Today’s WorthWorkn4Wednesday blog post talks about the non urgent tasks that lurk in our To-Do list like dirty secrets that weigh on your productivity mindset. Most of the tasks we do come with the frills and whistles of urgencies and deadlines. Then there are other types of tasks that are important, but not so urgent. They can be easily put off for another day, another week.

The result is that we keep delaying these tasks. Our brain tells us: ‘It’s ok! This can be done later. Or it tells us that these tasks don’t matter. The pending task’s list keeps getting higher and our anxiety level and sense of failure keeps escalating. We continue ignoring them until two things happen:

They either become urgent and we are left with no excuse but to do them. Or, they lose their importance altogether and are put in the dust bin. Hence, some really good ideas never get to see the light of the day.  

There are 3 reasons behind why we keep delaying our non urgent tasks:

Urgent First

We are usually so used to doing the urgent things first that our mind becomes conditioned to dismissing anything that doesn’t look urgent or important in short term. Our mind tells us, “It’s not needed at the moment. There are far other important things waiting to be done first.”

No Deadline

There is no one breathing down our neck to get them done. The result usually is that we end up delaying those non urgent tasks and dragging them onwards.

Procrastination

Our mind keeps telling us that the task doesn’t look interesting enough or the outcome isn’t that rewarding, so why bother. Hence, we allow our mind to feed our procrastination.

Is this been happening to you?

You have all these not so urgent and not so important, but nevertheless important tasks, waiting to be done.

You intend to do them, some point in time, sooner than later!

But you don’t know how and when to do these tasks!

Sometimes, you are not sure why these tasks are in your list in the first place. You may think that they are, maybe, not that important at all!

Pending Tasks Add Up & Drag You Down

But deep inside, those undone tasks hang on your head! They make you feel bad about yourself and your productivity level. You feel guilty knowing that there is something pending on your list, on your laptop, even in the corner of your kitchen or closet, an unwashed mug, unfolded laundry, an email waiting to be answered, a book needing to be read! It could be the social media channel for your business that you are delaying opening because you are not sure about its need or impact for your work.
Whatever it is, it is something that you want to happen, that needs to be done, and yet you are unable to attend to it, due to a strict and unforgiving schedule or priority list.

Before you find a solution for a very common productivity problem, here are some of the things you need to understand about your work style. If you have a tendency of falling behind and delaying your non important tasks then here is what you need to understand about your work style first:

You tend to work well with definite, external deadlines in place.

You work more diligently on a task when you are doing it for someone else, and you feel answerable and accountable.

But if the task is something that you need to do for yourself then you are likely to not give too much importance to it. It’s like I am more likely to clean my house more meticulously if I am expecting a guest coming over. But if it is just me, then I would tend to give things a quick wipe and go.

Life is All About Balance

The approach of positive productivity is all about balance in how we think and how we do our work. It is about:  

• Balance among tasks and their prioritization.
• Balance in outlook and perspective.
• Balance between work and relaxation.  
• Balance between what we do for others and what we do for ourselves.
• Balance between our sense of worth for others and our sense of self-worth.
• Balance between our short term goals and long term goals.

Here are 3 steps I recommend to keep sight of your important and not so important tasks:

1) Set Personal Deadlines

If something has an indefinite deadline, you are not likely to give that much importance and priority to it. That’s why I recommend setting a personal deadline for non important tasks according to their importance and worth in your life and work. You may want to as k yourself that if I keep delaying this task what is at stake, what do I risk losing? The answer may be the very motivation that you need to get going!

2) Write Things Down

When tasks are in your head, they are in air, they get lost, slid over by more urgent and important stuff. But whenever you write your tasks down, they become tangible and decipherable. You can envision how much time it would realistically take you to do the said task and set a realistic deadline. So what if you are unable to do that task? No issues, you would just move it to the next week or month! But you wouldn’t forget it or give up on it altogether!

3) Think of the Implications

Most of the time we tend to drag on, ignore or postpone tasks because we don’t think about the long term benefits of seemingly small and unimportant tasks. Anything that’s ignored now will come in the future as a bigger problem. A seemingly small idea can go big or a small tweak in your work now can save you a handful hours later on. Who knows!

To Sum Up

There would always be tasks on your to-do list that belong to the unchartered territory of seemingly important but non urgent tasks that keep on getting delayed. They wear heavily on our peace of mind and productivity and impact our long term results. However, if you set deadlines for the non urgent tasks, write them down and think of the bigger picture, you are more likely to give due time and attention to them. Conclusively, you would feel and be more accomplished, productive, at peace and successful in your life and business.