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Do you remember the teen magazines that used to be in the newsstands twenty years ago?
(Apologies in advance if you were not born twenty years ago, you just made me instantaneously feel ten centuries older)
If, like me, you were lucky to be alike in such age of printing glory, you’d remember teen magazines filled with pops tart gossips, eyebrow raising advice about your intimate health and loads of quizzes and tests.
Will you marry your BFF? If you were a Spice Girl, which one would you be?
That was, by far, the favourite section of any given magazine.
Tell me something more about me
I seemed to desperately cry. Unsurprisingly, as a Virgo and a roaring type A, I was not surprise to find myself totally hooked with the idea of learning more about myself.
Fast-forwarding to twenty years later, and personality tests are used by employers to recruit new employees. In a way, personality tests are one of the favourite ways for Millennials to learn more about themselves.
We could even argue we perceive as if they give us a clearer idea of our strengths and weaknesses, something that empowers us more in the choices we can make and the way that we can better ourselves as humans.
Now, I am a type A, ENFJ-T Millennial myself, and I was quite a precocious child too, so I was all over any quiz and test I could get my hands on.
Most tests have seemed to point out to the same trait, again and again.
Over-achiever.
My blessing and my curse, I suppose.
👩🏫 Lesson of the week
“The common man is not concerned about the passage of time, the man of talent is driven by it."
Russian psychologist Bluma Zeigarnik was perhaps the first to note the brain’s obsession with pressing tasks.
The so-called Zeigarnik effect (by which we remember things we need to do better than things we’ve done) stemmed from observing that waiters could only recall diners’ orders before they had been served.
After the dishes had been delivered, their memories simply erased who’d had the steak and who’d had the soup.
The deed was done and the brain was ready to let go.
Our brain is wired to work better when following a path, yet you can go to far. As an over-achiever I have a few tendencies, one of which I would call the compulsive to-do list ticker.
You see, normal humans would pace themselves to tackle tasks and responding emails according to a schedule.
I have been known for taking the preferential route of sprinting furiously towards the finish line.
It’s literally the definition of madness: you feel like you get a lot done, yet you feel like you accomplished nothing.
Welcome to the monkey mind.
According to Buddhist principles, the monkey mind is a term that refers to being unsettled, restless, or confused.
In the days I gave in my tendency of being a compulsive to-do list ticker, I would end up doing loads of small tasks that were not really that urgent, and not truly focus on the most important task of the day.
As per usual (over-achiever strikes again) I use a combination of techniques to keep my monkey brain at bay.
Yet, there is one that I discovered a few months back and I religiously use to this day. Enter the two magic folders.
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The two magic folders
All right, you got me, I am creating loads of pathos around these two, but for good reason.
They work like a charm. Our two new BFFs are called “Today” and “This week”.
If you want to be even more of a type A then yours truly, you can go ahead and create a “This month” folder. I won’t judge. Much.
“Today” and “This week” are two folders you are going to apply to your biggest time wasters.
To me, those two are represented by my inbox and my to-do list.
This folder method combines two techniques: the batching technique, and the time-blocking technique (something I mention when talking about my prime time).
The two folders technique is something that has been used by different productivity coaches and authors alike, and for good reason.
The way I give it my spin is by creating a dynamic approach to it and adapting it to different areas of my work.
I think it was Nir Eyal who suggested to only look at one email twice - the first time, to label it, and the second to respond and archive it.
Reality check alert: I know this can be hard to achieve for about 98% of us. However, if you start building a system to encourage you to treat your emails differently, things are going to shift considerably for you. Pinky promise.
The two-folder email method
I first applied the two-folder approach to my emails, and created the two majestic labels in my inbox.
Whenever I open my emails in the morning (usually after at least an hour of uninterrupted work), I start coding my emails (as well as responding to anything urgent pronto).
My only rule is to respond to anything that requires less than 5 minutes to write / check / implement. If it requires more than that, then it falls into the “Today” folder.
If, instead, I feel like it’s something that could wait until the Friday of the week, I push it to “This week”.
I then block time to check my emails twice per day (this is still something I am working on, as it’s the hardest part).
On a good week, I stick to this 3/5 days - keeping it real here!
At the end of the day, I also make sure I check my “Today” and “This week” folders to adjust any outstanding email.
Bye bye, inbox mess. Hello, peace of mind.
Applying this approach to my to-do list
Okay, to be completely honest,I do not really have a two-folder sort of system for my work for clients and the school.
Yet, I still apply the same principle when organising my work. I currently work across 4 project management systems - one for the school and 3x for clients (two on ClickUp, and one on Monday).
If you do not have to perform the same hell of a juggling act that I do on a daily basis, you can ease in on this approach.
My “Today” folder is replaced by a handful of tasks I set for myself for the current day, and at the end of each day I make sure I know where I am standing with my work.
I still have some tasks set for a specific deadline, however, instead of furiously adding a deadline to everything, I add anything that needs to be done at some point in the week to a label called (spoiler alert) “This Week”.
I spend my first hour working on the school or a school-related project (whether it’s working on an upcoming course, workshop or writing).
After that, I check each of my planners to see what is the big focus of the day for each of my accounts (for you it could be campaigns, launches, clients, you name it).
After that, I prioritise the 2/3 today tasks lying in my todo.
I also have a daily “batch admin” task with loads of small admin bits, which I do in another focused period of time, just like I’d do my inbox management.
At the end of the day, I head back to my project manager to check what else was planned for the week, and prepare my “Today” list for the following day.
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🏫 Class in session
An oldie but a goodie - which also makes me cringe when looking at what my office used to look like a year and a half ago. But the workshop is REAL good, so you enjoy!
”Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent, and not enough time on what is important."
Overall, “Today” and “This Week” are nothing more than labels. Yet, when it comes to psychology, they can help us greatly work with our brain.
A recent study by professors Baumeister and Masicampo from Wake Forest University showed that, while tasks we haven’t done distract us, just making a plan to get them done can free us from this anxiety.
The pair observed that people underperform on a task when they are unable to finish a warm-up activity that would usually precede it.
However, when participants were allowed to make and note down concrete plans to finish the warm-up activity, performance on the next task substantially improved.
“Simply writing the tasks down will make you more effective.”
Helping your brain recognise what is actually a priority can be what completely shifts your perception towards your daily workload.
I hope this lil insight into how I manage my workload can help you try something new this week!
Always cheering you on,
Fab ✌️