In addition to the actual work, which is great, a consultant also takes care of their own invoicing, taxes, contracts, status updates for various clients, etc., etc…all of the grease and gears that keep the engine of a company going. Or, you know, they hire someone to do it, but either way it’s more stuff to keep track of.
Long story short, and for various reasons, I hit the “okay, something’s gotta give” point this month. I’m making enough time for my clients, but starting to lose sleep and exercise time. It’s a bit squeeze to be able to hit the PASS Summit next week. That’s kind of the warning bell that it’s time for a rebalance. So what did I do? I asked Twitter, of course!
Esp. for my consulting friends: How do you handle the busy “feast” part of “feast-or-famine” cycle?
— Jen & Sean McCown (@MidnightDBA) October 8, 2013
I got a range of great answers:
Learn to say “no” to the right things at the right time. In consulting, saying “no” is even more important than saying “yes.” … And raise your rate. If you’re getting too much work it’s because you’re too cheap.
— Adam Machanic (@AdamMachanic) October 8, 2013
For me it’s more balance. All work and no play …
— Allan Hirt (@SQLHA) October 8, 2013
Focus on work that brings the most value to the client, which will pay off the most to you. Avoid crappy work. … Big fan of @JerryWeinberg’s book Secrets of Consulting – has a section on the Principle of Least Regret. [And] My post on setting your consulting rates, relevant when you’ve got a glut of work: http://ozar.me/2013/07/how-negotiate-consulting-rates/
— Brent Ozar (@BrentO) October 8, 2013
Set limits on meetings and tasks, and stick to them. Re-prioritize the most critical stuff and take care of that first. … I use Toggl for multiple reasons— when it’s busy partly just to really KNOW where my time goes.
— Kendra Little (@Kendra_Little) October 8, 2013
There was a good deal more, including some debate on rate level vs contract length (Allan: “…to some degree it’s a sliding scale. Much more effort to deal w short vs. long engagement”), and so on. But this helped a great deal.
Personally, I need to offload some of the “grease and gears” work (read: bookkeeping!), and take a look at my current engagements to make sure I’m doing the best work I can, in the best way possible. I may also have an adult beverage this evening, to celebrate all this insight.
What about you? What do you do when you’re crazy busy?
Happy days,
Jen McCown
http://www.MidnightDBA.com/Jen
P.S. I really wanted to title this blog post “Overcoming Success”, but I thought the joke might be lost on a few too many.
Overcoming Success!!!! for the win. That is an awesome title.
Love the tips, so going to offer one more (maybe more useful for us non-consulting types):
My father-in-law says “If you don’t want to do something again, don’t do it right the first time”.
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In my experience, what comes around, goes around. So, if I’m too busy to take on extra work, I’m happy to refer clients to people I trust in my network with similar experience (or have them subcontract through me). I may not be doing the work, but that way it keeps the work ‘in the family’, and both parties will think of me when they can return the favor.
Agreed!