💡 Invincible Tip - Give Tasks the Time They Deserve (Issue #489)

Different tasks have different ROIs

I was procrastinating on a reasonably important task last week. It wasn’t so minor that I could knock it out and move on with my day. But it also wasn’t so important that it deserved several hours of attention and effort.

Unfortunately, it fell into that middle ground of me wanting to get it right but not finding the time to finish it in my busy schedule. The deadline was looming, so I honestly reassessed the ROI of that task.

• What was it really worth to me?

• What value would it yield if all went well?

• What were my odds of success?

• Would those odds increase if I spent much more time on it?

• How much of the success was in my hands vs. up to someone else’s decision?

Ultimately, the new estimated ROI told me that a quick effort was better than no effort. If it worked out, great! If it didn’t, I wouldn’t lose sleep over it.

So, I spent a couple of hours, finished the task, and moved on with my life. It’s out of my hands now, and I will not give it a second thought.

Procrastination and perfectionism have always been twin monkeys on my back. But I handle them much better now than I did in the past. My biggest change is not letting myself get sucked into tasks that aren’t worth my precious time.

I’m now ok with cranking something out that isn’t perfect just to be done with it! I save my time and energy for the more important things that actually do matter. Also, I care less about what other people think. I’ve made peace with the inevitable failures, especially when they happen in situations that just aren’t that important in the big scheme of life.

Don’t let tasks take up more of your time and attention than they are worth. The unpopular truth is some things are not worth your best effort!

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Hi, I’m Larry Cornett, a Personal Coach who can work with you to optimize your career, life, or business. My mission is to help you take complete control of your work and life so you can become a more “Invincible You.” I live in Northern California near Lake Tahoe with my wife and Great Dane.

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