Separating Tasks and Projects Featgured Image.png

Separating Tasks and Projects – The Key to Getting Things Done

Most to-do lists make no sense because they are a mixture of many kinds of items. You might have “Reorganize the sales department” written next to “Email Jan in HR.” In the Storm, our minds gravitate towards the tasks we can knock out quickly, and our big projects never get done. Academics call this Completion Bias.

When I’m climbing a granite cliff, I can’t focus on the entire climb. When I look up at the top of the mountain, I always get overwhelmed.

I focus on the next task, which is climbing five feet to the next piton where I can clip my rope through and feel safe.

The same principle applies in business. Big projects are not something we can check off our list quickly. There’s no immediate dopamine hit, and they can be too much for our minds to take on all at once. A task – something that fits into our 15-minute “sitting time” – is concrete, achievable and moves the project forward.

Overwhelm is the enemy of focus.

FACTS:

Projects are intimidating and complex, just like climbing a mountain.
Tasks are simple and achievable.
When we mix the two on the same list, tasks will always win out.

In the Sherpa System, we use something called the P.A.C.T. System. Everything you want to do gets sorted into Projects, Archival Material, Calendar Items, and Tasks. Sounds cool, but what does this have to do with your to-do list?

To make projects more achievable, never put the entire project on your to-do list. Just put the very Next Task. I like to put a “NT-“ in front of it. For example, if your project is “Plan the awards dinner,” the next step might be “NT-Call the caterer with our final headcount.” That’s a discrete, achievable task.

The key is that the Next Task (NT) needs to be so "doable" that it flies under the resistance radar. This is the key to overcoming Completion Bias.

SOLUTIONS:

Next to each project in your Attention Budget list the Next Task.

Copy that Next Task to put next to the One-Off Tasks on your to-do list.

The more Next Tasks on your list compared to One-Off Tasks, the more you’re avoiding Completion Bias and focusing on high-value activities.

“You can't actually do a project; you can only do action steps related to it.”

– David Allen,

godfather of the internet-based productivity subculture,

popular in the tech community