Tools for Thought

It’s a great feeling to finish a project that has consumed significant time and attention. Taking time to enjoy the benefits of completion is important. It’s equally important, however, not to let satisfaction become a substitute for further action.

A student finishes his math assignment. Relieved, he goes to the nearby cafe to reward himself with a latte. He runs into a couple of friends, and suddenly, a quick greeting becomes a 40-minute commiseration on school workloads. The commute, consumption and conversation have just claimed over an hour of time that could have been used to work on the next of three more unfinished assignments.

An effective way to guard against slackening effort after completing a project is making an action decision before completing the project. I never start writing an article or a blog post until I’ve decided what article or post I’ll start working on afterward. I decide what I’m going to write first, then decide what I’ll write second before I even start on the first; then I repeat the process while I’m working on the second project.

In working this way, it’s important to define precisely which action step to take immediately after finishing the current project. Leaving a gap between projects allows the mind to wander and trail off into serial digressions. A thought about something that needs looking up on the internet suddenly turns in a two-hour link safari. Plan for these distractions on the front end, and overload your work sessions with more than you can possibly accomplish in the designated period, so that there’s no possibility of finishing before your time is up. This requires timed work sessions, as mentioned in Framing Work Sessions with a Timer.

For those of us who’ve managed to convince ourselves that some unrelated activity is not a distraction (I really do need to go the post office!), the next best strategy is to define the minimum number of steps needed to perform the task before starting, and be sure to do only those steps. Decide to go straight to the post office, and come straight back. Get the latte to go. If an errand requires down time, such as going to the laundromat, think about how much of the interrupted work can be done there — as opposed to just reading. It’s amazing what can sometimes be accomplished in 10 minutes here, or an hour there, in areas not traditionally designated for work — when work is approached creatively.