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Lately I've been doing tasks from easiest to hardest. I no longer seem like a perfectionist. Let me explain... I used to do whatever I felt like, and typical

Lately I've been doing tasks from easiest to hardest. I no longer seem like a perfectionist. Let me explain... I used to do whatever I felt like, and typically, I was doing the hardest tasks first. I would leave the little stuff. "Oh that's easy, I can just do that at the end". Creating social media accounts was the last thing on my TODO list. One day, I thought I'd apply Dave Ramseys "Pay off your debts smallest to largest" principle to my technical debts. One of the first things I did was create social media accounts. And a bunch of other small stuff that was biting at me. Another decision I made was to launch earler with fewer features. Why? Because many of the sample use cases (the simple ones), didn't need the more advanced features. So, smallest to largest dictates that I must make the easy samples before I finish the advanced features. And, if I have samples, I can launch. So, my perfectionism was a symptom, but the problem was my priority system: hardest to easiest, not easiest to hardest. (Inevitably, someone will write about "do your hardest task in the morning when you have the most energy". Well, I freelance in the morning when I have the most will power, so this is moot. Doing tasks easiest to hardest gives the most accomplishments earliest [ more items checked off the todo list ], which provides positivity and motivation to keep going. Imagine the scenario: You have 3 hours to work, you do your hardest task, which takes 5 hours. You don't get it done, and think "omg I didn't finish and I still have 9 other things to do". Or, you do your easiest tasks first. Most take 5-10 minutes. You finish 5 tasks in your 3 hour window, and think, Geez! I'm really productive today! I should keep working, so you work another 2 hours and get 6, 7, 8 done. Momemtum is key. Doing easy tasks first creates success feelings that make you work longer. It also frees up mental space ( you no longer need to mentally track those tasks ). Launch is almost always EASIER than the hard PERFECTION features that a perfectionist makes.

ryanwaggoner 9y ago
I do this! Snowball method for time instead of money. Momentum is easily one of the the most powerful forces in my life, both good and bad, so I try hard to keep it working in my favor.
lemonberry 9y ago
If I remember correctly, David Allen, of 'Getting Things Done' fame, makes a similar argument: if it can be done in 5 mins or less do it now rather than defer. I've definitely noticed the benefit of this. On the other hand, small things add up and occasionally I've just got to tackle that 5 hour task.
- gbacon 9y ago
  Two minutes or less, but that's the basic idea. GTD also recommends sorting next actions into contexts where, for example, you don't even think about computer tasks when a computer is not around. By the time an action hits a list, it should be reasonably small yet well defined, similar to Scrum backlog refinement. Perhaps playing to the crowd, he also wrote[0] The biggest procrastinators are usually the most sophisticated, sensitive, creative, and intelligent people. Nailed you, did I? Well, I assume you’re in the sophisticated, creative, and intelligent category. That probably means you have large numbers of things stuck in your mind, in your briefcase, and on your desk about which things are not moving forward quite as consistently as they could be. Major reason: the precise next physical visible activity (next action) has probably not been decided on the to-do’s. The bright people usually have some sort of reminders about their projects and things to do on lists, in piles, or lying around, so they won’t forget to think about their commitments. Bully. But every time they catch the briefest glimpse of any of them, they instantly race forward in their mind, rapidly and intelligently creating images of all the possible pieces that have to fit together and all the things that might have to be involved in getting them to happen and all the possible negative consequences if any one of them slips (and all the things that they might be forgetting in all this). Whew! Freaked themselves right out. I’d quit, too. [0]: https://gettingthingsdone.com/2016/06/who-are-the-biggest-procrastinators/ https://gettingthingsdone.com/2016/06/who-are-the-biggest-pr...
sheepmullet 9y ago
I find ordering tasks easiest to hardest can also be a trap - often you can go days or even weeks without working on your most important work. It is a kind of false productivity. I managed to do this for about a year while working on my thesis. I finally realised I wasn't making any forward progress. I find 1 or 2 quick tasks then straight to the most valuable work is a good way to get the momentum going.

ryanwaggoner 9y ago

I do this! Snowball method for time instead of money. Momentum is easily one of the the most powerful forces in my life, both good and bad, so I try hard to keep it working in my favor.

lemonberry 9y ago

If I remember correctly, David Allen, of 'Getting Things Done' fame, makes a similar argument: if it can be done in 5 mins or less do it now rather than defer. I've definitely noticed the benefit of this. On the other hand, small things add up and occasionally I've just got to tackle that 5 hour task.

gbacon 9y ago
Two minutes or less, but that's the basic idea. GTD also recommends sorting next actions into contexts where, for example, you don't even think about computer tasks when a computer is not around. By the time an action hits a list, it should be reasonably small yet well defined, similar to Scrum backlog refinement. Perhaps playing to the crowd, he also wrote[0] The biggest procrastinators are usually the most sophisticated, sensitive, creative, and intelligent people. Nailed you, did I? Well, I assume you’re in the sophisticated, creative, and intelligent category. That probably means you have large numbers of things stuck in your mind, in your briefcase, and on your desk about which things are not moving forward quite as consistently as they could be. Major reason: the precise next physical visible activity (next action) has probably not been decided on the to-do’s. The bright people usually have some sort of reminders about their projects and things to do on lists, in piles, or lying around, so they won’t forget to think about their commitments. Bully. But every time they catch the briefest glimpse of any of them, they instantly race forward in their mind, rapidly and intelligently creating images of all the possible pieces that have to fit together and all the things that might have to be involved in getting them to happen and all the possible negative consequences if any one of them slips (and all the things that they might be forgetting in all this). Whew! Freaked themselves right out. I’d quit, too. [0]: https://gettingthingsdone.com/2016/06/who-are-the-biggest-procrastinators/ https://gettingthingsdone.com/2016/06/who-are-the-biggest-pr...

sheepmullet 9y ago

I find ordering tasks easiest to hardest can also be a trap - often you can go days or even weeks without working on your most important work. It is a kind of false productivity. I managed to do this for about a year while working on my thesis. I finally realised I wasn't making any forward progress. I find 1 or 2 quick tasks then straight to the most valuable work is a good way to get the momentum going.