Aspirational Planning and Deep Work
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Are you noticing a growing backlog of task items in your "Past Due" list? We Global Creatives can push sh*t off all the time but often in ways we do not intend. Aspirational Planning is one way. We load up our day with items because:
we feel good and confident at the start of our day
we overestimate what is possible
we underestimate time and the work as it shows up
This is classic ADHD representation. We will often get to many of these tasks but not to all of them and at the stroke of midnight our task management system kicks the item into "Past Due" or we manually push items to the next day on our paper list. It may be only a couple items each day but over time this becomes an unintended management practice - managing, tracking and pushing things forward to the next day. Like a snow plow over time the snow build up and the pile becomes ‘unpushable’.
An opportunity is to create some understanding & awareness of these items that get pushed to the next day. They are likely more complicated & nuanced than what you have written down. They likely require a deeper level of attention & effort than your regular daily stuff. Designate & protect time to deep work type activities. Clear the deck of current distracting tasks, seek support and have an exit plan. SCUBA diving is different than snorkeling for many reasons. Your deep work practices (SCUBA) require different skills, commitment and attention than your day to day work (snorkeling). The payoff of deep work, though, is rich and fulfilling. Cal Newport is a great resource on deep work. calnewport.com.
Below is the Translating ADHD podcast episode that kicks off our series on creating a meaningful work day, including effective task management.