Use a Target Funnel to See What Tasks You Can Defer
The word procrastination has a bad reputation. But sometimes it is better to postpone this task. “It’s all about figuring out the right time to do something,” says Rory Warden, author of Delay with a Purpose .
Warden’s idea is well suited to the fast-paced, ever-dynamic world in which we find ourselves. He argues that if you complete the next week’s task this week, you will put yourself at risk of changes between now and the due date for that task. due. These changes may mean that you have to re-run the task; or it could have been avoided, but you did it too early and wasted your time today.
In short, his message is that staying ahead of deadlines and completing tasks ahead of time is not always a good thing. Success lies in determining the optimal time to solve the problem:
There is a big difference in waiting to do something that you know what to do but don’t want to do, and waiting to do something, because now is not the optimal time. Expectation, because you don’t feel like this is classic procrastination, and this is the reason for a mediocre life. Waiting because you deliberately procrastinates can be considered a synonym for patience.
To figure out which tasks you should put off until later, Warden recommends running them through a “focus funnel,” which is a series of four sequential questions:
- Can I fix this?
- Can I automate this?
- Can I delegate this?
- (If the task cannot be resolved, automated, or delegated) Can she wait later?
By answering these questions, you will have a better understanding of what needs to be done now and what can be postponed.
How the most productive people procrastinate | Fast Company