Stop Your Productivity Thieves

Everyday you can add to your life’s bottom line through high value tasks. But it is hard to get ahead if other things siphon away your time and attention. Last week we addressed clutter. It can be a huge productivity drain. However, if you acted on last week’s post to declutter your life, then you now are 7 grocery sacks closer to being clutter free. Congratulations.

This week I want to address another insidious thief of productivity and meaning–Unfinished Tasks. Every unfinished task, whether it be as simple as a missing shirt button or the tax documents you meant to file weeks ago, silently embezzles your productivity.

Each unfinished task tugs at your attention. Some only tug for a moment. Others keep you lying awake at night. No big deal. Right? Wrong. The cumulative effect is staggering. You might have as many as fifty of these unconsciously devouring the bottom line of your life.

So what is the cost of 50 unfinished tasks? Even if those tasks only occupy your attention on the average of 30 seconds a day, you are talking about 1500 seconds or 25 minutes of distraction a day. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it? Think again. By the end of the year, those 25 minute withdrawals have cost you nearly 152 hours. That’s almost 4 full work weeks stolen from you!

• What would your business look like if you had 4 extra weeks of creative attention rather than distraction and stress?
• What lifetime memories could your create with 4 more weeks of family time?
• How would you feel differently with 4 weeks of gratitude rather than being inwardly agitated by unfinished tasks?

You must stop these thieves before they drain your life’s bottom line dry and you can in three easy steps.

Step 1) Create your unfinished task list. Download the Unfinished Task list from the Member Tools area of The7MinuteLife.com or grab a notepad and write the words, “Unfinished Tasks” at the top of the page. Now list every unfinished task you can think of. Think about work and home. Write down every unfinished project, disorganized drawer, phone call you meant to make, or incomplete repair. Write down anything incomplete. Just by writing these down you reduced your mental and emotional deficit. Congratulations.

Step 2) Next to each unfinished task write the first action step you must take. These action steps can be what we call micro-actions, small steps you can readily achieve in 7 minutes or less. For example:

• Join a gym…”Call and set up appointment for first work-out.“
• Give away old clothes…“Pick-up packing boxes on the way home from work.”
• Replace button on blue shirt…“Find replacement button, needle and thread.”
• Eliminate 40 bags in 40 days (see last post)…“Set out 40 grocery sacks.”

You get the idea.

Step 3) Pick the 5 absolute easiest tasks and complete them immediately. You will more rapidly eliminate your unfinished tasks if you will just get moving and build on small successes. I learned from doing my first unfinished task list that getting them done is mostly a head game. Most of the tasks usually aren’t all that difficult. It’s getting started that holds you back.

Oh, I almost forgot–Be sure to check off your items as you complete them. There is a big psychological pay off on marking them as complete. This too will help you build momentum.

You will be amazed at how much time and energy you free up as you start rapidly eliminating unfinished tasks.

I hope you have a productive and meaningful week.