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I would go further than this. If a task would take less than 5 minutes, do that task now. Do not put it off. Seriously, just DO IT. It saves you so much time a

by awjr 9y ago

I would go further than this. If a task would take less than 5 minutes, do that task now. Do not put it off. Seriously, just DO IT. It saves you so much time and hassle down the line.

ghaff 9y ago
I'm not a particular fan of GTD (or time management systems in general). However, that was one thing from David Allen's book that stuck with me. You can waste a huge amount of energy or attention procrastinating about some simple item that's fast and straightforward to just do. I'm not perfect about it, but it's good advice.
Swizec 9y ago
Whenever I try this approach, I end up spending most of the day on meaningless 5 minute tasks and replies to communications. No real work ever gets done. My most productive days are when all 5min tasks are ignored until the last possible moment when their importance grows so much that they must be done. 90% of them turn out to not need doing at all. As a result many say I'm among the most prolific people they know, and I am nobody's idea of "who to call in emergency". ymmv
- Jtsummers 9y ago
  You still need to put the "5 minute tasks" into a priority queue. Of course if you only prioritize by time to completion long running tasks will rarely, if ever, get done. If it takes 5 minutes, but doesn't need to be done for a month, record the actual deadline and put it in a queue. When you need a break from more laborious or longer running tasks, check that queue of short tasks (prioritized by deadline) for things you can do right now to fill out the next few minutes before ducking out for lunch or whatever. I mean, we don't do this with our OS schedulers? Why would we use a dogmatic "shortest task first" approach for everything else?
  - Swizec 9y ago
    > Why would we use a dogmatic "shortest task first" approach for everything else? Because that's what the GTD mantra says? "If it takes less than 5 minutes, just do it immediately" I'm pointing out why in my experience that mantra doesn't work. And I've never read the actual book, so it's very likely I'm taking the mantra too literally and that's why it doesn't work.
    - Jtsummers 9y ago
      Having read the book recently (within the past couple years) it also has a portion near the beginning describing GTD as a toolkit more than a system proper (probably me paraphrasing, but not treating it as dogma is part of it). Take what works and mold it for your own practice. It's not dogma, mistaking the text for dogma is how we ended up with Agile consultants. Even if you do treat that as a mantra, another part of GTD is prioritization. If you aren't getting your real obligations done because of all these 5-minute tasks, then you're not prioritizing properly. http://gettingthingsdone.com/fivesteps/ http://gettingthingsdone.com/fivesteps/ That's a good distillation of the concept. The idea of doing the quick stuff immediately is to prevent a massive backlog later that drains you even more. Even things like checking your email can be done less frequently to prevent unnecessary context switches. Check your email 2-5 times a day instead of leaving it open all the time. When you open it and see a bunch of short tasks, do them or schedule them (with a preference to doing to prevent that accidental backlog), then resume your work. If it's taken you 30 minutes (or some arbitrary, personal limit), switch back to your main tasks and get back to the email again later.

by awjr 9y ago

I would go further than this. If a task would take less than 5 minutes, do that task now. Do not put it off. Seriously, just DO IT. It saves you so much time and hassle down the line.

ghaff 9y ago

I'm not a particular fan of GTD (or time management systems in general). However, that was one thing from David Allen's book that stuck with me. You can waste a huge amount of energy or attention procrastinating about some simple item that's fast and straightforward to just do. I'm not perfect about it, but it's good advice.

Swizec 9y ago

Whenever I try this approach, I end up spending most of the day on meaningless 5 minute tasks and replies to communications. No real work ever gets done. My most productive days are when all 5min tasks are ignored until the last possible moment when their importance grows so much that they must be done. 90% of them turn out to not need doing at all. As a result many say I'm among the most prolific people they know, and I am nobody's idea of "who to call in emergency". ymmv

Jtsummers 9y ago
You still need to put the "5 minute tasks" into a priority queue. Of course if you only prioritize by time to completion long running tasks will rarely, if ever, get done. If it takes 5 minutes, but doesn't need to be done for a month, record the actual deadline and put it in a queue. When you need a break from more laborious or longer running tasks, check that queue of short tasks (prioritized by deadline) for things you can do right now to fill out the next few minutes before ducking out for lunch or whatever. I mean, we don't do this with our OS schedulers? Why would we use a dogmatic "shortest task first" approach for everything else?
- Swizec 9y ago
  > Why would we use a dogmatic "shortest task first" approach for everything else? Because that's what the GTD mantra says? "If it takes less than 5 minutes, just do it immediately" I'm pointing out why in my experience that mantra doesn't work. And I've never read the actual book, so it's very likely I'm taking the mantra too literally and that's why it doesn't work.
  - Jtsummers 9y ago
    Having read the book recently (within the past couple years) it also has a portion near the beginning describing GTD as a toolkit more than a system proper (probably me paraphrasing, but not treating it as dogma is part of it). Take what works and mold it for your own practice. It's not dogma, mistaking the text for dogma is how we ended up with Agile consultants. Even if you do treat that as a mantra, another part of GTD is prioritization. If you aren't getting your real obligations done because of all these 5-minute tasks, then you're not prioritizing properly. http://gettingthingsdone.com/fivesteps/ http://gettingthingsdone.com/fivesteps/ That's a good distillation of the concept. The idea of doing the quick stuff immediately is to prevent a massive backlog later that drains you even more. Even things like checking your email can be done less frequently to prevent unnecessary context switches. Check your email 2-5 times a day instead of leaving it open all the time. When you open it and see a bunch of short tasks, do them or schedule them (with a preference to doing to prevent that accidental backlog), then resume your work. If it's taken you 30 minutes (or some arbitrary, personal limit), switch back to your main tasks and get back to the email again later.