I tried this experiment last Wednesday - I did the two hardest things in my inbox first. Usually, I save them for midafternoon. My logic is that I'm waiting to build momentum, but in fact, I end up distracted most of the morning, half-thinking about the yucky thing ahead, and having a mood of dread most of the work day. And sometimes a sense of crisis if I don't have time to get it done before going-home time. So Weds I tried getting the hard part done first ... by 10:00 both of the hard emails were written and I had a sense of being able to glide through the rest of the day, could even afford time to go out to lunch. Wow. It felt great, so I decided to see what it would be like if I could keep doing the hard thing first, all week.
I was able to follow the plan 3 days out of five, and they were great. One day, I had something urgent to do in the morning that I had to do first, it wasn't the hardest thing in my inbox, but I don't have total control of my time. And bang! I was back in my old pattern of dreading the thing I was postponing, the hard thing, and didn't start on it until almost 2. And then one other day, I just couldn't get going and wasted most of the day in administrivia. Overall, the experiment was so successful, and I was so pleased with the 3 days I did the hardest thing first, that I'm going to try to continue, and even look for ways to do that in my personal life.
Whodathunk I'd finally get this time management thing figured out just in time to retire?
3 comments:
I do this with ironing which I hate... once I make myself do it the chore goes quickly and without fuss!
Krissie - I refuse to iron! If I can't buy it wrinkle-free and machine washable, I don't buy it! LOL
Eryka - I mentioned this idea to one of my whiney coworkers and I think she might actually try it!
Krissie - I'm with RoseAnn here, if it needs ironing, I don't buy it. Or wear it wrinkled LOL. Ditto for dry cleaning, I haven't paid a dry cleaner in YEARS.
RoseAnn, glad you found it useful. I'm now in my second week of doing the hardest thing first. On the days that I do it, the whole day works. On the days that I don't, sometimes I don't get the thing done at all, and I've had this nagging sense all day. Would you believe, I've had an email I've had to write, e-introducing two people, on my do list for a WEEK because I'm sweating the wording? It's like a little low-level energy drain/distraction in the back of my mind ... how dumb can I get?
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