Breaking out of Task Overwhelm
Meet “Kim”
Kim is BUSY. She has lots of tasks in front of her at all times.... and perpetually feels “behind”.
Every day she wakes up thinking, “Today’s the day I’ll get it all done!”. And she sits down to work.
But then she remembers the deadline she missed yesterday, the person she said she was going to get back to, the inbox that hasn’t been touched in a few days - and starts to PANIC. How does Kim make sense of every one of the inputs coming at her, from her calendar, her text messages, her inbox, her social media, her own brain...
And she thinks it’s her fault.
The problem isn’t you or your perceived lack of focus.
We are conditioned to be “good girls”: do it all, please everyone, including our harshest inner critic.
We have our attention and focus stolen due to technology, our environment, and a meeting- and noise-heavy culture. The speed of inputs is tremendous.
We struggle with making choices for the fear of FOMO.
But I have some hard truths:
You can never get it all done.
And hard choices are how we stay in integrity to our capacity, our intuition, and ultimately our message and mission.
Where does Kim go from here?
Here’s a 20 minute routine (adapted from Khe Hy and Tiago Forte).
Step 1: Connect to your body and the ground
Step 2: Reconnect to Your Why
Step 3: Create a list of “big buckets” of your work
Step 4: Add every task to one of those “buckets”
Step 5: Prioritize your tasks - find what’s for NOW and what to eliminate
Step 6: Get started with a focused work block
Want a Guide? Check out my Notion templates!
Step 1: Take 5 deep breaths and Ground
Let’s take a moment to slow down, recenter, and turn down our “fight, flight, or freeze” tendencies. And ground into the present moment. Scan your body for stress and breathe into your body.
Step 2: Reconnect with your Why: Your Mission, Your Message, Your Values
Yes, your business exists to make you money. But in Radical Strategy, your business is rooted in something deeper. You’re righting a wrong in this world with your work, counteracting an injustice. Why are you here? That “why” provides the filter for what tasks are important.
Step 3: Create a list of “big buckets” of work
We then move to the tactics by creating a list of all of the buckets of work.
These buckets include:
Projects: These are buckets with concrete objectives and end dates, like launching a new program, client deliverables, teaching a class, taking a course, filing your 2021 Taxes.
Areas/Domains: These are buckets that we maintain over time, like health, family, personal growth, finances, ongoing sales activity, social relationships.
People: We can bundle all of our people follow ups into Areas: Sales Follow Ups, Personal Follow Ups.
Step 4: Add EVERY task to one of those “buckets”
Here’s where the magic happens.
Go through all of your “inboxes” and collect your tasks.
Your email
Your text messages, voicemails, Voxer/WhatsApp messages
Your calendar (yep, upcoming meetings are a great task!)
Your planner and your journal
The Post-Its or scribbles that happen in none of those inboxes
Classify each into a project or area.
Important tip! If a task doesn’t have a real DUE DATE, leave the date blank. If it’s a firm due date, say with a customer, a vendor, or the government, log that.
Even just compiling all of your tasks out of your head onto paper mitigates the dull hum of the anxiety of “what am I missing”. It might be overwhelming, but at least it’s in one place.
Step 5: Prioritize and look for Leverage
We can classify our tasks by 2 factors - Value and Urgency.
High Value: will create impact in your business - either through time or money. (*This should ultimately connect to your WHY).
Urgency: has an upcoming, concrete due date
Look at your Projects - which can be started later?
Look at your Tasks - which are both Urgent and High-Value?
Creating that client proposal?
Responding to an inbound sales contact?
Look for LEVERAGE - what tasks can I take on now to make everything else easier or unnecessary (h/t The ONE Thing)?
Look for HELP - can I delegate or otherwise ask for support from my extended resources?
Look for Elimination - what tasks can you eliminate from your list?
Step 6: Get Started with a Focus Time Block
Now that you’ve grounded, reconnected with your mission, and prioritized your tasks, pick a time block to get started. Choose 1-2 tasks from your prioritized list and complete those!
Make sure those tasks are small enough to be completed in a time block.
Define success for that block: first draft, final proposal, etc.