Don’t Put These In Your Task Manager.

If you use a task manager, how many tasks are you rescheduling each day? Have you ever stopped yourself and asked; why am I rescheduling this task?

There are many reasons why you may want to reschedule a task; it could be you ran out of time or an emergency took over your day — all valid reasons. However, there is another reason why and it’s likely to be the most common reason.

Before we get to that, we should look at how you write your tasks. Writing a task such as “Mum’s birthday” or “Upload file” may make sense when you write the task. Give it two or three days, and when you see the task, you will hesitate. You need to remind yourself what it means. Leave it for longer than a week, and a task like this will make no sense. You won’t remember what your intentions were when you wrote the task.

This is why when writing a task, you write for your “dumb” self while being your “intelligent” self. This means you make it very clear what you mean and precisely what the action is when you write the task.

Using action verbs in your tasks helps you. Beginning your tasks with words such as; “write”, “call”, “message”, or “read” makes it very clear what action you need to take.

However, there is a type of task that you are likely putting into your task manager that isn’t a task. These tasks begin with words such as “think about” or “decide”.

A “think about” task is not a task. Well, it’s not a clearly defined actionable task with an ending. You could spend the next ten years thinking and doing nothing about something. A task like this will be one of the first things you kick down the road.

Similarly, a task that begins “decide” will deceive you. How much time does it take to make a decision? The answer? No time. You could make a decision instantly if you chose to do so. When you put a task like this in your task manager, it’s a procrastination task. There’s a reason why you have not decided on this, and that is what the real task is. You may need more information or need to discuss the options with a partner or colleague. Either way that is the real task.

Let’s go back to the “think about” task. Where do you do your best thinking? It won’t be sitting at your desk staring at a computer screen. You think better when moving. It could be when you are out walking or driving. That’s where you are likely to do your best thinking.

A thinking task means you need more information. A real task here would be “read article about subject” or “ask Beverly how best to do this”. That’s actionable. “Think about” tasks are deceptive because there’s no real action involved, and there’s no definitive ending. You could “think” about this for eternity. And why are you “thinking about” it in the first place? The answer to that question will give you the real task.

Your tasks in your task manager should be clearly actionable so you don’t waste time thinking about what you mean or what needs to be done. When writing the task, if you do the hard work and make sure it is clear and actionable, you will be less likely to reschedule it and, more importantly, procrastinate less. Rather than looking at a task and going, ‘I don’t know what to do’, you’ll decide whether to do the task based on your available time.

Sometimes, the difficulties you face with your task manager can be resolved with minor tweaks. It’s unlikely you need any major restructuring; look at how you write your tasks. When you look at a task, do you instantly know what needs to be done? If the answer is yes, you’ve got it. If not, then consider rewriting the task so it is clear.

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