What To Do When You Have Too Much To Do

I have too much to do.

My usual recourse (another cup of coffee) isn’t working.

One thing I could do is write out a list of everything on your mind, the sort it out using Covey’s or Blanchard’s methods. Eben Pagan recommends this technique as part of his Wake Up Productive info course on productivity. He uses a different sorting arrangement than Covey or Blanchard though.

But I’ve already done that. My Todo list is tyrannizing me!

By the way, it’s not that productivity tools DON’T work, it’s that people don’t use them. Productivity tools work great when you actually use them. Here’s a hint: if you postpone using a productivity tool until you’re too tired to think, it’s not going to work.

You have to use productivity tools when you’re fresh and well-rested…

…then you will have the vision and energy to follow through when you’re nearly spent… and can barely see the keyboard on your computer because you didn’t notice it was getting dark outside and you haven’t yet turned on the lights.

When you’re at the end of your rope, that’s a hint to go do something else.

One technique I use is to maintain emotional context while dissipating emotional tension and stress by doing something completely unrelated, which doesn’t require using the same part of my mind.

Shift your focus to dissipate stress

For example, if I’m working through a sticky programming problem, I might take a break and do some of the following. While these can be considered “wasting time” in some contexts, it’s important to understand that I don’t like doing these things either! I do them because they are chores that need doing as well, but won’t burden my mind.

• Upload recent pictures to flickr.com, this gets them backed up and off my laptop. I always have tons of pictures laying around. I’m weeks behind in my uploads. It’s a total chore!
• Take the next step in setting up a private Trac system so I can learn to use it easier in the future. This may result in a blog post along the “tutorial” line. The Trac documentation is fairly involved, but it’s hard to find simple information describing how to do simple things.
• Set up a git-based project. Git is becoming the tool of choice for collaborative development, I need to get with the program!

Sometimes, you just have to get away from computers completely.

Spend more time in meatspace

In my case, I’m to take advantage of of the warm, sunny weather and finish a surfboard repair for my friend Walter. I’ll have my trusty paper notebook by my side to jot down ideas as they come to me.

Here’s more things that mostly don’t involve computers:

• Fold laundry. Seriously, it’s a chore, it needs to be done, and about anything else is more fun. Almost guaranteed to get your idea machine running again.
• Clean the fridge (no, really, I do). Currently being a bachelor means I enjoy the luxury of living how I like, but I have to pay the consequences as well.
• Stay in motion. Brad Pitt: Be the shark, always be moving. Do something physical to free up your energy.
• Hot tar roofers starting at 7 am are a hint to either take the day off, leave for parts quieter, or just don’t attempt to accomplish anything overly involved.

But how well do all these distractions work for focusing your mind? Sounds like an oxymoron… use distraction to increase focus… I smell a future blog post!

Results from experience

All of these techniques above have worked for me repeatedly, and they may work for you. I’m sure I’ll be able to add to this list in the future.

What are your special tricks? Let us know below.

Tagged as: context switching, Project management