Building a Backlog of Tasks in Life to Be More Productive and Create Free Time

Our modern lives are full of work and tasks that can leave us exhausted at the end of the day.  This hectic pace can often keep us from doing the things we enjoy.  Never fear, in this episode, we look at ways to organize your week and day to create free time for the things we enjoy.

Filling The Bucket

The concept that is the basis for this approach is that of filling a bucket with ever smaller stones.  Our tasks have size and time requirements.  Thus, we have larger tasks that take big blocks of time and small items that can be accomplished in minutes.  Those smaller tasks may be just as important as the larger ones.  However, our ability to "squeeze in" those smaller tasks throughout the day is essential to create free time. We have "dead" time sprinkled throughout our day.  This can occur when waiting in a checkout line, commuting, or waiting on others.  We want to avoid checking out of life in order to accomplish these tasks, but it is easy to find some balance where we can get more accomplished in the same amount of time.

Planning is Critical

These small tasks can require almost as much time to get started or to remember they need to be done.  That is why it helps to have a list (mental or physical) maintained that includes these items.  When you have a list, you can scan it and grab a task from the list instead of having to think through what might need to be done and be small enough to handle in your dead time. Although these tasks may be a high priority and need to be done today or sooner, it works best when the items on the list can be done sometime this week or month.  That reduced priority allows the tasks to stay on your list until there is a perfect time to tackle them.  Of course, you can also periodically make this list your priority and work through whatever is left over on it.  This keeps tasks from becoming "stale" or falling into the too little, too late category.

Better Than Angry Birds

I am as guilty as anyone of using my phone as a way to entertain myself during the dead times of the day.  However, those entertainment breaks do not add up to the enjoyment I can get with more free time at the end of the day or week.  You might have to break your Angry Birds or Candy Crush habit, but the payoff will make it worthwhile.  Give this a shot.  You will be surprised at how much extra you can get done each day.  It is not magic, just a way to effectively create free time.