Anti-Procrastination Tuesdays: Triage

It's Anti-Procrastination Tuesdays #7!

I am beginning to understand how tasks end up on the Ultimate To-Do. We mentally sort tasks by several key factors: desirability of task action, need for end result, and if the task has a definite deadline. Since our time is not unlimited, our minds have to form a triage mentality to see what has to be done immediately versus what can wait. Unfortunately, the more tasks that must be done immediately continue to postpone the ever-growing Ultimate To-Do.

For a practical illustration, I am playing keyboards for church on Sunday. I need to practice the music. However, upon arriving home from work, I discovered the Jack Russell had peed in her crate. That particular event created a string of immediate to-do's that took up the time that could have been spent practicing my music. Although the desirability of the task of bleaching out her crate & giving her a bath was low, the need for a clean crate & dog was highly important & needed to be completed before friends came over for the evening. Thus dealing with the dog situation was accomplished, practicing music was not.

In a way, I tend to resent these immediate tasks since they throw my plans for a loop. They get in my way, take up the time I thought I could devote elsewhere & generally put me in something of a sour mood. But I seriously need to get over that. In reality, I don't own my time. I don't have a claim on doing a specific task at a specific time; I have no right to believe my plans are the way things should go. Hence, the Ultimate To-Do grows, but it keeps me on my toes. :)

And for your viewing pleasure, a sunrise over Twin Sisters in Colorado (elev. 12,000ish)