Your day to day
When almost everything waits on someone else
Half your list does not move because it is not up to you. How to handle that without living in pursuit.
Documentation work has a feature that makes it exhausting: most of what you have open does not depend on you. It is waiting on a supplier, an adviser, a client. And a list full of things you cannot push creates the feeling of falling behind even when you are doing everything possible.
Separate what can be separated
| State | What it means | What to do with it |
|---|---|---|
| Mine to act on | I can move it now | This is your real list, and it is usually short |
| Waiting on someone outside | Already requested, with reminders running | Do not look daily: look when it is due |
| Waiting on someone inside | It depends on a colleague | The only thing to unblock by talking |
| Stuck for no reason | Nobody is pushing and nobody is waiting | Decide: restart or close |
Important
The fourth row pollutes everything else and gets the least attention. While files sit stuck with nobody knowing why, any count of "pending" mixes real work with noise — and the feeling of being swamped comes as much from the noise as from the work.
What changes when you work this way
- 1
Put chasing on automatic and out of your head
If the reminder goes by itself, waiting stops being your task.
- 2
Fix when you look at what is waiting
Once a week. Looking daily does not speed it up and wears you down.
- 3
And put an end to every wait
"If it is not here by Friday, I do X". Without that end, the wait is infinite by definition.
Watch out
The real strain does not come from having things waiting: it comes from not knowing which are waiting on someone and which have simply gone quiet through neglect. Once those two are distinguishable at a glance, the same amount of pending work weighs half as much — and that is not an impression, it is that you stop mentally re-checking what is already handled.
How to talk about it with whoever asks
The third solves the whole case when the asker is a manager or a client: once they can look, they stop asking, and you stop interrupting what does depend on you.
Worth knowing
If separating the list shows that what is yours to do is very little and you are still short of time, the problem is not the workload: it is the constant interruption to report on the rest.
›What if the one not replying is a client?
Same criterion, different tone: the end of the wait exists all the same, it is just communicated differently.
›How many reminders before escalating?
Two, spaced. By the third it stops being chasing and becomes a decision.
›Should things stuck for months be closed?
Yes, noting why. A file closed with a reason informs; one left open without a reason does not.
A real case
The situation
A manager has sixty open files and the constant feeling of never advancing.
What you do
- Separates what is theirs from what is waiting and closes what is stuck for no reason
- Leaves chasing on automatic and reviews waits weekly
What you get
Their real list turns out to be eight items, and they clear it in two days.
The situation
Of twenty open files, sixteen wait on somebody outside and the team feels stuck.
What you do
- Separates what waits outside from what waits inside
- Works the short list that does depend on you
- Lets the reminders work the long one
What you get
The sense of being blocked lifts because your own list is short and moving.
The situation
What is waiting on third parties is reviewed daily.
What you do
- Reviews it once a week
What you get
Time goes on what does depend on you.
The situation
Daily chasing means the supplier stops reading.
What you do
- Spaces out the reminder cadence
What you get
The nudge works again.
The situation
A file has waited two months and nobody decides.
What you do
- Sets an escalation or closing criterion
What you get
The file does not stay open forever.
The situation
Management asks why nothing is moving.
What you do
- Shows what waits inside and what waits outside
What you get
The conversation happens with data.
This article answers
- my work depends on others replying
- managing tasks blocked by third parties
- cannot progress until they send it
- organising work with many waits