How to Build Momentum to Accomplish Your Tasks

Have you been feeling unmotivated lately? Does it seem like the tasks in your life are too large, too many, and too daunting to attempt? You’re not alone: in a 2014 national survey*, 73% of respondents said that they don’t feel “completely balanced,” and need to find ways to counteract crammed schedules. This same survey found that, among those who would pay money for an extra hour in each day, 58% would gladly pay $2,725 for the privilege.

Yes, there are days when you feel like you’d pay three grand just to accomplish something, anything. If you’re staring at your Prioritized Daily Task List and feeling overwhelmed with your day, take a moment to reconsider.

First, check the priorities on your tasks. Think of the classic object lesson of trying to fit big rocks and little rocks in the same jar. Are there small rocks masquerading as big rocks? Sometimes the desire to cram activity into a single day seriously lessens the actual amount of what gets done. If there are things that you can reschedule, take a moment and do so. Your friends and family will understand, and hopefully you’ll offer them the same courtesy with their scheduling conflicts.

Of course, that leaves the items on your list that must be done today. To give yourself more breathing room, grab a separate piece of paper and list subtasks for each task. Then, on the appropriate days in your planner, you can note the subtasks you need to achieve your goal. For example, if your main goal is “Buy/Make Halloween Costumes”, then you can schedule time with your family two weeks before Halloween to research costume ideas. Once everyone has selected their costume, schedule time one and a half weeks before Halloween to shop for supplies. One week out, plan on making the costumes. And then two days before, you can make final adjustments and pick up any final accessories.

Life is full of minutiae that you just can’t anticipate. There will be days when potty training works less well, when your son empties the cereal box onto the kitchen floor, or when your sister gives your kids red Kool-Aid right before family pictures. Whether you squeeze many of your subtasks in between life’s urgencies, or whether you find yourself writing “water the plants” on your list, just so you can say that you accomplished something, remember that any day is just that: 24 hours of your life. With your plans broken out step by step, there’s nothing to say that you won’t get much further with the next 24.

*2014 Survey from Zico Coconut Water