I’m playing around with a “time management” app I used many years ago. It was updated recently and so far I like what I see.
This, after many years of trying more apps than I can count and always coming back to Evernote.
Who knows, I may finally make a “permanent” switch.
But that’s not what I want to talk about today. I want to talk about something I’ve been thinking as I transfer tasks from Evernote to the other app.
As I re-create the projects and underlying tasks in the old/new app, I have to make decisions about them.
Lots of decisions–about which projects should be front and center, which tasks should be “next actions,” which tasks should get a due date and what that date should be.
You have to decide what you want to accomplish.
You have to decide what to do next.
You have to decide when you will do it.
You know the routine.
Because you do, you know how easy it is to get overwhelmed with all those decisions.
It’s why we tend to drift away from what we’re doing and look for a better system.
Indecision causes stress and drains energy. In GTD parlance, unmade decisions (or rashly made ones, I suppose), are called “open loops”.
Open loops nag you and call you names. So you keep giving them attention when you should be doing other things.
If this sounds painfully familiar, I have a suggestion: Decide not to decide.
Decide that you don’t have to make a decision right now and schedule a future “review” date, where you will review the task or project and decide what to do about it.
Until then, you won’t think about it.
Assign a “start date” instead of a “due date”. When the start date arrives, do your review.
When you decide not to make a decision you are actually making a decision. When you become comfortable postponing decisions, you close open loops, gain clarity, and reduce your stress level.
Don’t let your tasks push you around. Tell them to go away–for now.
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