MAXREZ BLOG   •   STEVEN J. GILBERT   •   December 12, 2019

Are you a solo act in your career? I am and have been for a very long time. If you’re a one-man band and have to be the chief cook and bottle washer, you probably know what a drain it can be at times.

Setting Boundaries

While working alone may have its benefits, having the pressure of relying only on yourself to get the job done can weigh you down. In an environment where you have to produce work without help, you need to know your limits. While the boss doesn’t want to hear “no”, that’s where it may all start from. And I don’t mean your downfall. Saying “no” means not yet to a supervisor, but it also clearly means you are setting boundaries. And the sooner you do so at some point, the better. Hopefully, this happened at the start of your employment… before it’s too late. Businesses, unfortunately, have planned attrition… and that could be you. Their intentions will be very clear from the beginning and it’s something that should be addressed in the interview. Burn you out and bring in the next victim before you make too much. Another unfortunate thing is the boss may not know how long things take to get done. It’s like requesting a 10-minute video in 2-minutes. Sounds crazy, but depending on the competency or knowledge of the boss, those are real things that could happen. You may have to put yourself in their shoes to figure out where that is coming from. It could possibly be from above; therefore, they have no control and will keep pushing for the project. Use this as an opportunity to gauge the knowledge of the boss and create an educational opportunity to make them aware of the time it actually takes to get a project done. You want them on your side! Certainly, patterns will develop that you should be aware of. If the constant pressure keeps up, this could lead to unwanted stress and burnout. Remember: you have your own best interest in mind!

Figuring it Out

Be a problem solver! So, you have a bunch of work, but have to figure out how you are going to get it all done… without staying all night. Part of the solution to figuring this out is, first, prioritizing your work, second, creating a good workflow and process, and finally, leveraging technology. What this all means is knowing what your deadlines are from the importance of the projects; according to your boss. Let them decide what’s important, not you. It’s easy to do the fun things first and leave the harder or least enjoyable things last. While the fun stuff makes you feel good, doing the harder projects first may be better to not crash a deadline.

When there is one goal in mind of getting the job done; what better way than leveraging technology. Finding a way to make this happen is your mission. Identify repetitive tasks that computers can do. Things like batch processes in Photoshop to resize photos or batch rendering videos in your edit program to name a few. Meeting the deadline becomes secondary to figuring out how to simplify the work. Pull out all the stops in getting your work done on time and be proud to put your name on it.

Workflow & Process

It’s all about workflow and process. And you own your own workflow and process! There’s nothing worse than getting too far down the line on a project only to have someone say they don’t like it and having to start all over. Remember: Don’t expect your boss to understand how long things take. They are only interested in meeting a deadline. Start the hard projects first to determine direction and pass it off for review and feedback. This will give you time to get started on another project; maybe even a fun one. Collaboration is key. Unfortunately, the difference between collaboration and micro management is a fine line. That’s when the manager knows what they’re doing or enough to be dangerous and can’t help adding too much input. Especially, when you’re just asking how things look where they are currently at. It’s all about teamwork!

Learn to Lead

Remember, we trade hours for dollars in our daily work life and if you don’t ask for help at some point, you’ll never get it. If you’re working all the extra hours and not getting paid for it, then you keep lowering your wages. Stop doing it to yourself!!! Even if you own your own business, you have to get help, because if you get sick or burnt out then who’s going to bring home the bacon? Prove yourself, but leave room to get breaks before burnout. And stop taking the attitude, “if it’s going to get done right, I’ll do it myself”. It’s ultimately about teamwork; even though you’re a team of one (most of the time). Let others pitch in. If you want to be a leader; learn to delegate.