I am juggling a lot of projects right now, and most days, I feel like I can’t possibly get everything done. A few weeks ago, I went through my entire To-Do list on an excellent to-do list app called ClickUp and found projects I had given my assistant to do almost a year ago. He did them…but I found myself too busy to check on his work. Another project needed to be done…and it sat in my past-due box. I happened to glance at it and see that 300+ things were “past due.” Oops!
Looking at 300+ past-due items is intimidating and de-motivating. I tend to get emotional and drown myself in overwhelm, but instead, I reorganized my to-do list.
I wrote down a master list of “little troubles” in my life. The unfinished minor tasks for work projects. The unfinished craft projects. The incomplete list of books I haven’t started reading yet. The stuff I keep meaning to put on FB marketplace but don’t. Stuff that I have to do but hate doing. Stuff that I love to do but never seem to have time for. Sometimes, your little troubles are people: co-workers, family members, and friends. They annoy the shit out of you, or you don’t have enough time to spend with them. People you have to deal with but don’t want to. Sometimes, the annoyances are people you don’t see, the loved ones who don’t talk to you for reasons they never shared with you, or those who have passed on, leaving a hole in your heart.
And then there are the distractions…the countless interruptions that take you away from whatever you’re working on, like family emergencies, work mishaps, and social media.
The problem with the little troubles and distractions is that they take up space in your brain, much like programs that use up the temporary memory in your computer. Unfinished tasks are constant reminders that “you’re not done.” When your brain is busy reminding you of the things that aren’t done, it has trouble placing 100% of your attention on the task at hand. You become inefficient. As little troubles and distractions begin to add up, they can affect your brain processing power and start to affect your health.
I’m identifying each of my troubles and distractions and finding permanent (or at least semi-permanent) solutions to each of them. If I hate the task, I see a way to delegate or automate it. If I love the job, I schedule it. If it will make my life easier somehow, I prioritize
it to get it done quicker. If it didn’t affect my life, the task was deleted. I study each project and decide how I can improve the project or my workflow. When I get something done, I reward myself with a stretch or a walk. Analyzing how I work has been challenging, but the peace of mind is well worth it.
How can you do to tackle your little troubles and disassemble your distractions? How can you be more efficient so you have more time for yourself?
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