How To Get Those Big, Irritating Jobs Done

Written and directed by Carthage Buckley 
Hi -  Friends, 
🌑🌚🌒
I had this really irritating job to do.

I had to replace some code on 180 pages of my website.

Normally, I would look at outsourcing irritating tasks but I am careful about giving strangers access to my website.

So, I decided to do it myself. 

I was really not looking forward to what was going to be a mundane task so, I decided to use a simple strategy to get around it.

Rather than focus on the enormity of the task, I used a little productivity tool which everyone has access to – a timer.

So, I started to replace the code.

I set the timer for one hour and I set to work. 

At the end of the hour, I had replaced the code in 45 pages; 25% of the job done.

Over the next few days, I used time blocks of 15, 30 and 60 minutes to get the job done, without any significant stress.

There are 2 Key benefits to using a timer for these big mundane tasks:

1. You don’t focus on the size of the task 

You just aim to keep making progress for the amount of time you set the timer for. When the timer goes off, you can stop. Then you see where you stand and prepare to go again on another day.

2. You feel less resistance each time you use the timer

It is the quantity of mundane work which irritates you and creates the resistance to actually doing the work. Each time you use the timer, you reduce the workload so, when it is time to work on the task again, you will feel less resistance.

Next time you have a big mundane job to do, forget about the enormity of the task and use a timer.

Determine how much time you have available to spend on the job, set your timer for that amount of time and get started.

You will then find it much easier to get that work done.