Improving Management of Time and Tasks, Part 4

Do you know anyone who is great about tracking tasks and working through To Do lists methodically and diligently… except when it comes to a major project or a complicated or delicate task?  Someone who cherry picks which tasks get done and leaves the ones they loathe for last?   When they get to the end of the workday and review the To Do list made earlier, there is one project at the bottom of the list that has been put off.  It’s late—and they still haven’t gotten to it.  They decide to tackle the item the next day, and the same thing happens again and again.  It is a source of frustration for the person and everyone else involved.  They don’t see themselves as procrastinators, and yet there are definitely certain tasks they routinely avoid or delay doing.   

The truth is that almost everyone procrastinates at one point or another.  For most people, this doesn’t interfere with the quality of their work or life. But for some, who continually procrastinate and then regret it, this negative cycle can impact productivity and achievement.  The question is:  why do some people engage in this behavior?  Well, there are many reasons why people put off tasks.  They might be:

1. Time-management – failure to prioritize tasks; doing the easy things first so that it seems that a lot has been accomplished
2. Feeling overwhelmed – having so much to do that it’s unclear where to start
3. Perfectionism – reluctance to publish work with flaws
4. Anxiety and fear – concern about being criticized or challenged
5. Task aversion – seeing a task as frustrating, boring, or unpleasant
6. Disconnect from the future – view the consequences of the delay as someone else’s concern
7. Delayed outcomes – reward is too far into the future to be motivating
8. Low motivation – low-value reward / outcome
9. Prioritizing short-term over long-term gain – feeling better now even if it will lead to feeling worse later
10. Expected level of work – difficult or complicated task expected to cause frustration or require too much effort
11. Inertia – keep doing a present task instead of switching to another task; excessive task-switching causes overload
12. Abstract goals – goals not clearly defined
13. Cognitive biases – unreasonably pessimistic about odds of success
14. Problematic traits – impulsivity or inability to stay focused
15. Underlying behaviors – rebellion against authority figures
16. Underlying conditions – depression
17. Low energy – insufficient sleep; insomnia; sleep apnea
18. Problematic environment – too many interruptions and distractions

Why a person is puts off a task matters insofar as formulating a way to stop it from happening long-term.  But short-term, what matters is ensuring that tasks get identified, prioritized and completed, regardless of whether they are big or small, easy or hard, simple or complicated.  If the task is on the list and important, it shouldn’t be ignored or put off. 

A Multitude of Task Management Approaches

That’s where the right task management system can help.  While there are many task management approaches, each manages task prioritization and tracking differently.  That’s because each person has different task management needs based on who they are, what areas they need help, and what they need to accomplish.  So far, we’ve looked at two approaches to task management. 

First, we looked at the Eisenhower Matrix – also known as the Urgent-Important Matrix — which is focused on categorizing all tasks into four buckets: important, urgent, delegate or eliminate.  This is useful for high-powered execs who lead an organization and need to stop putting out fires and focus instead of being effective.  For someone who has a team to which they can delegate, the Eisenhower Matrix is useful for zeroing in on the tasks that will have the greatest long-term, big-picture impact.  But it’s not as helpful for the average person trying to improve their own personal productivity because most people don’t have someone to whom they can delegate tasks.

Then we looked at David Allen’s Get Things Done (GTD) methodology.  It offers a set of tools, techniques, and productivity recommendations that serve as the framework for achieving “the art of stress-free productivity”.  Tracking tasks is key to the GTD approach.  Everything relevant (tasks, interests, projects, other relevant information) is collected and tracked in writing, sorted and managed, organized and prepared for action, reviewed periodically for progress and ultimately completed.  Once tasks are on the list, the person doesn’t have to think about it anymore until it’s time to work on it.   It’s a super-powered approach to To Do Lists.  The system is great for people who are juggling so many tasks that the plate is overflowing and don’t want to let anything slip through the cracks.  However, it can be complicated and time-consuming to maintain as tasks must be reprioritized and reviewed constantly.  It also does not solve one particular problem that plagues many:  leaving the complicated, long and difficult tasks for last… or never getting to them at all. 

Eating the Frog

For people who put off certain tasks for whatever reason, there is a third task management system from which they might benefit.  It’s dubbed the “Do the Worst Thing First” strategy.   It is also referred to as the “Eating the Frog’ approach.  This is based on Mark Twain’s famous quote:  “Eat a live frog the first thing in the morning and nothing worse will happen to you the rest of the day.”  It is based on the belief that if you start your day by doing the most-avoided task first, and getting it out of the way, then the rest of the day can only get better from there.

In 2006, Brian Tracy popularized the concept in the bestselling book of the same name:  “Eat That Frog!’.   While many accepted it as words-to-live-by, some missed the point.  Many interpret the “Eat that Frog!” or “Do the Worst Thing First” strategy as a command to work on their least-likeable or most-dreadful task first. But, actually, the idea is to work on the project or task that will have the greatest impact first.  It might be a delicate, difficult or complicated task or project… but not necessarily the one that is most hated. 

The benefits of the “Worst Thing First” strategy is that it ensures that the task that will have the most impact – which is often one that gets put off because it is more challenging or complicated — gets done and out of the way first.  Everything will be easier after that.  Eating the frog also ensure that multitasking is minimized or eliminated so that the focus is just on the frog.  Everything else can come later.  That maximizes productivity and minimizes time-wasting tasks.   Implementing this is easy.  Once a To-Do List is created, tasks are ranked based on impact.  Whatever task is ranked most impactful is tackled first.  According to Brian Tracy, “The hardest part of any important task is getting started on it in the first place. Once you actually begin work on a valuable task, you seem to be naturally motivated to continue.”

The Cons of Doing the Worst Thing First

Of course, it makes sense that high-impact tasks should take center stage in the schedule.  But this does not mean doing the most unpleasant task or the one that is liked least first. There are good reasons not to do the most dreadful task first thing in the morning.

1. If the task is awful – such as terminating an employee or telling a patient bad news or trying to fix someone’s big mistake — it may set the tone for an awful day or week.  Sometimes, working on a task can feel like pulling teeth, or prove so depressing that it kills productivity for the rest of the day.  Or it might really be stressful.  So some tasks should not necessarily be tackled on Monday morning.
2. Some people aren’t at their best first thing in the morning.  Some do not hit their energy peak until the afternoon.  So tackling a complicated project when energy is low is not ideal.  That would be working counterproductively against one’s brain.  Perhaps sharpen the axe first?  Spend extra time over your coffee and get the desk or computer organized.  Allow time to settle in and get comfortable before starting on a difficult task.
3. Taking on a tough task is easier after accomplishing some minor tasks and feeling positive.  Once a person hits their stride by completing a few minor tasks, they can then tackle a big one. Taking care of simple “housekeeping” tasks in the morning allows better focus on the tough job a bit later in the morning.

So be careful not to misunderstand the point of eating the frog.  It is meant to boost productivity and eliminate procrastination, not fuel it.  Next week, we’ll look at the Ivy Lee Method for managing tasks.  Don’t miss it.

Quote of the Week

“Happiness does not come from doing easy work but from the afterglow of satisfaction that comes after the achievement of a difficult task that demanded our best.” Theodore Isaac Rubin

© 2023, Keren Peters-Atkinson. All rights reserved.

The post Improving Management of Time and Tasks,
Part 4 first appeared on Monday Mornings with Madison.