“I Hate Doing This”
I hear these words from my youngest daughter on a fairly regular basis. Okay, everynight when it come to homework she utters these words. All of us have something we would rather not have to do. Because we would rather not have to do something we put it off - yep, it’s also called procrastination. My dauther asked last night why her mind wanders and she can’t concentrate on a specific subject. That’s a great question and it got me thinking. There are thousands of reasons “why.” The real problem is how to keep it from happening.
There is no “one size” fits all anwer to this problem. What I found for my daughter is to watch her do her homework. Supervision seems to work the best for her. As a business owner, I don’t want my clients hanging over my shoulder making sure something gets done. Not to mention that approach just makes me irritated. I turned to my “to do” list for the answer.
My “to do” list has traditionally bit long and scary. Sometimes it even has fangs and hair. I have tried using the list function in my PDA and in Outlook but nothing has ever really kept me on track until now. I keep a master list in my PDA for routine deadlines such as filing 1099s and W2s as well as other tax deadlines. To keep myself on track on a daily basis I ask one question - What absolutely has to be done today? Those are the items that make my hand written list. My list is on bright paper so it doesn’t get lost on my desk. It is a reminder of what MUST get done today. No slacking, no procrastinating. If the tasks on the list don’t get done today someone will have a late fee, an employee will not get paid, a major business decision will fail or some other nasty consequence will follow. If the non-completion of a “to do” task doesn’t cause a consequence it doesn’t make todays list.
Give it a try. See if the Must Get It Done List works for you.