I bet all of us had grand plans for the next few months, didn’t we? My parental leave starts this week, and I had big dreams of sharing nine months worth of reflections about being a pregnant working parent and business leader. But given the new world we’re in and disruption we are experiencing, many of these thoughts fall flat.

I spent last week recording new reflections and coaching moments that I hope are in service to you in the coming months as we all continue to grapple with this major, global disruption and its opportunities.

And in today’s thoughts I want to inspire us to consider- is this disruption where so many people will need to prioritize only the most important work an optimal moment to change the way we work for good? To become more efficient and abandon the fluff? To work smarter, not harder?

Let’s remember in disruption there is always opportunity to ask- what is this teaching us and how can we use this time to commit to doing differently, doing better?

Take it further and consider these questions:

1. On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the most, how efficient are you at work? Are your processes?
2. On a scale of 1-5, 5 being the most, how clear are you on the essential priorities you are working toward?
3. Do you have too many priorities?
4. What efforts actually drive your work forward?
5. What efforts aren’t necessary to move work forward? (Do the “boiler” test- if your boiler suddenly broke on a really busy day, what would you not do to have time to get it fixed and still move the most important work forward?)
6. What could you do at a different level- for instance, one review of a power point instead of three? A half page email report instead of a memo?
7. If you only had six hours to work a day, what would have to go?
8. Are we designing shift work to be as productive as possible? Consider call center employees or nurses- do 10-12 hour shifts allow them to do great work? Accommodating for equitable workplace and out of work experiences? Why do lawyers “have” to bill 2,000 hours a year?

Further reading:

1. More Hours, Less Time
2. Microsoft’s four-day workweek increased productivity 40%
3. The case for the 6-hour workday