Chunking......

In order to avoid a vertical plunge back into work after the festive break, I've spent time today doing work-ish things, the first of which was to call an extraordinary meeting of my management team at 12.30pm sharp.

Reaction to this news was tepid, to say the least.  Even with the prospect of tea and leftover Christmas biscuits.

During the morning I knocked together an agenda, a copy of which was distributed to each member of the team for perusal prior to the meeting.

Despite having retired a few years ago, Small Dog still likes to keep her paw on the pulse, so attended in her capacity as 'seenyore advyssir' and boney fido sleeping partner.

We quickly rattled through the first few items of business then settled down to hashing out the thorny issue of the website and related articles.

To be fair, we did cover a fair amount of ground.  Notes were taken, suggestions made, and tasks allocated, all in a reasonably efficient manner.  Small Dog interjected a few times, mainly on the subject of biscuits, but overall her contributions were insightful and concise.

More to the point, she didn't raise the issue of 'Dog Eared Dolls' once.

As a result I'm reasonably confident that my first full day back at work tomorrow will go swimmingly, especially as I'm chunking.

And no, before you ask.... that has nothing to do with the accumulation of excess weight over the past few weeks.

Although also yes.

No, I'm talking about time chunking, the premise of which is breaking up your day into larger chunks instead of reacting to constant interruptions. The more chunks of time you can devote to specific tasks, the fewer start-up moments you will have, and your efficiency improves commensurately.

Sounds eminently reasonable and sensible, doesn't it?  I'm going to start with 90 minute chunks and see how that pans out.  I've written myself a chunking schedule for the next five days and will re-assess things at the end of the week.