Productivityist

Define Your Days | Filter Your Focus | Make Every Moment Matter

  • Start Here
  • Read The Blog
  • Listen to The Podcast
  • Join TimeCrafting Trust Premium

STOP TRYING TO MANAGE YOUR TIME. START CRAFTING IT.

This guide gives you the simplest and fastest way to start crafting your time.

Get The TimeCrafting Starter Kit for FREE now!

The Task At Hand Vs. The Time On Hand

by Mike Vardy

The Task at Hand (1)

This piece originally appeared in The Productivityist Weekly newsletter. My weekly email is now called ATTN: and I’d love to send it your way. Just click here to make that happen now or sign up using the form at the end of this piece. Thanks!

If you’ve ever watched my 3 minute TEDx talk, you’ll see that the central theme is in order to be more productive, focus on the task at hand rather than the time on hand.

Sure, we’re all trying to get a lot done – especially during the holiday season. We’re all feeling the time crunch with so much to do in a limited amount of time. I’d suggest that the likelihood of getting everything done over the next month is going to be incredibly challenging, if not impossible.

When you start to look at what is the most important item you want to get done, then you will find time will work for you instead of making you feel like time is working against you.

Over the next few weeks, you’ll likely have less work-related tasks. Instead, you will be spending some time with family, catching up on some leisure reading, and so on. Things will start to slow down, and that’s when you can really start to notice that what you’re doing is far more task-oriented than time-oriented.

Sure, you’re doing those things because of the time of year, but what would happen if you started to shift that kind of mindset after the holidays? Time will always play a role in our lives because we don’t live in silos, but it doesn’t need to take precedence over the tasks in our lives.

This simple adjustment can really make a big difference in your productivity and in the quality of your life as a whole.

Start thinking more about the task at hand than the time you have on hand. Right now is one of the best times of the year to start doing so, and you may very well be able to carry that line of thinking through to the year ahead.

About Mike Vardy

Mike Vardy is a writer, speaker, productivity strategist, and founder of Productivityist. He is the author of The Front Nine: How to Start the Year You Want Anytime You Want and The Productivityist Playbook.

Categories: Intention and Attention

  • Apps
  • Articles
  • Best of
  • Books
  • Gear
  • Intention and Attention
  • Mode-Based Work
  • Routines
  • The Podcast
  • Time Theming

Categories

Productive Conversations

Most Popular Posts

How to Make Monday Work for You

3 Things You Should Put On Your Calendar

The One Email Trick That Keeps My Inbox In Shape

Using Energy Levels as Contexts

The One Email You Must Send Before You Go on Vacation

As Seen In

As Seen In

Copyright © 2023 · Expert Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

  • Terms & Conditions
  • Privacy Policy
  • Derivative Works Policy
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Twitter
  • YouTube