Want an easy fix for overwhelm?
If you’re so overwhelmed by your own to-do list that you don’t know where to begin, this is for you. And it all starts – and ends – with a question.
At the end of each working day, as part of my shut-down routine before dinner, I open my journal do a little time travel. I fast-forward 24 hours and ask: What three things will feel good to have done, this time tomorrow?
Then I write those down, circling the most important one, or the most difficult, so I get to that first in the morning.
The rule of three keeps it simple.
It’s easy to do even on a busy day, and it keeps you moving forward.
When I have clients who are struggling to set up systems to support them, this tends to be the first thing I suggest they try.
You can do this the night before as I do, or in the morning before you start work. The time travel part is important: you’re already feeling what it will be like, to have these tasks completed.
Choosing only three might be difficult at first.
But it helps you focus on what is important, rather than getting lost in trivia and busywork.
If you finish all three, of course you can do more if you want to. But the key is to do your three, every day.
You’ll start to trust yourself more, and get out of the habit of procrastination.
Make sure each task fits the time you have available.
On a day of back-to-back meetings, you might give yourself some reading to do on the train or something you can listen to in the car. You might make a phone call, draft an important email or schedule an appointment – anything to make the following day easier.
Even when you have a whole day to work uninterrupted, try to break tasks down into steps that can be completed in an hour or less, so that you have plenty of time to deal with regular daily work and life admin.
You’re aiming for steady, sustainable progress rather than pushing yourself to exhaustion.
Choose three tasks at the start of each week.
Fast-forward to the end of your working week, and decide what three tasks will move you forward most, if you complete them by the end of the week.
Again, make sure they are do-able in your time frame, with everything else you have on your plate. (If not, break them down to smaller chunks.)
You can then use these to guide your choice of daily tasks.
I make sure that at least one of my weekly three tasks will move a long-term project forward. Because it’s easy to get distracted by immediate deadlines, or fire-fighting, and never get to the big things you really want to do.
This works for almost everything.
- Overwhelmed by a huge task? Break it down into the first few baby steps, and do one of those each day. Soon your path will feel clearer.
- Struggling to finish a big, self-directed creative project that has no firm deadline? Set aside focussed time to work on it every day or week. That way it won’t keep getting pushed aside by more urgent, paid work.
- Want to learn a new skill? Block out time to study or practice, and make it one of your three things.
- Want to establish a new habit? Make it one of your three things until it’s a firm part of your routine.
At the moment I’m writing a book.
Some days, all I manage is an hour of writing, 8-9am. And this is always one of my three tasks for the day.
In that time, I usually produce 500-1000 words. Which doesn’t seem like much. But if I put in a couple of extra hours at some point in the week, that’s a chapter drafted.
If you get good at this, you might want to try choosing three work tasks, three personal. But start with just three for everything.
Remember that’s 21 things a week, at least 90 a month, over 1000 a year. But once you get momentum, and learn to look what’s next on your list instead of procrastinating, you’ll end up doing much more. On things that really matter to you.
And that’s it. A deceptively easy productivity tip. Start today!
Sheryl Garratt is a writer and a coach helping creatives to get the success they want, making work they love. Want my free 10-day course on growing a creative business? Get it here.
Want more productivity tips?
Try these:
Eat the frog: Why it’s Important to do the Difficult Thing First
The Power of the Weekly Check-In
What do you think?