Tag: tasks

Are you helping or hurting?

There’s a spectrum of helpfulness and hinderance. For example, helping (or not) around the house. If you don’t lift a finger around the house, obviously it is not helpful. But on the other hand, if you try to be Superman (or Superwoman) and do everything yourself, you are actually hurting those around you more than you think. Those who live in the household need to contribute to the household. If they don’t have any duties, 1) they won’t feel useful; 2) they will become unaccustomed to building good work habits; 3) they will not learn necessary life skills like doing laundry, doing dishes, taking out the trash, starting a lawn mower/knowing how to use it, etc. They develop a “learned helplessness” because you didn’t let them do anything.

In short, doing everything can give you a sense of accomplishment because you’re checking things off the “to-do” list, but it is hurting those you love in the long run. Another unintended side effect is you will often build a resentment towards that person (“why aren’t they helping me?”)

Just as with everything else in life, there is a balance between doing, delegating, and eliminating. Don’t do everything. See if your partner likes certain chores more than others. Maybe he/she likes loading the dishwasher and you don’t. Great! That can be their chore. Maybe you like folding laundry, but not putting it away. Ok! You can split that task up. Get your kids involved too. Yes, their life should involve a lot of playing, but if you don’t teach them to have responsibilities then you aren’t doing them any favors when they eventually enter the real world.

Getting things done

If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it.
“If you want something done, ask a busy person to do it. The more things you do, the more you can do.” – Lucille Ball

Have you ever noticed that when you’re really busy, you don’t feel tired until after you sit down for a break?

Or have you ever noticed that when you have two months to complete a project, you finish (and usually start) the project in two months? But if that same project was due in two weeks or even in two days you would still get it done?

Just like Newton’s first law of physics says, “An object at rest stays at rest and an object in motion stays in motion…”

Those who are constantly doing things and making things happen (setting goals and regularly achieving them by taking consistent action) will likely continue to do so. But those who “have all the time in the world” and are not currently in motion will likely not get the task done in the timeframe you want.

This is why it’s so important to stay in motion. Just get started. We should seek progress, not perfection. Perfection is a myth we tell ourselves we are striving for, but in reality it is masking our tendencies of procrastination. Done is better than perfect. Strive for starting, making progress, and finishing a task. Don’t get distracted with the next shiny object. Start something, finish it, then move on to the next one.