by Alice Johnsen.

Many years ago we were repairing a barn. It was not an easy job and there was a lot of what can best be described as ‘faffing about’. One of our team suddenly declared: “You just have to get in among it.” We all knew what he meant and the barn was fixed.
It’s a phrase that has stayed with me.
When faced with challenging, demanding, fiddly or just plain boring tasks, we procrastinate. Anxiety grows. The thoughts preceding the task become bigger than the task itself, not to mention distracting and stress-creating. But when we actually start the task our focus shifts away from anticipation to the task itself, whatever it is. We become engaged and in the present by doing rather than thinking how much we didn’t want to do something because we’re absorbed both mentally and physically.
The procrastination before the doing can happen in so many parts of our lives. Starting a difficult conversation. Starting a new job. Starting your revision. Starting a new business or fitness plan. The list is endless, but the point remains the same. Anticipation is usually worse than the event.

How else can we help ourselves if something like this is hanging over us? A mindset I use regularly with clients is breaking things down to smaller tasks or phases. To quote Henry Ford – he of Ford Cars and, as my newsletter readers will have read last week, he of the creator the five-day week from what was originally a six-day week: “Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.”
So, if you have a task lying ahead of you that is worrying you and becoming bigger in your mind than you know it to really be, try that approach. Try breaking it into phases and setting a target for each phase so you can monitor your progress. With all the distractions of 21st century life, we need all the help we can get to focus and complete tasks. Which leads me to my third top time management tool which is setting a limit for tasks. Accepting the theory any task can fill any time allowed, by setting yourself a realistic time limit for a task you can really help your focus and productivity.
n Alice Johnsen is a life coach based near Sherborne; phone: 07961 080513; email: alicejohnsen.co.uk