went wrong?

Some days I am very good at tackling things. Today I felt like an imposter.
I felt like I had no idea of what I was doing and all my improvements went out
the window. Everything felt like a mammoth task that
couldn't easily be completed. How did I get here?

### Taking on too much

I am overburdened this month - both in my personal and professional
capacity. I've committed to too much. Much like a sprint, I need to cut down
my commitments to manageable chunks which alleviates pressure. Challenging
myself is good but spreading myself thinly causes exhaustion.

### Less time for myself

By taking on too much I have little time to breathe. I need to make time to
meditate again. This helped align my mental being with the physical world.
I do Pilates and Yoga twice a week and am in a better state of mind afterwards.

### Playing other roles

I have eight years of experience being a one person team. If something needs to
be done I am naturally able to complete it, regardless of the role required.
This doesn't go down well in a corporate as I can't possibly do everything
on my own. Sometimes I forget this.

If I have an impediment, I usually sort it out myself. This eats into the time
for the work that I have committed to completing. Depending on the nature of
the impediment, sometimes I need a friendly reminder from a Scrum Master to say,
"Hey you, I am here. Let me help you."

### I stopped documenting "task creep"

I had a great conversation with my Product Owner one day about how I was
struggling to keep track of all sorts of tasks that crept into a sprint. She
suggested keeping a journal. It helped with remembering what kept me busy
during the day. I could also raise flags that could improve our process and
escalation procedures.

When I'm overwhelmed, writing things down feels like it's adding to the things
I need to do, so I slipped out of it. This was a mistake.

### Not asking for help

I had a list of things I needed to do but wasn't finding time in the sprint to
do them. I raised this with the team. They gladly offered to pick up a task
and help out where they could as it affected our team and product.

### Being hard on myself

These are all bad habits that I am trying to improve on. Like any habit it is
hard to unlearn overnight. When I feel overwhelmed, the habits are triggered
and I am back to square one. Instead of feeling like an imposter, I should just
acknowledge that I am having an off day and get assistance where I can.

## My final thoughts

By being aware of my flaws I am able to actively improve on them. It may not go
as well as expected each day but that's okay. Being hard on myself isn't going
to help me.

Trusting in a team and working in an environment where you are granted the
opportunity to continuously learn and improve is something I can leverage on.

For now some days may be rushing by but who knows what the future will hold if I
keep on improving?

> If you have experienced this or have found ways to improve your day, please
> share in the comments below. It is a great way to learn through the experience
> of others.