Face one crowded with tasks Oa a large project can become intimidating. Therefore, when you feel that you block yourself and your productivity stagnates, it may be a good idea to rethink if you really find yourself In a productivity bump Or yes, really, those tasks are as priority as you think.
Stop, step back and analyze the stage is the best way to optimize the processes to move forward, dedicating energy to what really matters to achieve the objectives and leave aside what does not. The key is to be done The right questions.
When was the last time you felt productive?
People are not machines, so productivity does not remain unchanged and suffers up and down throughout the week or months. It depends on your physical, emotional state. Ask that question allows you to define productivity scenarios in the past, which may not be given in the present.
Remember when was the last time you felt Your productivity had shot and analyze that scenario can help you replicate that scenario in the present and promote a situation in which your productivity returns to its acceptable levels.
If, for example, it was before a vacation, given the urgency of closing the fronts open before going vacation, it could be justified with The Yerkes-Dodson Lawand you need a certain voltage component that motivates you. Maybe your productivity improved when you had a well -defined goal and allowed you to focus 100% on it, instead of dispersing your attention in secondary tasks.
What is the purpose of this?
The day -to -day inertia often puts trees on the road that prevent seeing the full forest. One of those “trees” are the smallest and most monotonous tasks for which it is difficult to find a motivation to do.
Zero of the mail, wash the dirty dishes or introduce the data of your expenses in a spreadsheet may seem boring and unproductive tasks when analyzing themselves, but acquire importance when contextualize in a broader objective.
Zeroing your email tray does not have an immediate effect on your productivity since it does not make your task list It is completed faster. Instead, it does allow you to locate the important emails for your project and respond efficiently. Similarly, wash the dishes As you get dirty It serves to use less time preventing them from accumulating, in addition to avoiding health and order problems.
In the same way, something as little appealable as bringing daily control of expenses It serves to improve your economy and Facilitate savings. There are only three examples of tasks that, in themselves, may seem unnecessary and totally postponable, but that have a much more important objective. It’s just a matter of giving them perspective.
Why don’t I want to do this?
The procrastination is A psychological phenomenon Fascinating, because whoever suffers it is totally aware of the suffering that will cause it to postpone tasks, but cannot avoid doing so.
Fuschia M. Siroisprofessor of the Department of Psychology at the University of Durham, declared to The Washington Post: “Procrastination has to do with emotional self -regulation and, in particular, with the inability to handle negative moods around a certain task.” In general, we do not postpone the fun things, we procrastine in tasks that we consider “difficult, unpleasant, aversive or simply boring or stressful,” said the teacher.
Find the Origin of procrastination that causes that task is one of the keys to recover productivity and face Strategies to mitigate that blockade. It may be because the task seems boring, because it is so great that facing it produces anxiety or, simply, because it does not align with your opinion.
Can I break this project more?
One of the most common productivity problems is the blockade that occurs before a project that we consider to surpasses us. There are so many things to do, that the focus is lost and you scatter.
The best strategy to face is “Divide and win”: break down a very big task in others much smaller and assumed. For themselves, these tasks do not imply a substantial advance in the project, but as the sayinger says: “Grain does not make a barn, but helps the partner”, so that, when completing small tasks, the main project is being completed.
Become your own assistant It is also a very useful technique to unlock those tasks that, for some reason, you resist facing. This technique is to prepare everything necessary (materials, data, knowledge, etc.). Once all the pieces gathered, you just have to take the step of joining them, reducing the friction of the beginning.
Is this task really necessary?
This is a fairly dangerous question because it requires to put the task in a certain context of priorities with respect to other tasks, and there is a risk that the Conditioning of procrastination Do not lead to an erroneous self -suction conclusion. I do not want to do it, it is not necessary.
Taking that into account, it should be put on the table A priority scale And consider whether to complete a certain task is a priority to advance your project. It does not imply that the task should not be done. The question is, should you do now, today or do you have to do it?
Eliminating these tasks or prioritizing others will allow you to concentrate better in your day and advances in your goal. To establish these priorities you can use task lists systems such as ABCDE METHOD.
Another approach to avoid unnecessary tasks or that do not contribute to improving your productivity is simply, say no. Assume tasks that distract your attention or do not correspond to youmake your daily planning be filled with tasks that do not help you achieve your goals. The most common result is to have that feeling of not having stopped throughout the day, but you have not achieved your goals. Does it sound to you?
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