How to get out of the weeds and think like a boss

Do you react to whatever comes your way at work,
Heroically addressing it all, often with complete exhaustion?
Or do you have an intentional plan for what you want to accomplish?

Private equity / growth equity can consume way more time that you have each week. You can try working harder - work weekends, early mornings, late nights, but eventually you hit a limit where the quality of your workproduct and thoughts decline.

It feels great to react, like:
*instantly replying to emails
*picking up the phone when it rings
*jumping on an urgent task
*helping the VPs and associates complete a project as time is running out

Reacting fills your head with adrenaline, and makes you feel like you have a sense of purpose. But this an illusion -- adrenaline is a very powerful drug that makes you feel high, and numbs you from the pain you're experiencing. In this dazed state, you miss the big picture.

I ask my clients to dump and delegate as much from their daily workflow as possible. What we find is -- they thought they were doing a lot of important stuff, but it was just busywork. Now that the busy work is gone, they often feel a bit of panic, like "ok, so what am i supposed to do now?" -- this exercise allows them to catch a breath, sit with some unstructured time, and think top down.

Top down thinking sounds like: 1. Why am I in this job? 2. How can I create Enterprise Value for the firm vs just reacting to the day to day? 3. What do I want from this firm? How can this platform help me accomplish my professional goals? Am I tracking to where I want to go? As the new year approaches, reflect on how you spent your time in 2020. Are you a master of putting out fires? Is that really a good use of time? How can you be more intentional, and less "busy" in the new year? Busy is the disease of the anxious achiever.