Blog

How To Complete Tasks You Have Been Avoiding

by EvieBurke, posted in Task List

Ever have a task you know you should do, but for one reason or another you just don’t want to do it? It’s on your list every week, or maybe every day, but it just doesn’t get done! Perhaps it’s something that doesn’t directly affect your business. So, you can avoid it because it’s a low priority. But, in the back of your mind, you know that it’s just going to be more work later.

Well, I had a task like that last weekend. I had put it off for over a month. So, now it wasn’t going to be a fairly quick half hour or 15 minute thing. It was going to take a couple of hours. I had made the decision to complete it and I was actually almost looking forward to it.

So, why the change in mood on Saturday from every other time I put it on my list and then avoided it? Well, it was a combination of things.

  1. A couple friends and I have accounts set up on irunurun.com. You set up the habits that you want to create and you’re givenpoints each time you complete a task. If you do everything on your list, you get all 100 points. You can add people as teammates and encourage each other or compete.This task was one of my items for the week. I already had decided that I wasn’t going to finish a couple of items and if I didn’t do this task my “score” would be in the 70’s. Completing it brought it to the mid 80’s. Being in the 70’s was unacceptable to me. So, that was a bit of motivation right there.
  2. I slept in on Saturday, had a nice breakfast and somehow lost an hour watching TV or something. Basically, I had a relaxing and unhurried morning.
  3. I started a session of one of my favorite TV shows in the background to listen/watch as I worked on my task. The task didn’t require a lot of in depth thinking, so this worked really well. The other benefit was I would watch a couple minutes of a favorite episode and then get back to what I was working on instead of losing an hour surfing the internet or some other distraction.

This task is still on my weekly list. Doing it weekly will only take 10-15 minutes, instead of the couple of hours it takes when I put it off.

Do you have a task that you’ve put off or are avoiding? Maybe it’s like mine and will take much longer now because it’s been ignored for so long. Below is the core of the things I did above:

  1. Find someone or something to be accountable too. Whether that’s a friend or online software that “grades” you. Whatever it is for you, it should motivate and also support you.
  2. Take care of yourself. When you’re well rested and have spent some time taking care of yourself, your mind will work a bit better. Think about it, do you work better when you’re tired and want a nap or when you’re well rested?
  3. Do something to make the activity more enjoyable. In my case, I had one of my favorite TV shows playing in the background. I’ve seen each episode a few times, so I didn’t feel the need to give it my undivided attention.

What do you do to encourage yourself to do a task you’ve been putting off?

How to Create a Task List For Your Learning Type

by EvieBurke, posted in Task List

So, what method of task keeping is best for each learning type? Well, let’s start by looking at the different learning types.

  • Visual – Learn best by seeing or reading.
  • Auditory – Learn best by hearing.
  • Kinesthetic or Tactile – Learn best by doing.

You probably learn by at least two of these three methods, but one will probably work a little bit better. So, let’s break it down into what this means for your task list.

Visual
If you’re a Visual Learner, classic to-do lists might work just fine for you. For projects, another option is to create a mind map. Start with the end result of the project in the middle and then write in the supporting goals or tasks around it (connecting with a line). If the supporting goal has it’s own set of tasks then write those around it (again, connecting with a line).

Auditory
An Auditory Learner will want to hear their task list. You’ll still want to write your tasks down and create a daily task list. However, after you’ve created it, record yourself reading your task list. Listen to it before you leave work for the day and again first thing in the morning. For projects, you can record your goal and supporting goals and tasks (saying them out loud will help you process it) and then create your task list from that recording later. I have friends that do some of their best thinking alone in the car and record their new ideas while driving, They use a hands free option of course!

Kinesthetic or Tactile
Classic to-do lists might work for you if you’re a Kinesthetic or Tactile Learner. However, you probably want to be able to touch each item in some way. Try writing each task on a small sticky note. That will allow you to touch each item and arrange them however you want. Or you could write each task on a small index card and arrange those. For projects, the same sticky note or index card method will work well.

Do you know what kind of learner you are? I’d love to know!

How to Avoid New Idea Overwhelm

by EvieBurke, posted in Overwhelm

Have you ever been to a seminar or an event where you got a bunch of really great ideas that you wanted to put to use right now? And then you took a look at all the ideas and got a bit of a sinking feeling in your stomach (aka overwhelm) because there just aren’t enough hours in the day to do all of that and still do things like sleep?

Guess what! You’re not the only one who has felt this way! And, I have some strategies that will help.

Before The Event
Before you travel to the event, make a plan. How will you capture the things you want to work on later?

Decide how you will immediately capture those things so you have them all in one spot and won’t have to spend time looking for them. And don’t plan to write the things you want to do later in the margins of your handout.

Instead try one of these methods:

  • A small notebook or pad of paper
  • Small two-inch sticky notes that you stick into a notebook (one sticky note per idea)

In the past I’ve written the things for later in the margins. Then I forgot about it or missed it when I was reviewing the hand out later. And that’s if I reviewed the handouts later. So, by capturing them outside the handouts, you’ll have everything in one place.

During The Event
So, now you’re at the event with your plan.

  • Immediately jot those ideas, projects and tasks (things you want to work on later) into your notebook or onto a sticky note
  • At the end of each day go through your handouts and add anything that got missed or you want to review again later

Sometimes it’s helpful to put down the page of the handout that your idea came from. Or to make a note of the pages you want to review in more detail later.

After The Event
If you’re anything like me, you have a lot of things you want to work on after the event.

  1. Pick the top one or two things that you want to complete
  2. Make a list of the daily and weekly things you do (it’s easy to forget about those things in the excitement of your newly created tasks).
  3. Estimate how long each task from the event will take to complete
  4. Prioritize your tasks from the event
    1. The tasks from step 1 are your highest priority
    2. Not all of the things you wrote down will be appropriate for where you are right now. Yes, it’s probably a great idea, but it might not be the best use of your time.
    3. The things that you can do quickly and will have the greatest impact area a higher priority.
  5. Divide the tasks from the event into three categories
    1. Do it this week
    2. Do it in the next month
    3. Do it later
  6. Plan the tasks for this week.
    1. This means give each “this week” task a day it will get done. You’ll probably need to go back to step 3 and move some of this week’s tasks to one of the other categories
    2. Don’t forget that those daily and weekly things from before the event are important too! Leave time for them.
  7. At the end of the week repeat the steps! It should go a bit faster because you’ve already done some of the work!

Breaking up your event tasks so you know what’s important now and what can be done later will help with some of that overwhelmed feeling. If you still need a little help with it check out these two blog posts: Are You Still Feeling Overwhelmed and Time Management Observations.

What would you add to the above lists?

Are You Asking For What You Need?

by EvieBurke, posted in attitude

I recently planned a last minute trip to Florida for an event I wanted to go to. Eight days from arriving, I was booking airfare and figuring out my hotel options (the event hotel was booked). Booking the airfare was really easy and I had the opportunity to room with someone who already had a room at the event hotel. Great! Everything was coming together! Well, almost.

My roommate was a friend of a friend and we had some hiccups connecting. So, what did I do? In the past I wouldn’t have wanted to bother her, so I would have reached out twice and then just waited and worried and complained. Instead, I reached out twice and kept my friend in the loop. She made a phone call on the second day of not hearing anything back and everything was resolved in a couple hours! I had a roommate!

Have you ever been in a situation like this? Maybe not around traveling or roommates, but you need information or help from someone else and it doesn’t come? Do you think “well, it’s their responsibility to get back to me, why aren’t they!” or do you think “hmm, I wonder why I haven’t received this? I should find out what’s going on.”

In the past, I’ve spent a lot of time with the first thought. Here are some results of that:

  • You look at the same item on your to-do list over and over again without making any progress and get frustrated and a little angry
  • You spend a lot of time worrying about when you’ll get that information or help (and if you’ll be bothering them if you ask about it)
  • Overall, you get less done because you’ve spent so much time thinking and worrying about this one thing

So, what are the results of the second thought? Well, you probably contact the person and ask for the information or help and that results in this:

  • You know when to expect the information/help or if you need to find it elsewhere
  • You don’t spend a lot of time worrying about the situation
  • Overall, you get more done because you know the status of that item

If your first thought generally is “well, it’s their responsibility,” that’s OK! Next time you find yourself with that thought take a deep breath, relax and get curious! Go ahead and call or email – they might not realize that this is a potentially frustrating situation for you (or you might find they’ve unexpectedly been out of town)!

One more thing, sometimes when we’re frustrated or feeling like we’ve bitten off a bit more than we can chew, no one else around us realizes that we feel that way. Even if it appears completely obvious to us, other people might not notice it. In those situations, take a step back and ask yourself “What or who can help me with this?” or “Who will have some ideas to help me with this that I might not have?”

Tell me, how do you know when it’s time to ask for what you need instead of waiting for someone else to notice?

The Key to Sticking to Your Task List

by EvieBurke, posted in Task List

I’ve been thinking about why it can be hard to keep an up to date task list. Is it finding the right system? Hanging out with other people who create and keep up with task lists? Is it making the time each day and week to keep current with the daily tasks as well as the steps for that big goal or project?

All those things play a part and can help or hinder your efforts to stay on top of your tasks. However, the more I think of it the root of the issue is habits.

In my previous job I carefully tracked my time. I had to – my time was billable. As a result, I felt that as much time as possible should spent doing billable work. I didn’t want to spend time creating task lists. I’d figure out the next thing I needed to be working on when I finished the current task. Well, that didn’t always work out too well for me. Sometimes I’d completely forget about something or spend a lot of time sorting through things trying to remember or decide what to do next.

Productive, that’s always the goal – right? It’s not productive to sit and look at all the things you could be doing. It is productive to jump into a task and get it completed, or at least make progress. You might not really believe that, but look at your day – isn’t that what your doing by not creating some sort of plan for your day?

This is where habits come in. When something is a habit, you do it without thinking too much about it. It’s something you just do. Like brushing your teeth every night.

I recommend creating the next day’s task list the night before and then reviewing it first thing in the morning. This accomplishes two things. (1) When you create your list at the end of the day your work is still fresh in your mind. If you wait until the morning that task that was really important yesterday might be forgotten. (2) Reviewing your list first thing in the morning gives you a nice snapshot of your day.

Is this a habit that would be helpful to you? If so, try it out for a week and see how things go. If not, what other habits around staying on top of your tasks do you want to create?