Have you ever felt like you are in a lose - lose situation with your cell phone? On one hand, if you don't stash it in a drawer for a couple of hours, you will never get anything done. But if you do ignore it, you are going to miss out on important communications and frustrate those trying to get a hold of you and wanting an immediate response. Add on top of that terrible tug-of-war that every time you pick it up to do something productive, you do five things unproductive on it. What a time to be alive! As a Director of Athletics at a thriving school and athletic department, I have 70+ coaches and 8 directors that I'm directly responsible to communicate with. Somehow, I have to fit my wife and three kids in too! While my life is complicated so is yours! I'm sure you have a never-ending list of people that need to communicate to you also. Here's how I've prioritized what to do with my phone when it buzzes, rings, tweets, or beeps at me...
STOP WHAT I AM DOING AND PICK IT UP - I want certain people in my life to be able to rely on me and that requires being available to them when they need or want my attention. My wife and my children are on this list and as far as I can tell, they will always be on this list and no one else. If they call or text and I see it, I stop what I'm doing and answer.
SEE THE NOTIFICATION AND PICK IT UP UNLESS I'M INVOLVED IN SOMETHING THAT IS MORE IMPORTANT - My in-season coaches go onto this list as well as the 'inner circle' of people I share an office suite with. Their time is precious and they depend on my to support. When they call I know it is likely to be about something that is on a short timeline so my quick reply sends a message that they are important. If I'm engaged in something with my superiors or family, I will get back to my coaches as soon as I'm done. This means that getting back to them jumps to the top of my priority list. If I'm engaged in most any other interaction, I will interrupt it to answer my in-season coaches.
GET BACK TO THEM DURING IN-BETWEEN MOMENTS - I'm on the move a lot, walking a sprawling campus or driving to athletic events at other schools. There are lots of people in my life that are not on the first two lists that are still important for me to get in touch with. I reserve them for the 'in between' moments. It's during these in-between moments that I can have a quick, yet important conversation with people that need to hear from me.
MEH - This is the most important thing you'll read in this post. Far too often we have carried an antiquated perception of communication into an over-connected day and age. Read this next statement carefully: You do not have to get back to everybody that reaches out to you! The old mantra of calling anyone back that calls you used to work because not everyone could reach out to you. That is no longer true. Everyone can reach out to you but not everyone should be called or texted back. I would put most of the people you communicate with on this list and relieve yourself of the pressure to get back to them. They're probably so busy trying to deal with how many people are contacting them that they have totally forgotten they even reached out to you.
STOP WHAT I AM DOING AND PICK IT UP - I want certain people in my life to be able to rely on me and that requires being available to them when they need or want my attention. My wife and my children are on this list and as far as I can tell, they will always be on this list and no one else. If they call or text and I see it, I stop what I'm doing and answer.
SEE THE NOTIFICATION AND PICK IT UP UNLESS I'M INVOLVED IN SOMETHING THAT IS MORE IMPORTANT - My in-season coaches go onto this list as well as the 'inner circle' of people I share an office suite with. Their time is precious and they depend on my to support. When they call I know it is likely to be about something that is on a short timeline so my quick reply sends a message that they are important. If I'm engaged in something with my superiors or family, I will get back to my coaches as soon as I'm done. This means that getting back to them jumps to the top of my priority list. If I'm engaged in most any other interaction, I will interrupt it to answer my in-season coaches.
GET BACK TO THEM DURING IN-BETWEEN MOMENTS - I'm on the move a lot, walking a sprawling campus or driving to athletic events at other schools. There are lots of people in my life that are not on the first two lists that are still important for me to get in touch with. I reserve them for the 'in between' moments. It's during these in-between moments that I can have a quick, yet important conversation with people that need to hear from me.
MEH - This is the most important thing you'll read in this post. Far too often we have carried an antiquated perception of communication into an over-connected day and age. Read this next statement carefully: You do not have to get back to everybody that reaches out to you! The old mantra of calling anyone back that calls you used to work because not everyone could reach out to you. That is no longer true. Everyone can reach out to you but not everyone should be called or texted back. I would put most of the people you communicate with on this list and relieve yourself of the pressure to get back to them. They're probably so busy trying to deal with how many people are contacting them that they have totally forgotten they even reached out to you.
Keep on, keeping on, friends!
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‘Bite Down and Don’t Let Go’ is a collection of writings on being intentional about life in a way that produces great persistence. Read about it more here.
Dr. Chris Hobbs is an educational leader and Director of Athletics at The King’s Academy in West Palm Beach, Florida. He’s earned a few degrees and won some awards. He’s happily married to his high school sweetheart and they have three teen age children. Life is messy and complicated most of the time. You can follow him on Twitter for all sorts of inspirational thoughts and good laughs.
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