T I M E M A N A G E M E N T
Establishing priorities is subjective, especially when dealing
with activities that are neither urgent nor particularly important
relative to other activities. Take a look at the job that just isn’t get-
ting done and see if you can redefine it in terms of the ultimate
benefit you’ll receive for doing it.
First time through this definition may be negative:
“If I don’t clean out the rain gutters, I’ll get a flood in the gar-
den the first time it rains hard.”
Positive motivations tend to be much stronger. Recast it in the
positive form:
“If I clean out the rain gutters, I’ll protect my garden from
flooding.”
Is that important to you?
Are there other ancillary benefits to getting the task done?
- “I’ll finally stop worrying about it.”
- “I’ll get some nice exercise out in the sunshine.”
- “I can listen to music while I work.”
Are these considerations enough to move the task up the list?
If so, get at it! But if not, you must either resign yourself to living
with the consequences of your nonaction or find a way to get the job
done without actually having to do it. You could hire the neighbor
kid, thus trading money for time, for example. Or, you could add “It
won’t cost anything if I do it myself” to your list of ancillary ben-
efits, perhaps tipping the balance in favor of doing it.
reason 4: You Don’t Know enough to Do the task
When a writer gets “writer’s block,” it’s often the subconscious
mind’s helpful way of suggesting that he doesn’t really know what
the hell he’s talking about.
This is true for other sorts of motivational blocks as well. You
may simply not know enough to do the job properly. You haven’t con-