Getting things done…

I think the saying goes a lack of time is a lack of priorities…

There’s a bunch of things in life we can often feel ok like pushing aside, whether it’s life administration (paying bills, setting things up) or household chores (putting clothes away etc etc)

Whilst convenient and there are probably other things we choose to prioritise over these things they often build up to the point that it’s almost overwhelming to sort through, or worse yet through some kind of calamity or necessity we’re required to fix the problems for fear of the pain they might cause us (late penalty fees for example)

Why I’ve been thinking about this it because I myself have been sitting on some tasks that I needed to complete and worse yet, I have this penchant for throwing more things onto my plate when I would already otherwise have enough.

It’s not that I don’t want to complete these tasks, more so that I’ve prioritised other tasks ahead of them.

I often advocate for the 1% better each day approach, where turning something into a daily habit will eventually get you to your destination a la consistency over intensity, however there are some times in life you just need to smash something out.

One of the things I think I’ve been very lucky with is building a history of finishing things, whether its study related, life or work related so as such, when I decide to do something there it’s never an option to not complete it.

So why am I thinking about this today?

Because I actually spent the last couple of week using my ‘spare’ time to complete a course that would normally take a year to complete.

I don’t say this to gloat about it, but more so to reflect on an idea about cumulative learnings (and take a moment before I get onto the next task).

Whilst this course was in a different industry to my previous work eperience, there is a lot of crossover when it comes to business and whilst I don’t think there’s anything special about me when it comes to intelligence or knowledge, I think that being able to see the translation in skills or learnings from one area to another is something I’ve been so fortunate to recognise and use to reduce the time it takes for me to learn things.

I probably didn’t need to finish it in the timeframe I did, however for me I really don’t like things hanging over my head.

Getting it done frees up my headspace for other things, kind of like how letting go of one chapter in your life opens the next.

Another analogy to this would be like ‘dropping’ or ‘releasing’ a song, film, podcast episode etc etc.

Isn’t it funny how we use these words to describe the publishing or distribution of these things - we are ‘dropping’ them, or ‘releasing’ them.

I always find it cathartic to release a podcast or a martial arts film study.

Perhaps it’s because I can finally let go of something that I’ve been letting live in my head for goodness knows how long.

Speaking of which, it’s time to work on the next things so I can ‘drop’ it and bask in the temporary satisfaction of ‘completion’.

Temporary because it’s only a short moment before I find something else to add to my plate….

I wish you all success in getting things done.