Getting the Little Things Done

by Mandi on May 2, 2012

source: edenpictures

There are some great posts in the archives of Life Your Way that don’t get much attention anymore. This week, I’ll be sharing some of my favorites. Whether you’ve been around since the beginning or are a new reader, I think you’ll enjoy them!

Tsh at Simple Mom shared a great time management tip a couple of weeks ago: Start Your Day by Eating a Frog. While the title may be silly, the premise is simple and valuable – if you start your day by doing that thing that you most dread, everything else will seem easy.

While I agree with her in theory, sometimes I find that what overwhelms me is not one gigantic thing that I’m dreading but the tons of tiny things on my to-do list that are trying to get my attention. If I’m being completely honest, it’s not having a big project in front of me that eats my productivity; it’s the little things.

My mom likes to switch up the old cliche and say that I can’t see the trees through the forest because I get so overwhelmed by my to-do list as a whole that I don’t know where to start, and it’s been known to paralyze me to the point where I get nothing done.

In these situations, I’ve learned that the best solution is to turn my to-do list upside down and start knocking out as many tiny things as I can. The same holds true whether I’m overwhelmed by my blog to-do list, by a messy house after a week of sick kids or by preparations for one of my kid’s birthday parties.

For me, knocking out the tiny things gives me a sense of accomplishment and visually makes my to-do list shorter, thereby making it less overwhelming and easier to tackle.

What methods do you use for conquering your to-do list? Do you often get overwhelmed by your to-do list as a whole, or is it the big “frogs” that stop you in your tracks?

	Mandi Ehman is the founder and publisher behind Life Your Way and the co-author of All in Good Time, as well as a wife and the homeschooling mom to four beautiful girls. She lives with her family on a little slice of heaven in wild, wonderful West Virginia and loves coffee, chocolate, easy meals, beautiful things and minimalist spaces.

Bonnie

What always starts my day/to-do list out right is simply making my bed first thing in the morning. Even if the rest of my room is a mess…my bed looks perfect. This makes me feel as though I’ve accomplished something already and usually gets the ball rolling toward a more productive day.

http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life Your Way

This is my number one task too; it makes such a big difference in my outlook!

http://beyondthedefaults.com/ Abby Butts

When I’m feeling overwhelmed by my to do list, I start with the easy tasks first and I’ve been known to write something down that I’ve already done just so I can cross it off. Crossing off a few items makes my list seem less overwhelming and motivates me to cross more items off the list.

http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life Your Way

Ha, yes, me too!

http://about.me/robscottnorton Rob Scott-Norton

I do this quite a bit and it’s usually as a result of feeling overwhelmed by my to do list. When you have a lot of important project related stuff to do, spending an afternoon on these tiny things can sound unimportant (especially when explaining to your colleague what you’ve been up to), but it gives you a good feeling of accomplishment and can give you some momentum to get the bigger stuff started.

http://lifeyourway.net Mandi @ Life Your Way

Yep, exactly — it is a lot easier to tackle one big task out of five tasks rather than one big task out of fifteen tasks, even when ten of them are tiny!