Before you begin…
Determine your stopping point.
Some tasks are easy, one-off quick wins: RSVP to an event. Order ink cartridges. Book a taxi.
Other tasks aren’t as cut and dry.
For example, checking emails, making client phone calls or writing content.
There’s seldom a feeling of completion. There’s always another email to answer, another client we could call, another paragraph to write.
Knowing when to stop so we can switch from one ‘ongoing task’ to another can be hazy.
Likewise, things can get out of control when we try to tackle the entirety of a project all at once, like organising your office. Before you know it you’ve turned your workspace inside out, it’s worse than when you started and now you have no time to carry on because you have other work to do.
When we get stuck in situations like these, here’s an element that gets us in trouble: not having clear parameters that let us know when we’ve reached a stopping point.
We fall into the trap of beginning work without first answering the question: “How will I know when I’m done?” That is, done for now, or done for today?
Enter the Power of Parameters
There are a couple of approaches, depending on your time available and the nature of your work and workday:
I. Quantity-based Parameter –
In this case, you’re working to volume. Before you begin any work determine how much of something – a specified volume, a total number, a demarcated section – you’re targeting to complete.
Once you’ve reached the quantifiable target, you’ve reached your stopping point; you’re done.
It could look something like this…
– Read one chapter of your new business book.
– Reply to two emails that require an in-depth response.
– Call fifteen clients.
– Sort a three-inch stack of paperwork.
– Write a 500-word blog post.
– Weed through your desktop mug-of-a-thousand-pens and eliminate the ones that don’t work.
II. Time-based Parameter –
You guessed it, in this case you’re working to time. We don’t always have the luxury of dedicating a large part of the day to a single activity. Working to time allows us to keep projects in motion while releasing our time for other valuable responsibilities. Not to mention it prevents us from getting carried away. As before, prior to getting started, first identify how long you’ll allow yourself to work on the task. Once time is up you’re done.
More examples…
– Read what you can of your business book in the next 45 minutes before lunch.
– Process as many emails as possible between 10.00 – 11.00am.
– Eliminate as much clutter and obsolete office materials as you can during the next two hours.
– Call as many clients as you can by 5pm.
– Write as much as you can of chapter three of your book in the next ninety minutes.
Benefits of knowing when to stop
Keep procrastination at bay. The scope of some of our activities can feel daunting. But a pre-defined action with a clear stopping point makes the overwhelm manageable. And it’s easier to launch into something that has an imminent end in sight. Similarly, tasks that are on-going will feel more structured and simpler to action.
Avoid the runaway train. Laying down a clear stopping point before you begin your work alleviates the tendency to get carried away and go too far. The stopping point also takes the guesswork out of ‘have I done enough?’ or ‘how much more should I do?’
Satisfaction of goal completion. Determining the end before we get started creates mini-goals to work to and thus the satisfaction for accomplishing a measurable segment. Even if the task isn’t yet complete, the fact that we took specific action that was pre-defined is still accomplishment. Plus it’s easier to track progress.
Make your work (and personal life!) easier on yourself.
Remember, before you begin…
Determine the stopping point.
Use a quantity- or time-based parameter to signal when you’ve reached your stopping point for that task, for that day.
Don’t start until you can answer the question: How will I know when I’m done?
What other methods do you use to stay on track?
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