In 2017, I was a young girl, working as a full-time data analyst in an eCommerce commonly known as rokomari.com.
As I was already struggling with my existing roles in the company, I voluntarily joined a team later known as the ‘Growth Hacking Team’. Anyone who is familiar with the term ‘growth hacking’ knows how overwhelming the term can be for anyone who was hearing the words and concepts for the first time in her life.
So there I was, learning to be a data analyst as well as a growth hacker along with the responsibilities I had for the company. There was a time when I had to work until 3 a.m. to complete the tasks that were required to be completed. In one hand, I had to provide necessary reports for the respective teams in my company to help them decide their next step and on the other hand, I had to do growth hacking tests along with my team to figure out the hidden insights to help us grow in this digital era.
After 2/3 months, I was literally exhausted with my work. I was forgetting tasks, attending ineffective meetings were making me frustrated day by day and I couldn’t meet the expectations most of the time. As a result, I stopped loving my work. That was really a tough time for me. And there was a time I was doubting my capabilities to handle two teams work at a time and thinking of giving up.
That’s when it occurred to me, what if it’s not that I have a lot of work! what if it’s me who can’t maintain it!
That’s the moment I got my wake up call…
I talked to my coordinator and chairman of the company… They told me the exact same thing I was thinking… It was me who was not controlling my work properly. They asked me to read the book known as “Procrastinate on Purpose: 5 Permissions to Multiply Your Time” by Rory Vaden. This book literally changed my overall view of time management. I realized my mistakes and decided to give the philosophy of this book a try.
The first and the most important thing I did was to decide to manage my project management application (Trello) more properly. From then to now, this is the single most significant thing I did to change my rugged life into track. When I know what I am doing today more specifically written in somewhere, it becomes so easy to maintain the list. That is the power of written document. You can see and work on it immediately.
There is no need to take pressure for the work you are not supposed to do immediately. Just focus on today and do proper work so that today become significant at the end of the day. And believe me, when I finish a task and fill the checkbox with a tick, it’s like the happiest moment of all.
Nowadays I never felt I am too busy. Because as Rory says…
“Your problem is not that you are too busy; your problem is that you don’t own your situation”
Originally published at medium.com