How Long Does It Really Take To … (insert task here)

Have you ever noticed?

We either dread what we don’t need to dread,

or

feel rushed when tasks take longer than expected?

How long does it really take to balance your checkbook?  (If you even do that anymore?)  How long does it really take to unload the dishwasher?  Get your oil changed?  Drop off that return item at the post office?  Get a hair cut? Call the doctor?  Come on… be honest…

Not very long, right?  Sometimes the tasks we dread or just don’t feel like doing get INFLATED in our mind, and we assume these dreaded tasks are going to take FOREVER to complete and so we never get around to completing them.  When we finally DO complete these tasks, we realize that they take no time at all.  We spend far more time dreading some tasks than we do completing them.

On the other hand,

We assume the trip to the grocery will only take 20 minutes (which NEVER happens), or that the “quick chat” with a co-worker, or the trip to your friend’s house or favorite restaurant takes no time at all even though you ALWAYS talk longer than you thought, or get stuck in traffic and it ALWAYS takes longer than you think.  Or we forget that going to the grocery also entails carving out 30 minutes when we get home to put everything away and then make a snack.

Let me introduce the idea of Realistic Time  Estimates.  Answer for yourself the question “How Long Does This Task Take?” and stick with that!  Once you realize how long tasks actually take, you will worry and procrastinate less while getting more done!

For example, I used to dread balancing my business’s books at the end of  every month.  I worried it would take hours so I would procrastinate and let my paperwork build up for a month or two.  Ridiculous, I know.  I realized I was self- sabotaging. One month, I spent a couple extra hours and cleaned up my banking and bookkeeping.  I moved everything to Quicken, set my statements  to download automatically from my bank (10 minutes once a month), loaded client info into Paypal to make invoicing easier (10 minutes a month), and streamlined the process for myself.  Now my bookkeeping takes care of itself, I get paid on time and I don’t dread these tasks!

On the other side, I also started setting an alarm in the morning so I didn’t get sidetracked by a pleasant chat with a fellow school parent that could go on too long.

Where else do we need Realistic Time Estimates?  What other time estimates do we skew?  How long will it really take to

  • Get ready for work?  For school? To go out? Drive our usual commute?  And is it ever perfectly smooth?
  • Get dinner on the table?
  • Get the teenager out of bed and functional?
  • Pick up Take-Out?
  • Write my blog article and newsletter this week?
  • Write up that weekly or monthly report?
  • Process our notes and act on our action items from our staff meeting?

This week and this month, take a look at how long your usual tasks ACTUALLY TAKE and determine Realistic Time Estimates.

Set a timer! Set an alarm!  Look around and seek out the tasks you dread for no reason, or the tasks you underestimate and always run over!   Take the steps to create awareness, and adjust your thinking to get your work done!