3by9

Getting things done: lacking discipline?

My older brother and I were very close. I used to ask him if he wanted his own business. He said no and I thought he was nuts until he explained why. He told me he needed to be accountable for his time. He needed to punch a clock because he lacked discipline. This was odd to me because he was one of the most efficient people I knew – but he punched a clock and that explained it. Getting things done is an easy concept but not easy to do.

I found that the things I have to deal with fall into multiple categories:

1. Things I want to do that need to get done.
2. Things I don’t want to do yet need to get done.
3. Things I want to do but does not need to get done.
4. Things I don’t want to do and don’t need to get done.

Obviously the things I don’t want to do and don’t need to get done are things I can immediately take off the list. Spam would be a common example for everyone. Another obvious one: the things I want to do and need to get done. Many people put those first to get them out of the way (because they enjoy doing it) or leave it to the end sort of like a cherry on a sundae.

That leaves the things I don’t want to do yet need to get done and the things I want to do but don’t need to be done. For most people those are trouble areas. How many times did you surf the net at work when you should have been writing a report? Watch a movie instead of finishing the basement you told your spouse you would finish? Delayed responding to emails? Yes, for most #2 and #3 are the problem areas. What is the best way to get things done? There are complicated methods where “experts” in productivity recommend methods. Does this look familiar?

Is it actionable? Yes > What is the next action? > Do it, defer it or delegate it.
Is it actionable? No > Reference it, incubate it, or trash it.

For some people those guides work. I have a different approach: I ask myself why there are things I don’t want to do yet need to get done? If I solve that problem my bottle neck goes away. When I make my ToDo list when I wrinkle my nose at something, I ask myself why I do that? Then resolve the issue on why I do not like that item. An example, one thing I used to feel uncomfortable about was denying a site into 9rules. The sheer number of them was intimidating and having to reject so many was disheartening. My balance or solution to the problem: informing the person submitting why their site was being rejected. It’s time consuming but it solved a couple of problems and has benefits:

• The person knew why so they didn’t keep submitting the same site to be rejected for the same reason.
• It stops the “9rules thinks they are better than everyone else attitude” because they have a response.
• The person was always grateful I pointed out things they didn’t realize about their site.
• I never received a negative response about the rejection (telling them why) but always received frustration from people not understanding why if nothing was said.
• It helps build good will.
• There have been times when members who I initially rejected were accepted because they made some changes to their site (changes they agreed needed to be made).
• By interacting with the writer sometimes things came out in conversation that never would have come out on their blog.

Knowing that good comes out of rejecting a site made the task easier. I never like saying no but having the conversation about why made it better for me…because if I submitted my site and it was rejected I’d want to know why.

If you have problems getting things done ask yourself why, and then see if you can make the task more pleasurable. If you lack discipline get a 9-5 job.