Tackling the Task List - Rick Beneteau
A picture perfect day for preaching what I often forget to practice. A cloudless Sunday
afternoon, facing the blazing sun fully outstretched in my lounging chair, reclined of
course. Doing what I love to do most - writing. So allow me to pontificate. After all it
IS Sunday.
The morning wasn't quite this serene. A tail-wagging-the-dog kinda week and the
prospect of office clean up wasn't exactly relished. But it was necessary. Hoover in hand,
and a bucket of hot soapy water at bay, Molly Maid was never this good.
First though, dig through the carpet of cellulose to rediscover what I recalled as a
desk. Photocopies, faxes, printouts, stick-ups stuck to stick-ups and a small plate that
at some point in the week contained a sandwich of some description. Finally, a floppy disc
of some program I thought I was so hot on trying.
Now before you start to scroll down to the next article assuming this is a
"cleanliness next to Godliness" sermon, just hang in because this experience
proved one more time that I am a creature of bad habit. And you know what? You could be
too.
It is most difficult for the Virgo in me to admit this, but I am prone to falling into
poor work habits. I had wondered why this week seemed like leap-frogging from one task to
another. Contained in all of that paper wreckage were great marketing ideas, phone numbers
of people I never called, notes of things I needed to discuss with my partner, various
on-the-fly jobs that should have been taken care of, articles I should have read and a
couple of unanswered faxes. So much that should have been taken care of, but wasn't. And,
at the very bottom of the collage sat the very subject of this article. My task list from
two weeks ago. Single pen strokes proudly dissecting each completed job. That period of
time I instantly recall as running very smoothly!
The ultimate irony here is that I had a bare whiteboard hovering right in front of my
nose the entire time. Burned out many a marker on that shiny surface. The greatest
productivity tool known to mankind just staring blankly back at me throughout this week
from hell.
Ok, enough is enough! A self-scolding and a personal pact that I will ‘write’
this wrong. I will not only build my weekly task list right now, but I will again pick up
various colored erasable pens and put it in clear and constant view. Double-space each
entry so fill-in jobs can be easily added. Start with a review of my masterplan (which I
always keep handy, believe it or not:-), add what needs to get done this week, incorporate
the "lost" tasks I just collected, and write away. Prioritize it first on paper
and re-christen my forgotten friend on the wall.
Finished! A completely filled blueprint of what will be a much better organized and
smoother next week!
I cannot emphasize just how important the job of listing jobs is. I love my computer
and have a great program for this very function. But somehow that doesn't work for me.
Many of my associates carry dayplanners (I have 2) but they don't work for me either. The
whiteboard always has and I love to manually write, so whatever works. Point is, the
physical writing down of a task, a plan or a goal is what makes it official. Anything less
is pure fantasy.
So I added the task of writing my tasks at the top of my whiteboard, never to be
erased. Too easy to forget in the heat of battle my friends. But such a weapon for winning
the war!
My office is now sparkling clean and I reward myself with some freshly made iced tea
with a twist and head out into the backyard with pad, pen and Beagle pup to write my creed
and what amounts to a confession.
After all, it IS Sunday.
Written by Rick
Beneteau
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