Getting less important stuff done

A

agavebob

0
I have actions in my lists that are not critical, and often without deadlines, but that keep showing up when doing a review. There are useful methods for keeping these kinds of lower priority actions off your radar so often—such as setting a review cycle or defer date in software, etc.—but doing so doesn't necessarily solve the problem of seemingly never getting these kinds of things done, and feeling nagged because of it. Assuming you (still) want to get those actions done, I've discovered a technique that doesn't greatly violate the notion of working on the most important things first, in my mind anyway. By that, I mean that having these kinds of never-getting-done actions that are regularly taking up mental cycles is not good for my productivity, so in aggregate, they become important.

A meta action could be to block some time, and then use that block to knock some of these kinds of things off, and not drift into your other work during that block. By making progress on these kinds of actions, I find myself better able to focus on the important stuff afterwards.

I find booking some time earlier than you might otherwise start work is a good way to make progress on the little stuff. That might mean getting up earlier than usual on those days—partly so you don't feel you're taking away from time spent on your more important work, and partly to avoid potential interruptions from others present at home or work. Grab a morning beverage, and get going.

After knocking off a bunch of these kinds of items, I might take a break for breakfast, then return to my 'normal' list, with a feeling of accomplishment, and, again, better able to focus on 'the bigger stuff'.
 
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agavebob said:
I have actions in my lists that are not critical, and often without deadlines, but that keep showing up when doing a review. There are useful methods for keeping these kinds of lower priority actions off your radar so often—such as setting a review cycle or defer date in software, etc.—but doing so doesn't necessarily solve the problem of seemingly never getting these kinds of things done, and feeling nagged because of it. Assuming you (still) want to get those actions done, I've discovered a technique that doesn't greatly violate the notion of working on the most important things first, in my mind anyway. By that, I mean that having these kinds of never-getting-done actions that are regularly taking up mental cycles is not good for my productivity, so in aggregate, they become important.

A meta action could be to block some time, and then use that block to knock some of these kinds of things off, and not drift into your other work during that block. By making progress on these kinds of actions, I find myself better able to focus on the important stuff afterwards.

I find booking some time earlier than you might otherwise start work is a good way to make progress on the little stuff. That might mean getting up earlier than usual on those days—partly so you don't feel you're taking away from time spent on your more important work, and partly to avoid potential interruptions from others present at home or work. Grab a morning beverage, and get going.

After knocking off a bunch of these kinds of items, I might take a break for breakfast, then return to my 'normal' list, with a feeling of accomplishment, and, again, better able to focus on 'the bigger stuff'.
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@agavebob


On this end, strategically "Getting less important stuff done" while focusing on getting more important stuff done

As you see GTD fit

Thank you very much
 
agavebob said:
I have actions in my lists that are not critical, and often without deadlines, but that keep showing up when doing a review. There are useful methods for keeping these kinds of lower priority actions off your radar so often—such as setting a review cycle or defer date in software, etc.—but doing so doesn't necessarily solve the problem of seemingly never getting these kinds of things done, and feeling nagged because of it. Assuming you (still) want to get those actions done, I've discovered a technique that doesn't greatly violate the notion of working on the most important things first, in my mind anyway. By that, I mean that having these kinds of never-getting-done actions that are regularly taking up mental cycles is not good for my productivity, so in aggregate, they become important.

A meta action could be to block some time, and then use that block to knock some of these kinds of things off, and not drift into your other work during that block. By making progress on these kinds of actions, I find myself better able to focus on the important stuff afterwards.

I find booking some time earlier than you might otherwise start work is a good way to make progress on the little stuff. That might mean getting up earlier than usual on those days—partly so you don't feel you're taking away from time spent on your more important work, and partly to avoid potential interruptions from others present at home or work. Grab a morning beverage, and get going.

After knocking off a bunch of these kinds of items, I might take a break for breakfast, then return to my 'normal' list, with a feeling of accomplishment, and, again, better able to focus on 'the bigger stuff'.
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Yep I'll sometimes just say "ok, I'll block a couple of hours" whenever it feels necessary and blitz a bunch of these sorts of tasks. It's the important but not urgent category generally, and sometimes just things that I know will make life easier / stop bugging me / really want to knock out. I find I'm much more productive afterwards generally too.
 
I find there are several tactics within GTD for handling “less-important” actions. Including the important “trust your gut” suggestion from David Allen. I don’t time block the way @agavebob does, probably because choosing in the moment seems to work ok for me.
 
I tend to feel more accomplished when I get the more important tasks done first. Then the less important ones are done around the periphery of my day. For instance, after finishing a challenging task, I need a change of context so that I can recharge. So, I might process my inbox or take a short walk, clean up my desk, take out the mail, pay some bills, update a checklist, or go chat with a colleague. Then I can ramp up again for another challenging task.

Cheers,
Stephen
 
fooddude said:
Aren't you using contexts?
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I wanted to make my post semi tech agnostic, but yes, I use tags (formerly contexts) in OmniFocus for every action.

For example, office, garage, outside, remote. Could you be more specific about what you mean by context use?
 
GTDChemist said:
I tend to feel more accomplished when I get the more important tasks done first. Then the less important ones are done around the periphery of my day. For instance, after finishing a challenging task, I need a change of context so that I can recharge. So, I might process my inbox or take a short walk, clean up my desk, take out the mail, pay some bills, update a checklist, or go chat with a colleague. Then I can ramp up again for another challenging task.

Cheers,
Stephen
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@GTDChemist

Clean up the GTD system to keep it 'Nice-&-Ready' ?
 
agavebob said:
I wanted to make my post semi tech agnostic, but yes, I use tags (formerly contexts) in OmniFocus for every action.

For example, office, garage, outside, remote. Could you be more specific about what you mean by context use?
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Then don't your "less important" items show up on your context lists? I mean i have "important" and "less important" items on all my context lists. ie @phone I have call .... about 401k roll over and text rsvp to .... Clearly one is more important than the other but i can only do them @phone. Yes I know the text is a 2 minute item but I put it on my list at 6am and didn't want to do it then. :)
 
fooddude said:
Not to seem argumentative, but if they are subconscious aren't you are relying on memory to do them? If they aren't on your context lists how can you do them when you're at that context? That seems sub optimal to GTD.
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@fooddude

Super . . . yes . . . excellent point . . . the subconscious does what the subconscious does perhaps in a more-or-less 'instinctive auto-pilot' manner with likely some memory assistance; either short-term memory assistance, long-term memory assistance or both

On the other hand, perhaps in GTD terms, explicitly-&-volitionally relying on/holding ideas/thoughts in short-term memory would be more like unnecessarily abusing/fatiguing oneself through chronic reminding self:

"I have to call . . . . I have to call . . . . I have to call . . . . I have to call . . . . "

"I have to pick-up dry-cleaning . . . . I have to pick-up dry-cleaning . . . . I have to pick-up dry-cleaning . . . . I have to pick-up dry-cleaning . . . . "

If you deem the above between unnecessary distinction subconscious and short-term memory then please be assured your good judgment is totally GTD respected

Thank you very much

As you see GTD fit
 
agavebob said:
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I meant to reply to this thread the other day but it's been interesting reading the replies. From a GTD purist point of view, this is probably indicative of a lack of clarity in those items. Perhaps they need a start date/defer date? However, from a pragmatic point of view, it's those kinds of "important but not urgent" items that eventually become "important and urgent" ... and usually at the worst possible time ... that are definitely worth doing in anyway that you can before that happens (i.e. blows up).

I agree with the strategy and approach. There's a certain wisdom in recognizing those actions which are strategically important, whereby that the sooner they're done, the more you will feel better at a deeper level. This way when they become urgent, you don't have to worry; they are already done. Case-in-point, replacing the batteries in your flashlight. It's not urgent until the power goes out (knock on wood) but when it does, it becomes the priority. However, if you replaced it when you had power then you can rest easier because it will just work when you need it.

This is the fundamental principle behind planning and executing on the plan before life forces you to do so. I sometimes say to myself, when I catch myself having successfully seen the train coming at me and dodged it, "Thank you [my former self] for being such a genius to make [my current self]'s life just bucket loads easier. My genius surprises even me" ... applied wisdom.

In case anyone is worried it's not totally inline with GTD to use techniques like time blocking: I have heard David recommend time blocking in some interviews specifically when the example of someone needing to get some kind of a presentation or document. For example, get it prepared by Friday at 3 PM but knowing unless they block out time on Wednesday morning to do it, it's not going to get done. That's just practical advice and planning, especially if otherwise inconsequential stuff is bothering you (it has your attention).

Great job @agavebob !
 
"From a GTD purist point of view, this is probably indicative of a lack of clarity in those items individually. Perhaps they need a start date/defer date?"

For my situation, I believe I have clarity on the (individual) actions, but they otherwise would continue to (perhaps indefinitely) never get done. I don't think start or defer dates would necessarily help.

I'd characterize it as having way too large a list, and not staying GTD caught up. In that sense, I would say I've found myself in a situation where I don't have good clarity *across the aggregate* of my entire list. Guilty on that charge ;)

My periodic extra early morning sessions to knock off the less important stuff seems to be helping me get the boat pointed in the right direction, and still have plenty of time for the most important things.

Thanks for your insight.
 
fooddude said:
Then don't your "less important" items show up on your context lists? I mean i have "important" and "less important" items on all my context lists. ie @phone I have call .... about 401k roll over and text rsvp to .... Clearly one is more important than the other but i can only do them @phone. Yes I know the text is a 2 minute item but I put it on my list at 6am and didn't want to do it then. :)
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Yes; all my items, regardless of importance, show up in my context lists. That wasn't solving the problem of less important items quite often never getting done. For example, I have huge numbers of actions with contexts like: "online" so if I'm online, less important actions were not getting done. Until I started tackling them during sessions where I focused on them. thanks
 
A strategy that has worked well for me in the past is:

  • Tasks that require detail and focus early in the day.
  • Administrative tasks in the afternoon.
  • Creative tasks in the evening.

This strategy has space to make progress on all kinds of things, and allows me to work with the natural rhythm of my focus and attention.

In the context of having time for less important work, imagine it being 3 pm. You've spent the earlier part of the day focussed on your largest, most complex project. You could continue working on it but at this time of day, you would be working more slowly and would be more likely to make mistakes. You know you'll get back to this project tomorrow morning, so now is a good time to make sure that smaller tasks are taken care of, that emails are replied to and that nothing is going to become urgent enough to put you off your main work tomorrow.

I got this idea from Dan Pink's book, "When". https://www.danpink.com/books/when/
 
cfoley said:
A strategy that has worked well for me in the past is:

  • Tasks that require detail and focus early in the day.
  • Administrative tasks in the afternoon.
  • Creative tasks in the evening.

This strategy has space to make progress on all kinds of things, and allows me to work with the natural rhythm of my focus and attention.

In the context of having time for less important work, imagine it being 3 pm. You've spent the earlier part of the day focussed on your largest, most complex project. You could continue working on it but at this time of day, you would be working more slowly and would be more likely to make mistakes. You know you'll get back to this project tomorrow morning, so now is a good time to make sure that smaller tasks are taken care of, that emails are replied to and that nothing is going to become urgent enough to put you off your main work tomorrow.

I got this idea from Dan Pink's book, "When". https://www.danpink.com/books/when/
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@cfoley

On this end, "more likely to make mistakes." very counterproductive and very good reason to alternative activities instead of 'half-mindly' proceeding when the Laws of Diminishing Returns have been engaged . . . which was a work practice advocated by Leonardo da Vinci
 
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agavebob said:
Yes; all my items, regardless of importance, show up in my context lists. That wasn't solving the problem of less important items quite often never getting done. For example, I have huge numbers of actions with contexts like: "online" so if I'm online, less important actions were not getting done. Until I started tackling them during sessions where I focused on them. thanks
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Then I'm at a loss. If I am @computer, I do the items on the list. Are all items the. very. next. action? Apparently you are choosing to not do those items. should they even be on a list? Are they someday maybe items. I move things to someday maybe all the time. I also delete projects if they become not interesting anymore.
 
fooddude said:
Then I'm at a loss. If I am @computer, I do the items on the list. Are all items the. very. next. action? Apparently you are choosing to not do those items. should they even be on a list? Are they someday maybe items. I move things to someday maybe all the time. I also delete projects if they become not interesting anymore.
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I do focus on next action items, but as I wrote, I found that a lot of less important actions that were pulling at my attention during reviews, were not getting done, but *in aggregate* were important, so I decided to knock some of these off periodically in an extra early work session. I've found it useful because knocking those kind of items off makes me feel more productive, and in particular, helps me focus on next action items.

I realize this is at best a stretch of conventional GTD, and maybe outside the guidelines, and am not trying to recruit anyone on my (hopefully temporary ;) ) procedure that is working for me.

I appreciate your ideas.
 
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