Time has a way of drifting to our weaknesses, and not our strengths.
This is counter-intuitive because I would assume that the things that I’m best at I’d end up doing the most, since I have the most success in that area.
But that’s now how time flows. Instead, since I’m skilled in some areas, I spend the least time there since I’m pretty efficient at handling those tasks. My brain is geared to accomplish things with the least amount of energy possible, and so those tasks are done quickly.
Instead we end up spending a lot of time on the things that we’re not that good on.
How we lose our time.
If we know that we’re not good at something we avoid it. Procrastination rears its ugly head and we’re losing time before we even begin.
If we’re unskilled or not inclined toward a certain tasks, we stop treating the task as something to be done in a logical fashion, and we end up treating the tasks as a threat. We end up reacting emotionally. We can’t pay attention to the details because we’re reactive. This creates more errors, only reinforcing the idea that we can’t complete this task.
We finish the tasks as quickly as possible and move on from it. Quick work is often low quality work. We end up having to return to this task to fix errors which we should have caught, if we’d taken the time up front to double check the work before sending the task on.
Feeling overwhelmed is often the result of being under-engaged.
If you’re frustrated about a task your trying to complete a task, and you don’t feel like you’re making progress, think about the following list of reasons you may be helpful in determining why this is the case.
Part of why we’re often frustrated about a task that we’re not good at is because:
- The goal may be unclear. School teaches you how to complete clear goals. Life teaches you how to clarify the goal yourself, and that’s often a lot more difficult than actually completing the task itself.
- We really don’t understand how to complete the task. Sometimes we need to ask for help. Humility is knowing when to do that. Self-reliance is taking on the responsibility to make sure you know what you should know, but if you get stuck, you need to reach out to others.
- We don’t understand the significance of the task. Most people don’t like to have their time wasted on pointless activities. We want significance in our work. Knowing why this task is important in the big picture can be really helpful in your process of prioritization.
- We underestimate the difficulty of the task. Some tasks are far to complicated to be done by one person. Some tasks cannot be tracked using your memory. Checklists, timelines, flowcharts can all be helpful tools to accomplish more complex tasks.
- We lack the skills to complete the task. We may need to acquire certain skills. Identifying the skill gap and working to fix it is an important attribute to possess.
- We lack the motivation to complete the task. Different people are motivated by different things. Understanding your core motivations can help you move into roles where you motivations can fuel your work, not undermine it. A great book on this is The Motivation Code by Todd Henry (blog).
- The task is impossible. Sometimes this is the case! If so, we need to go back to defining the task, and determining if it’s even possible to get done. Teachers never give their students impossible assignments, but life has no such priority! If this is the case, renegotiate the task.
Remember the goal – reclaim your time from the tasks that are stealing from you. Lost time can never be regained, so be sure to consider where it’s being spent!