Create Reserves That Support You

With Y2K looming, several groups encouraged us to have reserves of food and water available. Of course here on the Northern Coast of California we all know very well the importance of emergency supplies for power outages and earthquakes.

But how many of us have reserves in other parts of our lives? I sometimes buy the 4-pack so I have extras, and when I used to travel a lot, I had a full set of personal toiletries always ready to go. A couple of years ago I discovered the hard way that I need to always keep at least one extra month's supply of my vitamins - the supplier ran out and there was none to be had for a full month.

Well, how about in our careers and work life? Do you have an extra set of clothes ready in case you spill your morning coffee?? How about an extra set of car keys in case you misplace the ones you usually use? Do you fill your tank up with gasoline when it gets to half-empty? (I learned about that one with the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake that took out all the power in the Bay Area and my only vehicle was on empty!!)

How about work - do you make back-ups of your important files on a regular basis? Just think about how much of your daily work you would like to have to recreate, and that'll tell you how often to back-up your computer files. Do you start each day with a basic plan so you know how much time you have available for each project? Do you build in time (every day) for emergency interruptions? You know they're going to happen. Do you have extra vacation and/or sick leave built up in case you need to take it? Are you putting money away for retirement?

And do you allow yourself enough time to finish projects so you are not rushed at the end? One of the keys to making sure your "customer" is satisfied is to under-promise and over-deliver.

How do you do that? When taking on a project, build in a cushion of time. While it's true that you might be able to complete a task or project in a day or a week (if everything goes right), we all know about the unexpected things that happen - the fire in the building (that was us!!), the key person whose son gets ill and is unavailable for 3 days, the computer that crashes or locks up and won't let you finish, the materials that came in late.

By allowing extra time, we have room for the unexpected to simply be an inconvenience rather than a catastrophe. Because we've built in extra time, we are in a better position to discover another way to finish the project or resolve the situation.

And if we finish early, we get to be heroes!! How did you feel the last time someone told you they'd have something to you within a week, but you actually got it two weeks later? How differently would you have felt if they told you it would take three weeks and then you received it a week early? It's the same time frame, but the perception is very different.

There are many places in our lives where a reserve would reduce worry, provide more satisfaction, make life easier and let us feel more powerful. As you identify those areas, begin to take the steps to build that reserve for yourself. You don't have to do everything at once, just start somewhere. And notice how much it adds to your sense of wellbeing in the world when you realize you don't have to worry about things because you are prepared.

© 1999 Katie Darden