It is worth doing well or it has to be done?

Read time is approximately 2 minutes

My mother was adamant in teaching my sisters and I, “If something is worth doing, it is worth doing well.” My advisor at the University of Wyoming was just as adamant about, “It doesn’t have to be perfect—it just has to be done.”

So how do we know which piece of advice to employ? Well, just like both of these people who influenced my life used to say in response to several of my questions, “It depends.”

 “It depends” is how I find the time management balance in my life…some projects such as a resume fall mainly into the “do it well” category. Other projects such as a blog post (or a dissertation it turns out) fall mainly into the “has to be done” category. Obviously, the resume has to be done before the prospective job is filled or it won’t matter how well it is done and obviously, the blog has to be done as well as possible or readers will stop reading. But by-and-large, different projects fall under different categories and we need to decide which project will best be served by which school of advice: do it well, have it done, or somewhere in the grey area between.

Dr.Joseph Ferrari has identified three different types of procrastinators who fall into those three different categories: do it well, has to be done, or grey area between.  We might find it helpful to know what kind of a procrastinator we are (and we all procrastinate sometimes) and why we might be procrastinating.

Ferrari has designed a flowchart infographic describing three types of time wasters. Sometimes just knowing why we do what we do helps us avoid regrettable behaviors. Follow the flowchart to see what best describes your traits in most projects.

Try the helpful tip at the bottom of the flowchart for a couple of weeks. Post a comment on the end of the blog to let the rest of us know into what category you fall, if the tip has helped, or if this whole exercise fails to match your life experience.

Next post we’ll talk about an important strategy for the beginning of a school year and in subsequent posts we’ll talk more about tips for avoiding procrastination and managing time better. 

Recalculating…

Read time is approximately 4 minutes

On the last post I shared some tips for motivation to manage time and promised to share some specific tips I have learned in prioritizing my tasks and sustaining motivation to finish a task. Today, let’s get down to the nitty gritty of just what managing time might look like. I will use one of my projects as an example—writing a blog post.

I really like that term Sarangi uses, steering time. Steering time incorporates both prioritizing tasks and approaching the tasks in a planned way. Just like using a navigation system to drive or steer to a destination, it takes a system to steer time and arrive at your target destination. Compare steering time to the steering/driving steps a navigation system provides.

Here are the directions I generally use to get a project done, such as writing my blog post.

1.       Let go of daily tasks. Sweeping the floor, ironing the laundry, or washing the car will have to wait if you are working on a home project. Updating your calendar, cleaning your desktop, or scheduling appointments will have to wait if you are working on an office project. Time is not elastic. Don’t try to stretch yourself to complete all of the daily tasks as well as the project.  If you wait until the daily tasks are done to tackle a project, you will never even get the project started. For instance, when I am writing my blog post, I delay answering text messages or email. Those communications will have to wait.

2.       Make the to-do list—list everything, every little step.  For instance when I write a blog post, I have items on the to-do list such as brainstorm, write a draft, correct the draft, choose a picture, write the headline, wait a 24 hour cooling off period before writing the final draft, publish the post, make notes, read blog examples. Listing every little step gives me a better idea of how much time writing the blog post will take.

3.       Prioritize the items. Think of these as the turn-by-turn navigation instructions to follow. Complete the most important item first. For the blog, taking notes is the most important to me. I need to complete that first. In fact, I usually begin writing notes for the next post as I am working on the current blog post. The notes help me avoid procrastination and writer’s block. If I have notes about the information I will use in the post, I can write the draft.  If I know I won’t be able to write the draft in one sitting, I always quit in the middle of a sentence. See blog post “Never finish your sentence.” 

4.       Plan for interruptions. This most important step, planning for the unexpected, insures that unexpected interruptions do not become calamities. Consider even listing the step, resolving interruptions, into your to-do list.  Phone calls, visits, responding to messages and messes to clean up can be unexpected. For instance to avoid a calamity, I start a blog post at least a week before my publishing deadline. I start even earlier if I know I have a fuller than usual calendar. For this post, I started June 20 since I knew I was having house guests for the 4^th of July weekend and I wanted to publish before July 8.  Just like a navigation system recalculates when I make a wrong turn, I can recalculate when an unexpected interruption happens—and I can still arrive at my planned destination/goal.

5.       Cross off tasks as they are completed. This significant step gives me a feeling of accomplishment, helps me stay disciplined, and spurs more energy for me to complete more tasks on the way to finalizing the overall project, in this case the blog post.

6.       Create self-discipline. The steps can work for any projects, only the specifics will change. By letting go of some daily tasks, listing all the steps, prioritizing the steps, and planning for interruptions, and crossing off the steps as they are completed, we create the motivation and discipline we need to complete a project.

In the next post, I’ll share what I have learned from other experts about goalsetting motivation—I have already started the notes. J