Communication is the first thing to go
It amuses me (not in a ha-ha sort of way, but more of a “hm, that’s annoying” sort of amusing (like getting a root canal amusing)) that when we go through cycles of being “Busy” that communication about stuff that we’re working on drops down to the barest essentials. It’s a crunch mode and everything gets sacrificed in order to meet goals and delivers, but it’s problematic because just when things are at their most intense are probably the times that you need to communicate the most.
Hell, even with this blog you can see the evidence. More posts == life at a rational work level, No posts == my eyes are bleeding from lack of sleep. Assume some sliding scale between those end-points.
In an ideal mode, I’d argue that about 25% of one’s time should probably be spent communicating (arguably less for those doing vs managing (and again, assume a sliding scale in-between)). Having been through this cycle a bajillion times, and being annoyed by it every time, I have to wonder what better strategy there is aside from the obvious answers of do less and get more help.
In any case, we’re getting through the dark phase and I think we’ll be more actively posting when September comes…