Do The Easiest Thing First
In an effort to avoid going for my run this morning, I decided I would procrastinate by checking my work messages. The day that I am writing this is a Wednesday and I had taken just 2 days off around the fourth of July holiday. With so many out, I didn't expect to come back to much. To my surprise, I had a massive amount of emails, chat messages, and meeting invites waiting for me. The next 10 straight hours (with the exception of the run that I did eventually go on) were spent catching up on all the different things I had going on. What I want to write about today was what that first hour felt like.
I was overwhelmed. There were many different projects I was responsible for, lots of balls in the air, and for a few moments I felt like I was in over my head. When moments like that happen to us, it is very easy to want to just run for the hills. There's too much to do, too many things to juggle, and we feel like we can't do any of it. The answer, I have learned over the years, is a similar method to what Dave Ramsey uses when he gives financial advice.
Typically, when you are in debt, the financially strategic thing to do would be to tackle the biggest bills with the most interest. Financially, it makes sense. If you get rid of those first, then you will pay off less in the end. Ramsey, however, offers a different solution that goes against financial advice but goes with everything we know about people and behaviors. When you have 25 different bills (or tasks - like I had this morning), and you decide to spend the first chunk of your time on just 1 of those… you will give up before you even really get started because tackling the biggest things first, is hard. On the other hand, if you pick the easiest ones first, you will find that the momentum and sense of accomplishment that you gain from the small things, will keep you going to make it through the big ones.
That's how I made it through my day today. I went through all my chat messages and all my emails, and added each thing to my To Do list. Then, I started with the easiest. I asked myself: what can I do right now, in the next 10 minutes? As I made my way through, I felt more and more accomplished and energized, which helped me get over the hurdle toward the end of the day when I had the more cognitively challenging items.
It's easier to take on something big when you can already look back at everything you've done.
What's even more fitting, and what led me to writing this post, was that I used the method again when my work day was over. I made it through all 25 tasks and was feeling great. Then, I walked out of my office and stared at the giant mess of partially unpacked things on my living room floor. I wanted to give up. I wanted to quit before I started or put it off until tomorrow. Instead, I picked one thing and put it away. Then I did another. And another. Now, not only am I unpacked, but I was also inspired to write - something that I had also been avoiding all day.
The next time you are feeling overwhelmed, try starting with the easiest thing on your list. Don't be strategic. Don't think about the best order to do it or how you can get it done in less trips or with less effort. Just pick one thing, and start.
