I’ve been sick for weeks, and am finally coming out of it to be close to healthy. (I was still coughing in the 8-degree Fahrenheit cold leaving the gym. Oh well.) One of the problems is that my work doesn’t stop if I’m sick. I bet yours doesn’t either.
Daughter #2 asked last night if I was caught up. “No, I just made choices about what could slip, and I made choices about what not to do anymore or for a while.”
As you can tell, blogging slipped. I’m not yet late on some writing projects, but I may well be. It depends on how quickly I can write my next Stickyminds column. I postponed several coaching sessions because if my brain doesn’t work, that’s not helpful for my coachees.
I’ll be at SD West next week, and was planning on having an entire day in the gym because I have no sessions on Tuesday. Nope, not going to happen. I can do a short workout and then my free day will be taken up trying to get the things done I haven’t done for the last three weeks.
You can postpone work. You can choose not to do it. You can deliver it late. You can do less. But catching up is not possible. Something gives when you can’t work.
The same thing happens when you manage a project portfolio. Just as projects don’t make up time, the portfolio can’t either. If something slips, you make choices about what to do next. You can postpone a project. You can transform it in some way. But don’t expect to make up time. Catching up doesn’t work.
