Saturday, January 16, 2021

Tackling "Important and Ugh"




In the famous time management quadrant, the Important and Urgent category and the Important and Not Urgent category take precedent over the Not Important and Urgent and certainly over the Not Important and Not Urgent.

I think a sub-category might be helpful: Important and Ugh.

You know the characteristics of Important and Ugh: not urgent but so distasteful that an extra effort will be required to trick/nudge/cajole you into tackling it.

What to do?

First, think of how happy you'll be when the Important and Ugh items are finished.

Very happy, right?

Now, use this strategy:

  1. Divide the chore into distinct portions.
  2. Quickly jot down the steps needed to complete each portion.
  3. Start with the easiest one. [It will still be Ugh but it will be easier than the others.]
  4. Use the dedicated 20 minutes approach and focus your attention on completing the portion.
  5. Take a short break.
  6. Take another 20 minutes and complete the first portion or, if it is done, shift to the next portion.
  7. Repeat steps 3 through 6 until the all of the portions are completed.
When that is done, I suggest a very brief celebration - okay, that's enough. 

Now shift to your next procrastination category and go through the process again.

It will work.

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