The Invisible Invasives that Take Over Your Life
tasks. They’re everywhere. You can’t escape them, no matter how hard you try. They’re like little landmines, hiding in every corner of your life, waiting to explode into a to-do list of epic proportions.
You’re walking down the street, and suddenly you remember that you need to pick up milk on the way home. That’s a task. You’re in a meeting, and someone mentions that the project deadline is next week. That’s a task. You’re scrolling through social media, and you see a cute video of a cat playing the piano. You need to watch it. That’s a task.
And don’t even get me started on the tasks that come in the form of “reminders” from friends and family. “Hey, have you seen my keys?” “Can you pick up my dry cleaning?” “When are you free to get coffee?” These are not just tasks, they’re tiny little manipulations designed to suck the life out of you.
As the great task management expert, David Allen, once said, “Your mind is for having ideas, not for holding them.” But where do all these ideas go? They go into your task list, of course. And if you’re not careful, they’ll multiply and multiply until you’re buried under a mountain of to-dos.
So, how do you deal with these invisible invaders? Well, first of all, you need to acknowledge that they’re there. Don’t try to fight them, or you’ll end up with a never-ending battle on your hands. Instead, learn to capture them and put them into a system that works for you. And then, and only then, can you start to take them on and make progress on your to-do list.
It’s a never-ending battle, but with the right tools and a little bit of humor, you can conquer even the most daunting task list. So, go ahead and add “conquer task list” to your task list. I’ll wait for you over here, with my own task list.