As I was shifting a ton of pebbles today from my drive-way to the area around my deck where the grass never grows (see photo!), I came up with a theory.
I theorized that there is good reason why we’re all basically busy and not busy at the same time. The theory is only relatively half-baked, but I’m fairly sure there’s something to it.
Think of all the times you have a conversation that goes something like this:
“God, I’ve had a busy week.”
“Really? Me too.”
“Yeah, it seems like absolutely everyone I talk to is mentally busy at the moment”.
Or don’t there seem to be days when everybody’s status on Facebook says something like this: “Urgh. Working nights again, ” or “Bring on the weekend” (on a Tuesday night).
OK. So you’re still not convinced of my theory? Well, here’s the real evidence:
We all work for companies, right? And we all live within the constraints of the same calendar. Here’s what happens when you put those two things together.
Companies do things: they announce new products, host events, have sales conferences, make acquisitions, and occasionally they’ll even organize some sort of employee event.
Then there’s the calendar: punctuated by all sorts of dates and events that get in the way of all those company things described above.
Obviously anything within 2-3 weeks of Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year is out. In late January there’s MLK day, which rules out another perfectly good week on the grounds that Americans get so little vacation, they have to take it around holidays such as this to make the most of them. There are seven more public holidays such as this (and therefore seven other dead weeks).
All of that lot basically rules out about 18 weeks of the year as unproductive. Then there’s summer: the mid-June to late August weeks are write-offs. Bye-bye eleven more weeks.
If you work for a public company , then there are another 8-10 weeks around earnings announcements when you can’t do anything. So, all in all the 52 week year just got cut down to 13 weeks in which you can actually get something done.
Assuming your company does actually have one sales conference, one customer conference, announces a couple of products, and hosts an employee event this year, you’ll have about two-and-a-half weeks to spend on each one.
And there you have it: McCulloch’s Law of Relative Busy-ness, an explanation for why we’re all stressed out (and occasionally calm) at the same time.
And in case you’re wondering, yes, February is one of those manic times, which is exactly why I needed to spend six hours this weekend shifting a ton of pebbles for therapy (and why I haven't blogged in ages).
In case you’re wondering, the next couple of weeks will be fine, but you’ll be incredibly busy at the end of March.
Comments