10 Hot Tips to handling things you don't want to do...
We've all got those things we need to do - and not just in work! We gallop through some things, and they're done as soon as they land on our desk or in our heads. For others, it seems like a huge tasks to summon up the 3 Es (energy, enthusiasm and effort) to get them done! Sally Longson comes up with 10 ways to get them shifted
By Sally Longson
10 HOT tips to handling things you don't want to do...
We all know what it's like. There's the in-tray, cleared of all the stuff we like doing. We've handled all the emergencies we need to for the day.
And then there's the stuff we don't want to do. It's not urgent. It's just routine. Perhaps it isn't even routine, but you know it's got to be sorted. People handle this in all sorts of ways. They may stick it in a drawer, out of sight, as something to do 'when the boss is on holiday or travelling', or 'when it's quiet'. They may save it to hand it over to the unsuspecting work experience student, telling them that 'an enthusiastic approach to work is so important'. The problem is that it's not out of mind. It's there, and it niggles us, day after day. It takes up space in our minds that could be used for something far more fun!
So how can you handle the stuff you really don't want to do? Here are 10 suggestions?.
- Identify what it is about it that you don't like. Is it boring? Do you feel as though you haven't got enough career to do it? Once you know what's stopping you from doing it, you can work out how to shift it off your desk and out of your mind!
- How fast can you get it done? Give yourself a time-limit to get the thing done and out of the way. Beat that time.
- Do it now! There's no time like the present. Could you have done it by the time you finished reading this article? Okay, may be not, but you could have made a start...
- Can't do it now? So do it first thing tomorrow. Come in early, get it done by the time you normally start work. Reward yourself with a coffee and Danish. Then you won't have to think about it any more. Sorted!
- Imagine what your day will feel like when it's no longer in your thoughts and on your mental 'to do' list. Feel lighter in spirit already?
- Can you delegate the task to someone else who would find it enjoyable to do?and take something off them they don't want to do? Or find someone to share it with?
- Why not dedicate a regular hour each week to do the routine stuff you don't enjoy doing? Then you only have one hour in the week when you know you've got to get on and get things done. The other 34 hours or 39 hours can be spent focusing on the stuff you love doing!
- Plan a huge reward after it's done! If you come in early to do it, can you see if you can leave early one day that week and go and do something really fun or exhilarating?
- Make it FUN! How imaginative can you be in thinking up fun ways to do something which bores you? Use colour, images, anything to take the drudgery out of it
- Do a small bit of the task every day. Once you get the first part done, you may be seized by an urgent desire to get shot of the thing once and for all!
