Process Flow method
Do you have repeatable actions to do every day? Or what about one off projects? If so then here’s a great method I learned in Mark Forster’s How to Make Your Dreams Come True
First, you list all the different types of tasks that you might perform on an average day. It might be Cold Call telephoning, online research, proposal writing. Then you might have that one off project that you never seem to be start. It might be one of those projects that could really move your business forward. It might not be urgent, so other things seem to take priority.
Next, you take all the actions and list them out on a table like below. Mark a number 5 in the box next to each task. This is because you will perform each task for just 5 minutes.
Start at the Top
So start with the task at the top of the list; Set your timer for 5 minutes and when the alarm goes, stop that task even if it’s not complete. You then move on to the next task. You would then repeat this until you have worked on all the task types for 5 minutes. If you complete the task, you mark another number 5 in the box to the right. This is because you will then repeat this the next day.
Any task you did not complete, you mark a number 10 in the next empty box. When you start the next cycle, you will be performing the tasks for 10-minute durations. If you complete the task, mark a 10 for the following day. If you didn’t finish it, it gets a 15.
Keep repeating this process until you get to 40-minute durations. This would be the maximum time you would spend on one task.
The benefit of this method is that we are firstly working on all the different tasks that are important, even though they might not be urgent.
We are also increasing our desire and motivation to do the work. The idea is that we are utilising a couple of psychological traits to our advantage here. First, by initially reducing the tasks to just 5 minutes in duration, we overcome our natural state of procrastination. Secondly, by stopping working before we have finished, we are using our natural need for completion. This makes us want to work on the task even more. As you rotate through you list of tasks, you start to go in to that state of flow that all high achievers desire.
Bottom Up method/ Top Down method
Another technique I borrowed from Mark Forster, I call the bottom up/ top down method. This is especially useful if you have a long to-do list full of unrelated types of tasks, some of which fill you with dread. This is another elegant method of overcoming that killer of success – procrastination.
Top down method:
With the top down method, the first thing you need to do is to list out your tasks. Next, you put an asterisk next to the item at the top of the list. Then you look at item number two and ask yourself if you would prefer to do this. If you would prefer to do this task, put an asterisk next to it. If not leave it blank. Then you repeat this process, working down your list, as you go down the list, the actions highlighted are more and more appealing to you. In theory, the lowest highlighted task on the list is the easiest or the nicest to do.
Next, start work on the top item. When you complete the task and cross it out. Then you move down the list to the next highlighted item. You repeat this until all the highlighted items are complete. The theory is that the tasks are getting easier and easier.
Once you have gone down your list once, you repeat the whole exercise with the tasks you ignored the first time. The highest task left on the list, then gets the asterisk. You then move down the list asking the same question – would I prefer to do this task.
By using this method, your work becomes progressively easy. This is a really effective way of gamifying your work. What I mean be this is that your work becomes a kind of play. This uses another key psychological human trait – we love to play.
Bottom up method:
With the bottom up method, when you come to starting your tasks, instead of starting with the hardest, you start at the bottom – the easiest. I know that a lot of the time management literature tells you to start with the hardest task first. In practice, though, sometimes you just need to make a start and the easiest task might just be the best place. Also by starting with the easiest task, you are making a start and creating momentum. And isn’t that the trick to all productivity? Making a start and creating momentum.
Backlogs
One final piece of technique I have adapted from Mark Foster is what to do if you find yourself in the situation of backlog. It could be that you have returned from your two week holiday to find over 1000 emails in your inbox. Or how about all those magazines that you have told yourself you will get round to reading. Or it could be just the mountain of work that has landed across your desk. How do you tackle this and also keep up to date with new stuff that comes in?
You declare a backlog.
Its a bit like declaring yourself financially bankrupt. Except you are going to pay this debt back. What you do is you take your entire to-do list and put it to one side. If it’s an email backlog, then move all your unread outstanding emails into a separate folder and name it backlog file. If it’s a reading list, physically move the items to one neat pile. One word of advice, though. That is to declare a backlog on only one type of item, ie email, to-do list or reading material.
Next, you add a project to your project list called Backlog Project. This works really well with the process flow grid (above). You are then going to carry on processing new work as it comes in and work on your ongoing projects. When you come to work on the Backlog project, just work at it like any other project, without guilt.
The beauty of treating your backlog like this, is that you are still tackling it, but you will also be tackling new stuff as it comes More importantly though, you are still working on your goals and projects.
Finally, when you do eventually clear the backlog, you could do some self-analysis asking yourself how you came to get so behind. What process can you put in place, to prevent it happening again?