The Important Productivity Reason To Tackle Your Hardest Tasks Before All Others
We've all had instances where looking at our to-do lists gives us an increased amount of pressure and stress. While we know the instant gratification it is to cross something off of our lists, the problem is often in getting started. Even the most productive person has struggled to start and complete the tasks at hand. For those wanting to become more productive in their day-to-day life, the key is in starting strong. Whether it's for work or personal life, becoming more productive is one way to make your day easier and get you closer to achieving your goals. To truly be productive, it's best to start strong and enjoy the motivation it gives you.
While a strange saying, "eat the frog" is more than just a saying — it's true. Getting your hardest task done first is the best way to achieve productivity. Your hardest task may not be the most complicated, but it is the one that you dread the most. It's the task that you keep pushing off for another time because starting seems like the worst. However, it's been proven that tackling this task is the pathway to a more productive work day.
Starting with the hardest
For a long time, there has been a debate about how you should take on your day. While many people believe you should start with something light and simple to ease you into your tasks, the truth is that you should begin on the opposite end. The hardest task tends to be the one that gives the most headaches and complications. However, once you've started this task, you'll usually wind up realizing that it wasn't as challenging to begin with. With the toughest tasks, it's easy to put them off to save ourselves the stress of beginning something we don't want to do. But it typically takes starting these tasks to help get you into the right work rhythm.
The Productive Engineer explains that putting off a task invites negativity into your day. The longer you put off a task, the more down you feel about your productivity levels. Once this task is done and completed, you'll feel much more productive and confident in your ability to do the rest of your tasks. Completing the easiest task is the easiest way of achieving a short-term reward. While in the moment it will help you feel positive, in the long term will not be substantial enough to give you motivation to complete the rest of your day. Completing your hardest task will give you a long-term reward. It leaves the rest of your day easier and gives you enough energy to get through it.
Other productivity changes to make
Although starting strong with your hardest challenge is the best way of beginning your productivity journey, it's not the only way of taking on your tasks. One change to make is to avoid your multi-tasking habits. Future Learn explains that multi-tasking doesn't necessarily make you more productive, but gives you the illusion of completing more work. In reality, when you are multi-tasking, you are only distracting yourself from completing one task. Not only does your quality go down when you multitask, but you wind up losing more time.
As much as we would like, it's difficult to complete all of your tasks without a break. While you might be able to get focused and get far in your tasks, it's necessary to step away from your work. Whether it's house chores or office work, taking breaks will help lower stress. Stepping away from your tasks will also help you refresh your mind and restart your tasks with renewed energy and ideas. Give yourself around 10 to 15 minutes to get a mental break where work isn't your priority. This break will also help to reprioritize your task and give you more motivation to finish.