Working With Yourself (a.k.a The Boss You Can’t Quit)
Before we go any further, if you haven’t read Chapter 7 of The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman, I recommend it. But if you’re reading pile is already a mountain and your time is the size of a post-it note, here’s the short version: the first person you have to learn to manage is yourself.
You’re the boss here. You set the pace, make the calls and pay the price if it all goes pear-shaped. The funny, and slightly annoying thing is, you’re also the employee. This means your success depends entirely on whether the boss side of you can get the employee side of you to show up, focus and not get lost in an Instagram scroll hole.
Why You Keep Putting Jobs Off
You’ve got a big, important task staring at you. You know it matters. You’re going to get to it right after you quickly check your emails. And maybe your bank account. And that other admin task you didn’t get to. Suddenly, it’s an hour later, and the task is still sitting there.
They have come up with a word for this. It’s called akrasia. It’s the gap between what you should do and what you actually do.
The way to get out of this is momentum. Big jobs feel like pulling teeth. So stop thinking about it and just take one step. Open the document and write the first heading. That’s it. Once you start, it’s way easier to keep going.
If you’re VERY stuck, tell someone what you’re going to do and when you’ll do it. The thought of them asking about it is enough to light a fire under you.
The Multitasking Lie
Multitasking sounds like a badge of honour. You could be answering emails while cooking dinner and taking a phone call. Except what you’re really doing is half-burning dinner, half-hearing the conversation on the phone and misreading emails.
Your brain can only properly focus on one thing at a time. This is why working in time blacks is so powerful. Pick one task, set a timer for 25 minutes and go all in. No phone. No inbox. No “just quickly checking”. You’ll get more done in that one block than in three hours of half-focused faffing.
Every time you jump from one type of task to another, your brain has to reboot. That’s the cognitive switching penalty, and you can lose hours without realising it. I like to watch similar things together. I’ll do all of my emails in one hit. I’ll do the difficult task for the day, and then I’ll work on creative work for a bit of reprieve. This means that I don’t have to switch hats and zigzag my way through the tasks for the day.
Save Your Sanity
The to-do list isn’t scary because it’s long. It’s scary because it’s full of decisions you haven’t made yet.
Do it if it takes less than two minutes
Delegate it if someone else can do it better or faster
Defer it if it’s not urgent (but schedule it)
Delete it if it’s not worth your time
Run every task through this and you’ll suddenly have fewer things shouting at you.
Rest is Part of the Job
You don’t have to grind yourself into the floor. Your brain works better when it’s rested. Take short breaks. Walk. Stretch. Get water. If you hit a mental wall, step away. And for the love of all things caffeinated, get some decent sleep! Trading sleep for “more hours” is like trading your Ute for a wheelbarrow because it’s smaller. That makes zero sense.
Pick one thing you’ve been putting off. Do the tiniest possible first step right now. Then try one time block tomorrow. Tell someone what you’re working on. I don’t think you’re going to become a perfect productivity machine. It’s about figuring out the version of “working with yourself” that makes your life easier and your business better.
