Ever since the move I feel I’ve been constantly busy. I’m making some good progress on finding new methods of focusing on a task through multiple sessions to complete it. That is, working on a task for like two hours a day until it’s finished.
This is an important skill because I can’t focus on a single task for an entire day. In fact, it’s very much the opposite of that. What I learned is a new method of focusing on a goal, while totally lowering the intensity. I raise the focus on a single goal, but lower the stress and pressure.
What I do is look for the next sub-task in the larger task that I’m fully capable of grasping in its entirety. Then regardless of time constraints or pressure, I do that task at a reasonable (easy) pace. So if I have 200 (or some unknown large number) sub-tasks related to the project I am currently working on and 300 (or some unknown large number) sub-tasks unrelated to the current project, I forget all of that and focus on the next easy and logical sub-task that is directly related to the project.
For instance, if the next most logical thing is just to create a directory, but creating a directory feels like just such a miniscule part of what I need to do, I create the directory, enjoy myself while I do it, and don’t worry about the other 499 things at all or the time pressure.
Now, when I say it, it sounds so simple. In fact, it is simple once you can do it, but to change one’s perspective to be able to adopt such a work style is what takes a little time. Also, with the work I do there are infinite tasks to be done, many of which will never actually be done, so it took some time to get used to that idea enough to be able to let go.
What’s nice is that things actually go a lot, and I mean a lot, faster once I can do this. I can actually finish the larger tasks way faster than I thought I would be able to. At the end, there are still infinite tasks to complete, but at least I had fun while completing the last one, I actually completed it, and I know I will have fun completing the next one.
One of the things you avoid with this work style is “branching”. That is, you’re working on some php code, and you suddenly realize you could use a new debugging tool, so you start to work on that, and then you realize you need to clean up some files, so you start to do that, and then you realize you need to send an email. That gets you nowhere. Branching is strictly forbidden. If something is truly necessary then it isn’t branching, but if it isn’t necessary it’s not allowed. At the end of the day, you may need a new debugging tool, but that’s another task you can choose to focus on at another time.
When you have your own business, you have to think. You literally don’t have time to blog or code 48 hours a day, but sometimes your plan is to do just that, and having that much time really would be helpful. Thinking you do have that kind of time is not going to work out, so you need to be able to be productive and happy until you figure that out.
Submit a Comment