You know those tasks you keep putting off, that if you just completed would stop being a daily annoyance and draining on productivity? This post is about a willingness to take a break from the day-to-day grind and spend some time on those tasks that will increase your long-term productivity and perhaps also give you peace of mind. Last week, I took a day to organize my workspace and secure a much needed reliable auto to replace an aging one. Those are the kinds of monkeys you want to get off you back.
Knowing when it’s time
The workspace organization happened when I couldn’t find a book that I wanted to read to solve a current problem. After spending 10 minutes looking, I got fed up and just decided to clear my morning and organize my entire portion of our home office. It’s not that my office and desk were a real mess; but it had not been properly organized in about a year. In a few hours, I was able to throw a lot away and get things back the way I like them. I now feel better about sitting down to my desk because I know where everything is and I have plenty of open workspace for multiple projects again.
The car, on the other hand, had been letting us know for the last several months that it wasn’t going to make it much longer. Both my wife and I will be traveling a fair amount in the coming months and we wanted to make sure the car she and our son share would be a reliable way for him to get to school and work. We decided financially we could finally replace the vehicle without it being a real drain on the monthly budget. So instead of waiting for the car to die on the side of the road, we took the afternoon off and got the car replaced.
In one day, I was able to get two pretty big monkeys off my back.
Monkey free working is more productive
In the days since I resolved the messy desk syndrome, I’ve found myself less likely to feel the need to work from a coffee shop. I’ve set the desk up so one surface is always clear of messy clutter. That’s where the current project I’m working on goes – and ONLY the current project. It’s like a table at a coffee shop. It allows me to focus on a single task for as long as I need to. Plus, I know I can find what I’m looking for quickly with organized cabinets and file drawers.
As for the car, I won’t worry about a call like I got last month while at an important business dinner. The car had in fact died on the side of the road and needed to be towed in for service. Now no car is perfect; but at least I know we have the most reliable piece of transportation our family could afford.
With the monkeys off my back, I have peace of mind that I can work without distraction, find what I need when I need to and that my wife and son can get where they need to go when they need to be there.
How did I get the monkeys off my back?
The method I used to get the monkeys off my back was simple really. I gave myself permission to work on tasks that while they would not contribute directly to the company bottom line would improve my productivity over time. The six or seven hours I invested will easily be recouped in the next 30 days, and then in future months those become extra hours I can use to get more done or spend more time with my family. Those choices we all get to make individually.
I’d love to hear how you get monkeys off your back and which ones are clinging on now that you’d love to be rid of. Leave a comment and let me know!