Don’t forget the smaller, less important tasks
There are a few small tasks that need to be done that I just keep putting off. Over and over. When I remember that they need to get done, it’s the wrong time. Inconvenient. Or maybe just not possible (as in, I’m not in the same place as the task) at that time.
I confess that I haven’t captured those small tasks. And coincidentally, I haven’t been feeling as organized as I’d like. Because these little things keep bothering me even when I’m not really thinking about them.
I’m a list person. I have to write things down. It helps me remember things. And track what’s supposed to happen. But I haven’t written down these small tasks. As the number of little, unimportant tasks grows, they are suddenly much more important. Because it means I’m not managing my time and to do list properly.
So here’s what I need to do. I need to write down every single task that’s been bugging me. All of the to do items. It will probably be a long list, which can easily intimidate. I don’t want to get overwhelmed by all the undone tasks. That’s a huge de-motivator. So why would I want to do that?
If I write down everything, it actually frees up my mind. I can stop worrying about what I need to get done and actually start working on it. Let’s face it. I can’t get everything done in one day (especially not with a 10-month-old who just started crawling). I need to choose a number of tasks to get done each day. That’s it. Just a reasonable number of items that I think I can manage that day.
And when they’re done, I mark them off. And then I choose some more. And so on.
I’ve been feeling like I’m not making progress. And I haven’t, because I haven’t been tracking things. My schedule has been off since I left for two weeks. I’ve been back a week now. It’s time to take control and start managing my work load again.
Are you struggling with something similar? Have you thought about how you can apply this to your undone tasks?
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Tags: capture small tasks, tasks, to-doRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Productivity, Time Management
2 opinions for Don’t forget the smaller, less important tasks
Sara Bereika
Oct 12, 2008 at 7:40 pm
I feel your pain. Consider using index cards instead of a piece of paper to write your list. Each card should include one task. You may even want to write how long you think the task will take. Then you can pick through the stack and choose what you want to do and toss the task when you’re done.
The Small Tasks | GoThinking.net
Dec 18, 2008 at 8:46 am
[...] there is other programs you can use but since I already have Outlook it works for me. See the MyOrganizedBiz blog for more ideas on getting the small tasks done. Thursday, December 18th, 2008 at 23:45 [...]
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