I’m already struggling to keep up with work, my kids’ activities, and basic household tasks. I feel like I’m drowning, and now with Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, I’m dreading all the extra shopping, cooking, decorating, and family obligations. I don’t want to disappoint anyone, but I’m barely hanging on as it is. How can I handle it all without having a breakdown?
Dear Crucial Skills, Each day I plan to complete three major tasks, three thirty-minute tasks, and a few five- to ten-minute tasks. I can squeeze in some five- to ten-minute tasks in between my major tasks, but now my thirty-minute tasks have piled up because they never make it to the top of my list. …
My sister is stressed, overwhelmed, at her breaking point, and needs help. She runs two companies, has two small children, and was recently diagnosed with ADHD on top of the thousands of unread email messages in her inbox and hundreds of tasks she has on her to-do list. I’ve taken the Getting Things Done (GTD) course and see plenty of tools that I know could help her reduce stress and take control of her chaotic life. What are some things she can do to get started on her GTD journey, and is there anything I can do to help her?
I try to make a non-negotiable appointment with myself to do my weekly review, but most weeks I push it off and push it off. I don’t know why I avoid the weekly review so much, or, more importantly, how I can make myself take the time to do it. Any suggestions?
In a world full of distractions, how do you focus on the ‘right’ things?
Dear Crucial Skills, It seems to me that focus and productivity are different concepts that often get conflated. When people think of productivity, they seem to think of doing more, faster. When people think of focus, they seem to think of doing less, more deliberately. Doing more faster, in my view, simply means being more …
Since I started working from home, I can’t seem to separate work and home life. I have a home office and I do my best to stay off my computer after hours, and yet my nine-to-five now feels like it’s 24-7. I used to leave work at work. But now that my job is at my house, it never seems to go away. Any tips on how I might better separate the two?
How do I make the transition from working in my business to working ON my business?
I recently went through the GTD course and have started doing a weekly review. I learned in training that when I do a weekly review I should (1) Get Clear, (2) Get Current, and (3) Get Creative. Do you have any tips on this last point? I want to think about my to-do list more creatively, but not sure how to do so. Thanks.
I’m impressed by people who let things roll off their shoulders. I can’t seem to let things go, sometimes to the point of losing sleep, getting distracted from my other tasks—the list goes on. I often get like this when someone is upset and they’re coming down on me, usually external customers. How can I make sure these types of interactions don’t ruin my day or week?
