Sometimes the things that are supposed to keep us organized actually provoke paralyzing anxiety and make us ineffective.
I used to fill up my to-do list each day with 20-30 tasks and frequently left my day with most of these tasks unfinished. Multiply this by a hundred workdays and an unsettling feeling begins to develop. I felt ineffective. I felt like loose ends were constantly left untied. Every night I would go home and there’d be 10-15 things left unfinished on that to-do list. Some nights I wouldn’t go home until very late.
For someone who wants to do everything perfectly (like me), leaving half of my to-do list unchecked meant that I was only doing half of my job. My list became a symbol of what I couldn’t do each day. A to-don’t list.
We’re behavior analysts. We often remark on how problem behaviors develop because a learner lacks a skill. Well, we’re learners, too…and the same principles apply to us. I realized that most of my anxiety stemmed from a general lack of knowledge in how I organized my tasks. It dawned on me that increasing my to-do list skills would positively impact my daily work, anxiety, and overall effectiveness.
There was one concept that changed everything for me, professionally and personally.
I came across something called the 80/20 rule. It blew me away. Also known as the Pareto (puh-ree-toe) Principle, it is a general rule of thumb for sorting through mass amounts of information. And, the interesting thing about the 80/20 rule is its pattern is seen everywhere in our lives.
So what is it? The 80/20 rule posits that 80% of our results come from 20% of the things we do. It would mean that:
20% of our roads and streets get us to 80% of the places we want to go
20% of the foods that we eat are responsible for 80% of the nourishment our bodies receive
20% of the relationships we have are responsible for 80% of the love and acceptance we experience
And, yes, that means that ~20% of our to-do list is considerably more important and necessary than the other ~80%. That means if I have 20 to-dos on that list, only four or five are more important than the rest. So, not all of your to-dos are created equal. In fact, they may not even be necessary. Using the 80/20 rule provides a hierarchy of importance for our tasks—regardless of the number of to-dos we have.
The 80/20 put all of this in perspective for me and decreased my anxiety levels. Here are a few anecdotes to go along with it:
I created a task bank and extracted my to-do list from it using the 80/20 rule. I listed all of the tasks I thought I needed to complete and added to it periodically as more items came to mind throughout the day. Then, at the end of the day, I extracted only the most important tasks from the bank and built my to-do list for the following day.
I kept separate to-do lists for each learner. This made it easier to prioritize the tasks that corresponded to the learners I would be working with that day. Sometimes I would deviate from this list—but only if another learner or team required it.
When looking at my task bank and putting my to-do list together, I asked myself “If I were going on a two week vacation tomorrow, which of these tasks would absolutely need to be completed?” This helped me hone in what mattered.
I consulted my supervisor. In doing so, I was able to get a feel for what was most important to them (and, in turn, to me). You may need to deviate from this system at times. Your supervisor can help you identify which tasks and interruptions constitute changing direction in the middle of your day.
These are all things that worked for me. Not every system is perfect. Nor does it work for everyone. However, getting the hang of organizing our schedules and tasks reduces stress and increases positive work flow. In a field where clinician burnout is known to be high, educating ourselves on the skills to prevent it becomes all the more important.
Check out more on the Pareto Principle here.
Hit me back with one of your favorite work/life hacks! How do you put oxygen back into your chaotic day? Let me know what you want to hear more about!
As always, thanks for reading!