On an average weekday, my chances of completing my to-do list are only slightly better than the odds of a Nigerian prince sending half his inheritance to me in sacks of gold coins delivered by a leprechaun. In my job, I spend most of my time in meetings or dealing with “urgent” requests. I must add five new work tasks for every one I complete. When work is over, I might have just enough energy to cook myself dinner before I collapse in front of a digital screen for the night.
Last month, I discovered the secret to getting things done: I took a vacation.
Right after I arrived in Manchester, UK for a five-day visit, I stopped at a cafe and jotted down about twenty things I wanted to accomplish. By the time I left, I had done 19 of the 20 tasks on my list (I missed #20 because the place closed 2 hours early and I didn’t get there in time) and still had plenty of time to go off script.
The key difference is that when I travel, I feel a sense of urgency: I know if I miss out on something by the time I leave, I might never get a chance to try again.
This past month, I tried to bring that same mentality to normal, everyday life. I began each week by saying to myself, “This is a week I’ll never get back; how do I want to spend it?”
Normally I start with a huge list and immediately feel overwhelmed. The simple act of starting my week with a fresh to-do list was a revelation. By restricting myself to what I could achieve in a week and trying to avoid pushing tasks to the following week, I had to be selective. In Manchester, I could do whatever I wanted to do from the time I woke up to the time I went to sleep. At home, almost half of my waking hours (and most of my energy) are dedicated to my job. I decided if I could commit to just one thing per weekday outside of my job and my daily routine, that would be an achievement.
That “one thing” replaced my old habits with something to look forward to each day after work. Instead of streaming videos, I watched a couple of great films at my local, independent movie theater. Instead of taking a nap, I joined a local gym and began working out three times per week. I went shopping for the necessities I had put off for weeks. I discovered local events and spent time with friends I hadn’t seen in months.
Problem solved? Not quite. There are still some major areas I’m having a hard time with.
My job still requires more time and energy than I have available. I’m working to make my meetings more productive so we don’t need so many of them, but it’s a necessary evil while I try to keep my team on track.
Ironically, one of the most difficult areas is the main one that inspired me to take on this “vacation” challenge in the first place: my writing commitment. I spent the first half of the month pushing writing activities off to the following week, and by week four I had spent a grand total of about two hours on my blog and 30 minutes on my novel.
I knew part of the problem was the same issue I’ve had with to-do lists in general: the bigger they are, the harder I fail. I could have come up with a thousand things I needed to work on to complete my novel, but if I had listed them all I would probably find the nearest bridge and frisbee my laptop into the horizon.
I tried just doing one thing at a time, but because I didn’t know where to start, I would just come up with a random task. Doing something was better than nothing, but it’s hard to feel like you’re progressing towards your destination when you have no sense of direction.
Then I remembered I had subscribed to the online learning service, Masterclass, at the end of last year. In typical New Year’s Resolution fashion, my enthusiasm for the program lasted all of three weeks before it fizzled out. This felt like a perfect time to try again: what better way to find direction than with a writing curriculum? Then it’s easy to know where to start: lesson one.
When I have too much time on my hands, it’s amazing how fast it goes by. But by limiting my planning to one week at a time and my projects to one step at a time, I hope to reach the point where I don’t need to wait for my next vacation to feel good about how I spend my time.
Excellent advice. The vacation mentality seems to serve you well. Sticking with a plan is always the hard part, but one week at a time makes sense. I think I will start using the left side of my calendar designated to “this week” on an ongoing basis. It’s broken down as: to do, don’t forget, to call/email, and to buy. I think it will help me plan and take it one week at a time as you have recommended. We’ll see.