I have to substitute teach, volunteer at the school, finish the auction project (due Friday), and do my legal work. I also have something every weeknight this week and a house guest arriving on Friday.
But, in addition to that, my tasks currently look like this:
I considered removing the ominous shadow, but I kind of like it.
So, how do I not panic? Well, lots of coffee, some oxygen, and a plan of attack.
Here are some popular plans of attack that might help you when you planner is too packed. Pick one and move forward.
1. Kill the dread by doing the most horrible task first. (Some people call this "eating the frog.")
2. Do the quickest three tasks so you can cross things off.
3. Do the most pressing item first. (I tend to panic, so this is what I do.)
4. Choose the task with the biggest impact.
5. Pick the one you like doing the most. (Blogging, anyone? :) )
6. Work from the top of the page to the bottom.
Why six approaches? Well, so you can get one die (half a pair of dice) and roll it. Seriously. If you are indecisive (I'm not), print out or bookmark this list, get a die, and put it on your desk.
Good luck rolling a five!
Etcetera.
great advice. going to find a die now. hopefully i won't get sucked into cleaning out the games cabinet in the process.
ReplyDeleteI'm just back to work after a two week vacation; I have an enormous and overwhelming task list. I have scheduled an extra ten hours at work this week and have hyper-planned my days to sort it all out. Yesterday I worked a 10 hour day and successfully ignored my computer for the first six, basically got all my tasks done and then went digging into my email at the end of the day when I had less energy. Worked beautifully.
ReplyDelete#7 - Get help
ReplyDeleteDelegate as much as possible at work. Delegate as much at home to family members. If all else fails, hire help especially for the tasks you hate to do yourself.
Sad but true: as much as I love this post, the thing I love the very, very most is that you distinguish between one die and two dice. THANK YOU.
ReplyDeleteI like the "Eat the frog first" approach. That's how I try to do it. :)
ReplyDeleteI ve been looking at the myriad of organizatino / productivity tips all over the place and i have to say the idea with bookmark and a die is by far the best - seriously, simple, fun (who doesnt like rolling dice?) and hopefully effective. All the best!
ReplyDeleteI usually make a schedule when I feel overwhelmed. It helps me see whether I can do it all and when or shows me that I can't and I have to eliminate some of it. It actually works really well.
ReplyDeleteKind of liking that dice idea, though.
Freaking brilliant idea!
ReplyDelete