Task Management Made Simple

Allan Goldner

Your list of things that need to get done is only getting bigger. A compilation of marketing strategies, bills to be paid, meetings, phone calls, reviews, legal and tax work, etc. And as you review this worrisome list, probably several times a day, you feel overwhelmed. Put it down, pick it up, stress out, put it down, and on it goes.  The more you look at it, the more anxious, uncertain, and immobilized you feel. Probably, you daydream of simpler times. You know as an entrepreneur you must pull it together. But where do you begin?

Almost certainly, you’ve already taken some time management classes or read some books on prioritizing. Maybe, you’ve categorized your list using different colors, or a numbering method. Yet, while it might look cool or seem more organized, the list remains. After you’ve tackled the most important item, three more have been added to the list.

A long time ago, far, far away, I learned a simple strategy that has always helped me. A simple, yet effective method that has never failed to reduce my list, relieve my stress and make me feel so much better. Straightforward, uncomplicated and yet so satisfying that it can fill you with hope and accomplishment. And now, fellow entrepreneurs, I freely offer it to you. It’s called “Fix what you can fix today”. 

I know it sounds too good to be true. How can this method be effective, you wonder, if you don’t have to pay for it?  The truth is I didn’t invent it. I don’t know who did so I can’t offer credit. I only know that it’s easy to remember and it works. When I feel beleaguered by a long list, it brings me comfort and empowerment.  While working with fellow executives and management in general, I have been known to quote this system so frequently that I would hear it echo back from all quarters: “Fix what you can fix today”.

Here’s how it works. Let’s say that there’s ten items of various importance on your list.  And of course, some are more time sensitive then others.  While some projects require a team effort or a series of events to occur in order to complete, center on which items can be done quickly and consequently be removed from the list. What I want you to focus on is what item or items require the least amount of effort on your part.  It might simply be a phone call or a memo. Then after you’ve identified those items, do it now. Fix it now. Make the call, write the memo and cross them off your dreaded list. 

Here’s why this method works.  Getting something done feels good. You’ve made progress. You’ve shortened the list.  The larger or more complex projects remain and you need to get started on them, but they are no longer surrounded by the little annoying tasks. It’s easier to concentrate on the big stuff. Plus, having finished some dreaded, albeit simple task, it’s feel a lot less annoying than thinking that you still have to do it.  You feel better.  You head clears. Now while you begin on the things that you really should be doing, you have learned to swat and crush the mundane tasks. Those items that fill up your list and create chaos in your daily routine are handled as quickly as it might have taken you to categorize or prioritize them. This makes you a stronger and more effective entrepreneur.  Your staff and clients will benefit because they will not be waiting for the little things to get done. Try it. I mean now.