Tasks Are Like Your Appetite
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Tasks Are Like Your Appetite

A common time management snag is people treat their tasks like an “all you can eat buffet” restaurant that you dine at every single day.

You walk up to the counter and begin to fill your dish with all this great looking food (don’t forget the desserts). With a full plate or plates, you head back to your table and begin to enjoy, only you find that about halfway into the meal you’re full. There is still a lot of food left.

Thankfully, the eatery offers you a to-go box, and you load up the remaining meal and think, “I’ll just save it for tomorrow.” At home, you open your refrigerator and place the carton in there with all the other left-over meals from previous days. Some of food in those containers might be even getting spoiled.

The next day you wake up all refreshed, pass by the refrigerator on your way out the door, and head back to the buffet for a new meal, and the cycle starts all over again.

A rudimentary approach to creating and managing tasks relies on knowing your “hunger level” before you sit down to eat. If you consistency finish your tasks and are a member of the “clean plate club”, then press ahead since you know your appetite for the number of tasks you can handle. However, when there are still items left at the end of the day, you are planning too much and need to start out with a smaller plate.

A meal can consist of a variety of courses with a particular flow, and let’s treat those like tasks.

Task 1 – Appetizer

Task 2 – Salad

Task 3 – Side Dish One

Task 4 – Side Dish Two

Task 5 – Main Course

Task 6 – Dessert

Typically, the most important part of the meal is the main course (for this example – consider it the primary). Therefore, the first thing you need to do change the priorities to start eating the foremost and essential food first. Your meal might now look differently.

Task 1 – Main Course

Task 2 – Side Dish One

Task 3 – Side Dish Two

Task 4 – Salad

Task 5 – Appetizer

Task 6 – Dessert

Next ask yourself, what do I really need to eat (task accomplish) today? Take the lower-level tasks and plan them for another day or if you still have an appetite, allow yourself to get-up from the table and add them later. Your meal now looks a lot different.

Task 1 – Main Course

Task 2 – Side Dish One

Task 3 – Side Dish Two

Task 4 – Dessert

Only if I am not full.

Task 5 – Salad

Task 6 – Appetizer

Note: personal choice, I will take a dessert anytime over a salad or appetizer.

As you enjoy your meal, you now minimize any to-go box requests. At the end of the day, you’ll feel full and satisfied. You won’t be stuffed or get sick to your stomach because you tried to eat too much and now have to look at and figure out what to do with the leftovers.

Bon appétit!

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David Buck is the author of the book?The Time-Optimized Life, owner of Kairos Management Solutions, LLC, and founder of the Infinity Lifestyle Design program. As a certified professional retirement coach (CPRC), David works with financial services providers helping their clients create a post-career lifestyle strategy. To learn more, contact him at?[email protected]?or visit?Infinity Lifestyle Design.


Book a quick call to discuss Time-Optimized Lifestyle planning?HERE.

Quality over quantity.

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Loray Daws

WAREHOUSE, DC SUPPLY CHAIN HEADACHES. I will help cut through issues. Warehouse/DC Design, Employee productivity, Customer Service. Training.

2 年

Thoroughly enjoyed this meal - well researched, and plate presentation top notch........will def. revisit.

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Laurent HELMSTETTER

?? Head of IT ?? Project Director ?? Digital Activist ?? Unorthodox Problem Solver ?? Human-centered Leadership

2 年

Getting things done means planning and jigging our schedule according to our needs and not according to other people's needs ??

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