Memory : Do the Little Things First

When people get overwhelmed with tasks, a common problem is that the mind gets paralyzed because it can't decide what to do first. Often, the mind jumps from task to task to task without making much progress with anything. This can lead to a cycle of ever increasing stress about the growing list of things to do.



A simple strategy is to do all the little things first. Find all the tasks that can be completed in only a few minutes and do them in sequence without letting your attention get diverted. Once you have weeded out all the easy stuff your mind will feel less cluttered and it will be easier to concentrate on the bigger tasks



This strategy is even more useful when you apply it to your daily life because it can prevent you from getting into a cluttered mindset in the first place. As a benefit, you will also have fewer problems with forgetting to do something because you do it right away. Anytime you have a short task presented to you, instead of putting it off, just do it and get it over with. One example of how to do this is with email. Whenever you get an email that you need to reply to, just reply to it right then and there. Leaving it in your inbox for later just leads to an overwhelmingly full inbox.