The Task at Hand vs The Time on Hand
If you’ve ever watched my 3 minute TEDx talk, you’ll see that the central theme is in order to be more productive, focus on the task at hand more often than the time you have on hand.
Sure, we’re all trying to get a lot done – especially before the holiday season that just passed. We all felt the time crunch with so much to do in the limited amount of time leading up to the holidays and I’m sure that feeling will return soon enough now that the holidays are over. That feeling may already have returned for you.
Think back for a moment to the holiday break. You likely had less work-related tasks. Instead, you were spending some time with family, catching up on some leisure reading, and so on. Things slowed down, and when that happens you can really start to notice that what you’re doing is far more task-oriented than time-oriented.
Now bring your mind back to right now. Things have sped up again. Time is moving faster. So are you.
Now what would happen if you went back to the mindset you had during the holidays – where you could put focus on task over time more often? Sure, time will always play a role in our lives because we don’t live in silos, but it doesn’t need to take precedence over the tasks in our lives.
Start thinking more about the task at hand first before you let your mind get sucked into the time you have on hand. Right now is one of the best times of the year to start doing so, and you may very well be able to carry that line of thinking through to the year ahead. This simple adjustment can really make a big difference in your productivity…and in the quality of your life as a whole.
