I usually travel about 10 times a year. Not enough times to earn me a cocktail in the super-secret, velvet-rope sky lounge, but all-in-all, a lot of times. So, get this. I still don’t have TSA pre-check. I suck. My husband, who flies for work maybe once a year, got pre-check last year. He does not suck.
Today my husband and I are traveling on vacation and, because the Gods decided to throw me a bone, I won the magic TSA pre-check lottery and gave it a whirl. Good. God. I mean, the Kingdom and the Power…and GLORY were mine! Forever and ever, Amen.
Bo didn’t even have to say “I told you so” (but he wanted to).
50% of the time I am a procrastinator. And I am not a “I work best when I procrastinate” procrastinator or a “working too close to a deadline makes me more creative” procrastinator. I’m a “Holy crap/I can’t sleep/ What have I done?” procrastinator. For instance, with TSA pre-check, I never prioritize registering until the day before the flight. See?
I had to ask, what’s wrong with me? I live in a city that offers TSA pre-check registration. I mean, it’s a 5-minute drive in my suburb. I’m definitely not anti-pre-check. So, what is wrong with me? Nothing. I’m like hordes of others who forget the basics. I, like hordes of others, who enjoy (?) the cyclone that is worklife, procrastinate doing the easy stuff—much to my detriment.
So, what are the basics in HR we tend to procrastinate to our detriment?
- Implementing HR technology. Not super-easy, but not super-hard. And yes, this is a basic.
- Prioritizing regular 1-on-1 with your employees. Guys, investing 20 minutes every week with your employees reaps too many benefits to post here.
- Utilizing your brokers to keep you informed of new employment rules, regulations, healthcare laws. Why do we take on this research if we are paying someone else to do it?
And when you are on a team and procrastinate too much, you hold the rest of your team hostage if they are planners, non-procrastinators, or folks that have boundaries with the amount of work they “take on”. You are a crappy “bottleneck”.
So here is the deal –
If you are a procrastinator you have a few choices.
- Continue to procrastinate, but take on less.
- Quit procrastinating, and accept you’ll have to change this habit, which takes planning, work and discipline
- Continue to stress. I mean, it is still an option and they have meds to help you sleep.
I’m an advocate of option 2. I mean, good luck with option 1. And option 3…oof. I mean, if divorce is also an option for you, this could work for you.
I’ll keep you posted on TSA pre-check status. I’d love to read your comments on how y’all keep up with the basics.
Dawn Burke, Sr. Consultant for Recruiting Toolbox and founder/advisor for Dawn Burke HR, is an HR leader, speaker, and writer specializing in new HR practices, engagement and workplace culture. Her HR/recruiting/leadership career has spanned the last 20 years, with past gigs including a foundational role as VP of People for Birmingham, AL’s award-winning technology company, Daxko (And yes, Kris Dunn and Dawn are making Bham the HR capital of the world! Who knew?). You can also check her out at DawnHBurke.com and a variety of other interesting places. Google her, it’ll keep you posted on what she is up to.
Most importantly: She is addicted to TV, knows most of the lyrics to Hamilton and West Side Story, loves to cry at movies (check out Cinema Paradiso for a cry fest!), thinks wine, a wheel of Brie and Milk Duds make a well-balanced dinner, and sings in her car daily. Her husband and cat are the Yin to her Yang.