Going After the Small Chores

Instead of The Next Big Thing or Project X or Project Y, devote some time this week, say four hours, to do nothing but little chores.

We often ignore and dismiss them because they are small and yet they can convey potent feelings of guilt if left unattended. Leave a small chore alone for a few weeks and you may begin to regard it as of equal importance to a big chore when it comes to your inability to get things done. You know it is minor, so your reasoning goes, and yet you have not even been able to get that small task done. You are not in control.

And so you'll take the time to go after the small chores. Your time will be especially productive if - as you tackle these chores - you develop systems or bring in some tools to help you become better organized. But make no mistake, unless you do or delegate those tasks, you'll find that the cumulative effect of the small chores is the guilt of not completing a large one.