Business Word

One Step Ahead

by Anton Holland

"Anton, where’s your column?"

Unfocused feeling of panic. Nervous twitch. Defensive mode switched on.

"Well, it’s right there, ready to see the light of day ... sitting on the cusp of creation, just about —"

"It’s not done yet, is it?"

Damn, he’s onto me. Helm, evasive manoeuvres!

"That all depends on what you mean by done exactly ..."

"We’re out of time. We’ll have to post without it this issue."

Regular visitors to Writer's Block will have noticed that Business Word was missing from the Summer 1997 issue. There's always a reason for such omissions or incomplete tasks. In this issue, I’ll share my reasons with you in the hope that you can avoid the hazards that made me stumble.

Those of us who work in the field of documentation find ourselves constantly trying to monitor many documents, people, facts and figures, and issues. Of course, the key to juggling myriad details and bits of information is good organization.

Last spring, I was deluged with work. I was the principal research and writing resource on several projects, in addition, I was acting as manager to several staff members in our firm. Everything seemed to be going smoothly at first. Meetings, deliverables, telephone calls, miscellaneous requests, and requirements were all planned and tracked with meticulous effort.

As the weeks progressed, I became busier. Remembering always to enter new items into my scheduler began to take more conscious effort. Sometimes I slipped up, and the scheduler would sit idle while I was off running in every direction. That's okay; I've got a good memory, I thought.

Relying on my impeccable memory to set my agenda seemed quite reasonable—at first, anyway. (I hadn’t forgotten anything so far, right?) It was even rather reassuring to see the to-do list in my scheduler steadily shrink. The problem was, while the documented agenda items disappeared, the undocumented items to which I had committed were rapidly accumulating.

I think you can discern where it all ended. Once I realized the situation, catching up took a great deal of time and effort. I learned along the way that being busy means being unable to remember everything imparted to me verbally during the course of a day, and that leaving my scheduler incomplete won’t alleviate stress. Unfortunately, even important things like Business Word can get lost in the shuffle.

So, Mr. Editor, here’s my column.