Don’t wait for that perfect time!

Waiting for that perfect chunk of time where you wanted to get an important task done without interruptions?

You planned well, set aside a nice chunk of time, cleared your desk, got a hot cup of coffee, and you are all set to use that perfect time to get on with your task. You are 5 minutes into your task when you get interrupted with an annoying phone call, a visitor stopping by for a casual conversation, etc. The result? You decide there are too many interruptions today and tend to put off the task until you find yet another perfect chunk of time to get it all done in one shot, and the story repeats. This is a scenario we all witness everyday whether it is at home or work.

I don’t know about you, but I never seem to find this perfect time. When it comes to getting things done, what I found to be working for me instead, is to look for small increments of time, a minute here, 5 minutes there, etc.

The key to successfully using this strategy is knowing how to prioritize and how to break your task into smaller pieces, such that you get the satisfaction of getting meaningful portions done in those small slices of time. But a big part of this strategy, is acceptance of reality and getting comfortable with the idea that any progress made is better than putting it off entirely.

As Pareto famously stated, 80% of your results come from 20% of your activities. Find that 20% activity that is most meaningful for you. The rest will follow.

You could prioritize tasks in several ways, optimizing around various attributes:

• Importance: Get the most important things done first.

• Difficulty: Get your most difficult task done first, and the rest will be a breeze.

• Due Date: Finish the task that is due tomorrow before you start something that is due a week away.

• Efficiency: Organize for efficiency. For example, while filing taxes, get all your documents ready before you start doing taxes, rather than searching and fetching the documents when you need them.

• Dependency: Your tasks could be dependent on another task, so finish them in the right order to unlock dependency.

• Interest: Get to things that are most interesting to you first so you can overcome the inertia.

• Size of the task: Pick smallest tasks first so you can get done with them and check them off the list so you get the satisfaction of getting things done.

Of course, there is no right answer that works in every situation and for every one, so you will have to experiment to see what works for you. But no matter which way you decide to go, divide up the task into smaller pieces.

You will be surprised to see yourself looking for those precious 5 minutes here and there so you can knock these pieces off easily. It actually starts to become fun, and in no time you will be getting things done!

Try it out!!