Burn Through Your Task List

You might have just come out of a team meeting with a list of tasks to move your project along, or maybe you’ve had a large project assigned just to lucky you.

The most difficult and important part of realizing any idea or process is in the implementation. The best idea in the world can fail due to poor execution.

There are many different tips and tricks for staying on task, and they apply based on what your biggest barrier to getting stuff done is. Maybe you’re a procrastinator, or maybe you get so overwhelmed when you start a big task you stare paralyzed at your computer screen. Whatever your particular task-completion hang-up is, the following steps can aid in getting things done in the most efficient and painless way.

Step 1: Get Organized  

How you organize yourself can vary widely from person to person. The first thing to do is to make a to-do list. Then, use that list to determine which are your most important tasks (MITs).  You should start your day doing the tasks that require the most concentration and creative problem-solving.  Save the emails for later. While often we like to start with the easier tasks and work our way up to the more difficult ones, sometimes diving right in is a more effective way to get stuff done.

Step 2: Set Milestones  

The best way to break up a big project and to measure progress is to set milestones. So when you are making that to-do list, think of where you need to be, how you’re going to get there, and set specific dates to reach those milestones. Taking a big task and breaking it up is standard advice. However,  going that extra step and creating specific milestones can prevent you ending up overwhelmed or behind where you wanted to be.

Step 3: Eliminate distractions 

Now that you have a solid game plan—full of MITs, milestones and a to-do list you can get to work, but first eliminate distractions.  Maybe you need a browser plug-in that will turn off social media notifications. Maybe you need to uninstall solitaire from your desktop, or keep your smartphone in another room. Whatever distracts you the most, separate yourself from it for predetermined lengths of time (maybe just start with 15 minutes if you’re particularly addicted to checking Snapchat) and reward yourself with it on your break.

Step 4: Take Breaks 

It’s important to take breaks. If you catch your breaks going over—YouTube can make five minute breaks turn into thirty—then set a timer so that you don’t overindulge. A great tip for taking breaks is to leave a note or clue for yourself so that when you come back you can see immediately what you need to pick back up. This reduces the amount of time needed to get refocused and helps you dive back in.

Step 5: Optimize your Workflow 

If you are having trouble with staying focused in the time allocated for a task, even after eliminating external distractions, you may need to come up with creative solutions to save you from yourself. If you are working and you suddenly remember something you need to do, don’t push that thought away to nag at you. Simply keep a pad next to you and write down these aberrant thoughts and continue on.  It’s especially important to minimize multi-tasking. Focus on completing one small task at a time. You may feel more efficient, but you’re probably not getting as much done as you think. You might be in the middle of writing a report when an email comes in. You pause the report to answer the email, and in the middle of your draft you remember you were supposed to mail out a form—this can go on and on. Sometimes we are so into multi-tasking that we end up with dozens of half-finished tasks instead of a few fully completed ones. To optimize your personal workflow, it’s essential to allocate your time appropriately and deliberately.

While coming up with ideas, brainstorming, and team meetings are all engaging, essential, and entertaining aspects of work, it can feel just as rewarding to make those ideas and team goals realized by working productively. If we can get better at getting stuff done, it will be amazing to see how much actually does get done.