Compartmentalisation.
Big word. Important word.
Key word to reaching success in your life.
Whether you are applying this word to career, relationships or even money, it will continuously add value across any endeavour you choose.
So what does compartmentalisation mean exactly?
Compartmentalisation is a form of psychological defence mechanism in which thoughts and feelings that seem to conflict are kept separated or isolated from each other in the mind. ‘The division of something into sections or categories.’
I’ll be honest and admit, I’m incredibly surprised with myself for releasing this cherished tool I’ve been safe keeping for years now. I’m not saying I’m the most successful 28 year old, yet from an outsiders perspective I have achieved a fair amount for the average person in their 20’s. I would say with absolute ease, that a huge part of my success has stemmed from the use of compartmentalisation.
This tool came to me from one of my cherished business mentors. It was 2020, I was two years into business ownership and the high had found it’s plateau. This meant it was officially time for me to pivot my business strategy and re-stabilise. I now had the data necessary to forecast accurately, less of a drop in the ocean like the last two years had been. As most eager business bodies should know, the first 2 years of business is the make or break and if you make it (which I thankfully did), that turning point is your time to collect the data and make it work for you as the train powers ahead at full steam! And you need to be ready to fucking GO.
Yet as strategic as that sounds, it was an absolute whirlwind to navigate. The reality was a pile of debt I’d been pushing aside and desperately needed to finalise. A pool of employees I needed to let go, with the ones I’d decided to keep needing a full re-structure. I had to completely re-systemise the business to improve efficiency, output and profit. Then there was me… I was 23 and felt like I had so much weight on my shoulders. The time to ‘fuck around’ was officially over and I had to close many parts of myself that to be honest, I wasn’t ready to close. The focus became fine-tuned, I had one goal, one strategy and only I was able to achieve it.
So, my mentor told me to compartmentalise. “Tessa, you have one key tool that is absolutely fundamental to you achieving what you need. It’s now critical that you take this seriously and learn how to compartmentalise all avenues of this business. If you don’t, you will fail.” It truly was that black and white.
Now some might think this is easy, right? Put everything into different boxes and each day tackle one box, yes, simple. Yet this wasn’t so straight forward, as I had to navigate where my emotion fell within these boxes and learn how to apply a pragmatic, practical approach whilst simultaneously allowing space for my emotion to still play a heavy role without being my dominant approach and reaction. Very fucking challenging.
I would never learn how to compartmentalise my business and life without knowing where and when to apply my emotional intellect vs my pragmatic mind. It was and still is the single most important component of becoming a successful leader.
So how do you compartmentalise in the first place?
Great question…
It starts with writing down all the avenues and channels within your brain. They’ll usually find place on a page in a very scattered and unapproachable manner, so your next job is to categorise them. Your categories can be as simple or complex as you desire. If you’re applying compartmentalisation to your life opposed to business, it could look as simple as:
‘Fitness. Career. Love.’ You get the gist.
Once you have categorised all these channels, you then build off of them. Building second tier’s, maybe in order of hierarchal performance or possibly monetary value… Again, it’s whatever applies accurately for your over arching north star. You’ll often find that when you begin this method, it will build out rather rapidly as your mind manages to pull what’s floating around upstairs and apply it to where best seems fit.
By now your page should be full. Everything in categories and tier’s of relevance or importance. Now, you place it all into boxes. The most critical step is keeping those boxes seperate from one another, then deciding which boxes need your emotion to land, vs the ones that rely on your pragmatic brain. Once you’ve defined this, you’ll find yourself with a strategic roadmap to help you navigate every endeavour and curve ball coming your way.
Again, sounds simple. Within the realm of a mathematic equation it really is that simple! Yet you’ll find yourself in coming years learning how to apply this mathematic equation to your life, in an off the cusp situation, without having to pull out the fucking calculator. I’ve been using compartmentalisation for almost 6 years now and I still find myself having to re-structure my boxes and pull out the calculator to remind myself how to land. I don’t doubt for a millisecond that I will continue to need that calculator for years to come! Yet having this method in my back pocket has helped me countless times and as mentioned earlier, is the key reason I’ve reached success in the avenues I’ve chosen.
I talk more about this method in my book, so I cannot give you all the pots of gold just yet. Although I do hope this tiny window of insight can help even just one person navigate a complex endeavour within their life. Now you know the word, you can also research the many ways it can be applied from multiple neuroscience backed methods.