Microtasks (Blog)

[Savage]

Use this thread to discuss the following entry from Steve Pavlina's blog:

Microtasks

[Dan.Linehan]

You forgot, "Add related posts."

[aaronmp2003]

Although the idea of breaking down larger tasks into smaller tasks is nothing new, the concept of actually planning it out in advance as a way of completing a project - as opposed to a task - I think has some merit.

Personally, I am not a big planner, as I think the world in general has "getting things done" fever, where they think that everything has to have some sort of a system in order to make doing it that much more productive.
That's hogwash, in my opinion, and I think that just doing something is more productive that sitting around trying to figure out the best way to do it. However, if the thing that you need to "just do" is so daunting that you are procrastinating due to the size or complexity of it, then obviously you are already not "just doing it," so in that case, a system like micro-tasking might be the answer.

[JohnK]

In the construction industry, because the nature of construction borders on the chaotic, most successful construction companies have schedules. This has spilled over to any project-based business, such as manufacturing, software and building computer networks. Scheduling software, such as Microsoft Project, uses task lists with specific estimated timeframes, so that the end user can schedule disparate resources (employees, equipment, subcontractors) without too much conflict or waste. You've probably seen the output as a Gantt chart (which can be produced by the experienced project manager/scheduler on a yellow pad, without software).

The microtask approach to an individual's day, week, month, etc., is a great adaptation of this technique. A lot of people already work from checklists throughout their day. If I picture it as a Gantt chart, it's easy to understand at a glance and make use of.

Thanks Steve!

[Andrew Brunelle]

Useful article. I'll have to try it. At least that way I'll stray from wandering around aimlessly in the dark to an undisclosed location.

[Paul Park]

I'm building a house right now. Some of the tasks are easy for me and I forge ahead on them. Tasks that I am less familiar with get put off. I'm going to make a list of micro tasks for the under slab plumbing. I'll let you know how it goes.

[Megan]

I'm going to try it. The GTD thingy gets me bogged down, but this might help, and, if nothing else, you always make me laugh out loud, Steve, which ain't half bad.

Well, I'm off to write up my Daily 50 for tomorrow...so maybe I won't wander off in the dark to an undisclosed location, as is my custom....

[norbert]

A similar article on Trizoko: Why Your To-Do List Sucks.

[Megan]

Norbert, oh yeah....

Scenario: “Dude, let’s tack another item on our to-do list. We’ll finish them someday. High-five!”

You know the deal:

• You start a to-do list.
• You put 908532502 things on the to-do list.
• You get overwhelmed.
• You start avoiding your to-do list.

Why Your To-Do List Sucks

That does have a certain familiar ring to it. I'm a sucker for making lists, but then they turn to lead and sink to the bottom of my mind.

Getting Things Done. NOT

[seeker5]

Originally Posted by norbert

A similar article on Trizoko: Why Your To-Do List Sucks.

Hmmm. That article seems to make the opposite point that Steve was trying to make...?

[smartile]

Steve - love the MicroTask List for posting a new blog, nice one!

Cheers,

Stephen Martile — Personal Development with NLP

[Lyman]

That was a great article... unlike Aaron, I tend to do better when I've broken down things as far as they can go. Not that I'm not guilty of using "planning" as a procrastination method myself

The idea of breaking them down that far really intrigues me, though... I'm going to give a day of microtasks a go myself (even if I am an "overworked minion").

And my next blog post? Definitely going to use the example list given.