Do You Know How to Stop Missing Deadlines

Are deadlines, whether “etched in stone” by an outside entity or vague, problematic for you? If so, improving your “task-shifting” may be the answer!

We are always moving from one activity to another. From sleep to starting work or school. From one task to another. From work to leisure. The question isn’t whether or not we change actions but whether or not we do it effectively. While shifting duties may seem unimportant or boring, in fact, making changes intentionally is crucial to the flow of our day.

There are three potential problem areas in adjusting to a new activity:

1. Initiation: Starting a task is a barrier for some. The thought of beginning the chore might be overwhelming because it’s a task you don’t like to do, you don’t feel you have the right skills or you aren’t clear about expectations. Or you are distracted by a previous activity and don’t realize the need to move on. Regardless of the reason why initiation is a challenge, not starting a job isn’t going to make it go away.
2. Disengagement: Knowing when to cease an activity is the problem for you. You’re are so engrossed in what you are doing, that you either don’t realize the need to switch tasks or you don’t want to stop what you’re doing. The ability to stop one activity and move to another is crucial in moving successfully through the duties of your day.
3. Total Time: Mis-estimating the time it takes to change from one endeavor to another may be difficult for you. In your mind it takes two minutes to shut down the computer and get to the car when, in reality, the elapsed time is 15 minutes. Or it takes 30 minutes to drive from point A to point B but the time to find the car in the parking deck and pay to leave has been forgotten. Miscalculating time usually leads to frustration or tardiness.

Here’s a work-related example. You step into your office at 8:00 a.m. You have a meeting at 11:00 a.m. You have one part of a presentation to finish prior to the meeting. You estimate it will take about an hour to complete. First, you open email. You answer a few. Then one email leads you to do some research and another email has you starting a new task. All of the sudden it’s 10:30 a.m. This means you’ll either be unprepared or late.

Here are the potential problems and solutions in this scenario. Problem 1: total time for tasks. Solution: Work on the presentation first. Yes, I know email is calling your name! Yet you want to be prepared for the presentation. Problem 2: disengagement from email. Solution: Set a couple of timers. One at 8:40 a.m., one 10 minutes later, and one at 9:00 a.m. Make the sound of each timer different. Have the last timer across the office so you have to get up to turn it off. Yes, I know you estimated 60 minutes to work on the presentation. Starting to work on it at 9:00 a.m. gives you extra time if needed.

Hopefully this short illustration gives you a new awareness of how to design more effective shifts between activities.

Which of the three problem areas are most difficult for you: initiation, disengagement, or total time?

Let me know below and I’ll respond with an idea or two.