Laura Williams, SBL coach and trainer, on how getting big tasks done is all a matter of scaling things down
After an all round ridiculously crazy start to the new year, I decided that I needed order in my life. So, I set myself the task of tipping my office out and reorganising every single last inch of it. I planned to organise, shred, file and streamline every piece of paper and process I could. I knew that if I could just spend some time bottoming my workspace, I would feel better.
Tidy desk, tidy mind, and all that.
However, the week I chose to do this was already on the brink of being overcommitted before I added this into the mix…and you’ll know that, in reality, those weeks are always much, much busier than our calendars can ever illustrate!
Despite the obvious issue of having no time at all to do this task, and having promised myself that I wouldn’t work any late nights when my days were already hammered, I still didn’t take organising my office off the to-do list.
Instead, I decided to break it down into chunks.
I started by gathering up all the loose bits of paper, post-it notes and scribbled incomplete to-do lists and put them in a general file, a shredding pile, or a ‘keep handy’ pile. I then gathered up my previous half-assed attempts at filing and collated them into my new organisation system accordingly. I then tackled the immediate priorities on a singular to-do list arising from Stage 1 of ‘Operation Get My Crap Together’.
Next, I moved to Stage 2. A drawer a day, where I sorted, shredded and filed, creating as many online systems and processes as I could to do things easier, quicker, and better.
Finally, I put everything back together and filed and shredded accordingly, resulting in tidy files, tidy surfaces and tidy systems. Everything perfect and systems in place!
I will say, the process was a lot slower than I hoped.
In my mind, I dreamed of one full day where I would just blitz the lot while somehow keeping all the other plates spinning…but, reality check – when is that ever gonna happen? Finding the time to do the most basic of tasks is hard enough, let alone finding the holy grail of one whole ‘free’ day – and, if I did have a day, is sorting my office how I’d spend my time? Probably not!
But, by doing it this way, I not only started what was a hugely daunting process, I made tangible progress on it. I didn’t put it off or procrastinate, I just took it one job at a time, one step at a time, and one day at a time.
Generally, I’m a do-all-or-nothing kind of person and I always felt that, if I set myself a goal and couldn’t complete it within my self-imposed timeframe, there really was no point as I would have failed at the first hurdle. But that kind of logic left me with an office of increasing chaos and a mind that was fried before I’d even picked up a pen.
When I jumped in with a small, very simple and manageable step, I realised that getting started was the biggest battle won and, from there, it would be easier to keep going.
As SBLs, it often feels like we don’t get to finish things, or we feel rushed to get things done.
It can feel like we’re doomed before we’ve even started if a task looks impossible to complete with the time constraints we have, but breaking things down into small steps (more specifically, smaller steps than you think you should take!) really does work.
Maybe you’re looking at an office cleanout, or maybe it’s an assignment, or maybe you’re eyeing up a systems overhaul…Whatever it is that you ‘never have the time for’ commit this week to breaking it down into smaller chunks and block some time in your diary to complete Stage 1.
It may feel like it will take you longer but, I promise you, once you get started you will soon find yourself much further ahead than you think.
Join Laura at the LIVE recording of her podcast at EdExec Live North in Manchester on 5th May 2022 or EdExec Live South in London on 9th June 2022 book your tickets here!
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