Getting It All Done: Do It

Hey-o, dear readers! This is the final part in a four-part series to answer the question posed by my friend Felicia in response to a call for blog topics: "A "getting it all done"-sort of thing?"

There are four options to get something done: delegate it, defer it, delete it or do it. Today, we're talking about the last one: just doing it. Of course, it's not usually as simple as "just" doing it, or you'd have done it. So we're going to talk about the approaches you can take to completing a task.

Systemize it. If you've got a recurring task, like cleaning the house or filing a weekly report, schedule a regular day and time to do that. I mean that in the formal sense: block off that time in your calendar, and try to keep that time free of any other appointments. That time becomes When You Do That Task, which means you don't have to create a separate to-do item for it. Four o'clock on Friday? Time to write your TPS report. Sunday morning? Time to shop for groceries, start cooking for the week and put your laundry in to wash. Once something becomes part of your routine, it becomes less of an onerous task and more of "just what you do."

Break it down. If the task seems large or overwhelming, that can cause some serious paralysis. Try to break it down into manageable chunks of work. I'm currently trying to program an iPhone app (despite having no programming knowledge whatsoever). Rather than have a task called "work on iPhone app," I've got "read & highlight Chapter 8 in iPhone app dev book." That, I can do in an hour or so, while the iPhone app itself could conceivably take the rest of my life.

Relax the results. I remember a minor revelation my mom had when I was 12: "I've realized that the saying 'If something's worth doing, it's worth doing well' doesn't apply to everything. In fact, it might not even apply to most things." Even as a callow 8th-grader, I could recognize the power that realization had given her. And she was absolutely right! Many tasks don't require a high level of achievement; they just need to get done. Your TPS report doesn't have to read like Proust; it just has to spell out what you've done. A toilet doesn't need to sparkle in the sunlight; it just needs to have the dirt cleaned off. Identify the tasks that merely need to be done to a baseline level of competence, and see if you don't approach them with more energy.

Find a way to want to do it. If you can't delegate, defer, delete, systemize, chunk-ify or expectation-ease a task, and you still can't quite bring yourself to begin it, you'll have to get manipulative... with yourself. As we discussed last month in "Where do you start? Part 2," finding a good reason to do something can give you the motivation you need to get it done.

It's important that your reason for doing something be phrased positively, or you'll have the same stressful result that a "have to" gives you. Saying "finishing this report will bring me closer to a good grade in the class, which will bring me closer to my degree" has a completely different feel than "if I want to get my degree, I have to get a good grade in this class, so I have to finish this report." In the first instance, you're deliberately moving toward something; in the second, you're being forced ahead by it.

And always be sure to reward yourself. I was going to list this as a tactic and call it "bribe yourself," but that seemed kinda limiting. No matter how you've managed to begin a task, be sure to reward yourself for completing it. Treat yourself like a good manager treats an employee, using praise and positive reinforcement. After all, people will do a lot more for a good manager than a harsh one.

So that's the general guide to "getting it all done." I hope you've found something in this series that has helped you. If so, please let me know in the comments. If not, please let me know in the comments. And always, don't hesitate to make requests about what you'd like me to write about. Thanks!

Comments

[Felicia M Flores]

Thanks for answering my question..and then some!
With so much to do, I often find myself overwhelmed, and any new systems or ideas on how to improve on my current systems are extremely helpful!
I think I need to start "deleting" with vigor!