The Bucket and the Pie: Strategies for Shaping Your Work Around What Matters
Alex (a composite of several clients) is a busy physician with an academic practice and a leadership role. When we first spoke, their goal was simple: to “get on top of everything.” They were sprinting from deadline to deadline with no time to step back and think strategically about the big-picture direction of their program.
Outside of work, Alex had a full life. Divorced and remarried, they shared custody of a preteen son and were also an avid runner who hit the gym at 5 a.m. and was at work by 7:30. They even had an Ironman triathlon in their sights. But cracks were showing. Their son noticed they were always on their phone or at work and rarely made it to hockey games. Their spouse gently pointed out that even when home, they weren’t fully present. Alex knew they were right.
The Problem of Leakage
Alex’s experience is far from unique. Many professionals describe work “leaking” into every corner of life. The common refrains sound familiar:
- “There just aren’t enough hours in the day.”
- “There’s no one else to do it.”
- “If I don’t do it, it won’t get done.”
- “If I say no, I might not get another opportunity.”
Do any of those ring true for you?
Enter the Bucket
To help reframe this, I often share a metaphor I first encountered from a senior nurse executive in the UK. In her office, she kept a large children’s sand pail with a shovel. The pail symbolized the finite nature of her personal resources. Every meeting, email, or commitment was a withdrawal from that bucket. Unless she deliberately refilled it, it would eventually run dry.
If the bucket doesn’t speak to you, consider another metaphor: a six-burner gas stove powered by a single tank. If you run all burners on high at once, you’ll run out of fuel quickly. To keep cooking, you must turn some burners down—or even off—so others can run at full strength.
Our “personal resource buckets” are filled and drained across many dimensions: physical, cognitive, temporal, emotional, social, spiritual, and financial. The basics—sleep, nutrition, hydration—are non-negotiable, yet many of us neglect the other dimensions.
Alex’s bucket was overflowing. They loved their work and said “yes” without discernment, making constant withdrawals but few deposits. The key insight for them—and for many of us—is this: whenever you take on something new, ask yourself: What am I prepared to give up in order to do this? Only then can you reallocate your limited resources intentionally.
The Personal Pie
The second tool I use is what I call the Personal Pie (PP). Think of a pie chart divided into three slices: career, family, and personal.
- Career: anything related to your professional life, whether onsite or after hours.
- Family: commitments to spouse, children, parents, siblings, or chosen family.
- Personal: your own needs and interests—health, friends, hobbies, sport, travel.
The proportions of these slices shift over time, but the total pie is always 100%. Looking at your pie helps reveal whether your allocation matches what matters most to you.
Alex saw that their pie was dominated by career, leaving little space for family or personal life. They wanted change. Together, we examined their commitments, and they identified which career activities truly mattered—and which they should let go of. They came to recognize that letting go of career commitments not only created opportunities for others to step in and grow but also strengthened succession planning within their program, something they hadn’t previously attended to. By doing so they freed up space to invest more meaningfully at home. They also reevaluated their family and personal priorities to ensure alignment of their commitments.
Three Questions for You
As you settle into fall and try to hold onto that sense of summer refresh, I encourage you to reflect on these three questions:
- How full is your bucket?
- What does your Personal Pie look like right now?
- What do you need to let go of to make room for what matters most?
