Breaking it down – managing large tasks
October 17, 2008 by Becky Scott
I have a couple of projects staring me in the face right now. They’re pretty large – and when I think about how much I have to do it can be pretty overwhelming.
Sometimes it’s okay not to look at the big picture. Temporarily, of course. If the big view of things makes you panic, then stop for a moment. Take a smaller, more manageable piece and do it. Or do part of it. Just make sure that what you’re doing is actually helping you make progress towards your goal.
I’ve mentioned that my desk has a large stack of mail left over from when I was traveling. And I tossed several things on it when I got home. There’s so much to do right now. Process my travel receipts. Put away the cords and other things that I just tossed aside as I was unpacking. Finish opening all of the mail. Shred what I don’t need. File. And even just cleaning my desktop to get rid of a little debris and dust from being away (we live near two freeways and the dust that gets in our place is unbelievable).
I look at all of that and shake my head. I don’t want to do it right now. I have other things that I feel are more important. But if I wait any longer it’ll just get worse.
So I took just 20 minutes to get done what I could. I put away a few things, opened part of the mail, pulling any bills I’d missed, tossing the extra junk that’s always inside a bill, and putting things in my “to file” bin.
I didn’t get through everything. But half of my desk looks better. It’s neat(er). And there’s space to work again. And just having part of that task completed really helps. This weekend I’ll do another 20 minutes and see what else I can get done. And then another 20 on Monday, if I need to. If the desk is clean by then, I’ll use that time to file.
What started out as a seemingly unmanageable project is suddenly much easier to handle. It can be done, even though it may not have looked that way at first (not with limited time, anyway).
Do you get overwhelmed by a mountain of papers? A big project? How do manage your expectations? Do you break it down into smaller pieces?