Do you remember the movie Cool Hand Luke? It stars Paul Newman as an antihero who has been jailed for committing a serious crime; and is sentenced to a penalty of forced labor. The hard work, which consists of building a road, as I recall, is occasionally interrupted by crocodiles. Well … I guess they were actually alligators because the movie is set in the southern United States. However, I think the crocodile principle sounds much better than the crocodile principle, don’t you think?

Anyway, when this happens, the prisoners have to stop their daily work and call in one of the guards to deal with the disruption. Only when the crocodile is finished, will it be possible to return to the more productive business (at least for the penitentiary) of breaking those rocks.

Now I see this whole situation as a kind of metaphor for our own situation in the workplace. Here we are doing our best to be as productive as possible; and we keep being interrupted by the crocodile equivalent. We also have to deal with those interruptions before we can get back to a more productive activity.

So what is the answer? Well, I once remember a wise person who once explained to me:

“When you’re in neck-deep crocs, it’s hard to remember that the first priority is to drain the swamp.”

That is a very true statement; and it also contains the seed of a really deep answer.

To permanently solve the crocodile situation in the movie, what is needed is to drain the swamp. The prisoners can then carry out their normal activities much more efficiently. But before the swamp can be drained, someone must first envision a situation where there are no crocodiles; in other words, someone must have had the vision.

Once the vision is conceived, it is possible to intersperse some swamp drainage activity with the normal activity of breaking rocks every day. Over time, the exchange would run out and the prisoners would become much more productive.

And so it is with us in the use of our time. First we have to recognize the crocodiles. Next, we need to figure out what needs to be done to get rid of them permanently. Finally, we need to intersperse some of that activity with our normal daily activity. In the end, we too can say goodbye to crocodiles and be much more productive.

To summarize: first come up with your own vision. Take time to think about the ideal situation for you. Then, work out the steps you need to take to make your vision come true. Finally, put those steps into your daily schedule and work them through.

Don’t underestimate the power of this little tip. If you’re just committed to doing one activity every day toward your goal of draining the swamp, whatever that means to you, it will eventually drain you; and you will reap the results.