Are there certain things on your To-Do list that you just don’t seem to get done? I know there are on mine. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a procrastinator by nature. I work down my ‘to-do’ list with the best of them. However, in my case, I know when it comes to having a conversation I’ve had a number of times before that results in “we can’t do it this way, that won’t work, we’ve already tried this, or it’s impossible” and then I’m bombarded with all the reason why something won’t work…I have a tendency to keep moving that down the list.
What helps me make sure this stays at the top of my list and gets done is to think through what happens if this conversation is not had.
Things will only get worse as time goes by, escalations will occur on the project, and windows of opportunity close to mitigate any risk. This prompts me to have the conversation right away and look for creative ways to work through the issues.
What are some of the things that have a tendency to linger on your To-Do list for awhile and what steps do you take to make sure they get done? Saving Changes...
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Elizabeth HarrinDirector| RebelsGuideToPM.comLondon, England, United Kingdom
The things that linger on my to do list tend to be the things that I feel can be put off. I have to remind myself that fire-fighting and doing the work of 'today' is only part of my role, and the rest of it is looking ahead at the bigger strategic issues. For example, I'm six months off a project closure now, and already I'm thinking about it. But it took a couple of days for that to get to the top of the list! Saving Changes...
For me it works wonders to batch things. Cluster the related issues and set a time apart to do them without interruption. Especially those items that keep on lingering get done when I am in a flow. Saving Changes...
Shoumik KahaliTechnical Manager| Yash TechnologiesIndore, M.P., India
Identify high priority tasks and priortize them in advance, I mean not only the task that needs to be done today but in some other date...you can get information on this from your project plan.
Set some alert to remind your in advance need to complete some high priority tasks on a particular date.
Sometimes you need to take proactive steps on a task in advanced so that it gets done on time. Like for example you know you have to request your infrastructure team setup a software for you on a particular date...you can pre communicate them to understand their pre-requisite or formalities needed to be completed to get their task done...because if you start involving on the paperwork on the day of that task that might delay other activities..
If you are overloaded with ToDo task, identify a resource whom you can delegate the task.(You can do this even if you are not overloaded, the time you save by this can be utilized to do something positive)
The task that you mentioned is impossible or dont work or you dont know how to do it... seek help on this from others... If I face any such situation I either go to my seniors or even juniors or peers and seek help from them...many times other person see that task from different perspective and offer valuable suggestion...even if the solution is not available it is better that your senior or stakeholder knows it before hand rather than surprising them...
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Bruce LoflandSoftware Developer| SprintLenexa, Ks, United States
I go through the reasons why I keep putting them off to find and remove barriers. It used to cause me more stress to fret about the item than to just do it because I didn't face the problem head-on. Getting someone to do it with me always help too.
