Part 16 — Psychological Objects and Tasks


Part 16 — Psychological Objects and Tasks

Why You Must Separate Psychological Objects from their Physical and Digital Counterparts in Your Task Management

Problem

You want to manipulate future, incomplete tasks effectively, hoping to improve the way you manage them so you can become more effective. However, they seem to have a life of their own!

Even though you have set up a system of lists, schedules, reminders, apps, etc. to pin them down, they seem ready to slip away at a moment’s notice. Tasks are unlike physical objects like desks and chairs, or digital objects like documents or email messages. Instead, they are invisible and intangible.

Left untended, they have the unfortunate ability to disappear from view, never to be recalled ever again. Pus, they fade behind our other commitments, only to reappear suddenly when it’s too late, long after a problem has arisen.

Our problem is that we don’t treat them as if they have a special, unique nature. While we know that they are born when we make a specific commitment, and die when a task is completed or intentionally voided, what should happen in between remains a mystery. Even academic researchers barely understand!

Why Is This Important?

Someone who understands the distinction between psychological objects and physical or digital objects can manage each of them according to their unique properties. Given the fact that your task management system probably includes all three, this knowledge can help you make better quality improvements.

What’s the Link to the Rapid Assessment Program (RAP)?

In the RAP you see how it’s possible to make improvements which are in line with the ephemeral nature of tasks i.e. psychological objects. You are more likely to be effective with this insight, especially as you move forward to implement a plan of Pareto Improvements.

Find out more about the MyTimeDesign Rapid Assessment Program in this webinar.


Part 16 — Psychological Objects and Tasks was originally published in 2Time Labs on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

Is Self-Assessment the Way to Better Task Management?

Are you a productivity enthusiast who is eager to continue your improvements?

Remember when you first discovered GTD or a similar productivity approach for the first time? In those early days, everything you tried seemed to work. It was amazing: as if someone were flicking on the switch for the first time. All of a sudden, you were enlightened to practices you were already using, and now you could see, name and improve them all at will.

Before long, you boosted your capacity to manage more tasks and it was thrilling!

But now that you are managing more commitments than ever before, you may have noticed an anomaly. When there’s a sudden increase in task volume due to a project, promotion or shift to working from home, you notice feelings of overwhelm.

Why has that experience returned? Why don’t the early lessons you learned still work? Why does the stuff you teach others not apply any longer?

Come to this webinar and learn why you may need to shift to a different way of making improvements now that you are more experienced…with greater task volume

You’ll leave with the new mindset needed to make continuous improvements as a seasoned productivity enthusiast. Plus, you’ll be introduced to new tools such as the MyTimeDesign Rapid Assessment which help you analyze your whole-system-at-once rather than the components. They’ll lead you to the Pareto Improvements you really want to make more than anything.

Webinar: Is Self-Assessment the Way to Better Task Management?
May 20, 2021. 7pm Eastern (GMT -4)

To register, click here: https://live.remo.co/e/self-assessment-the-way

See you there!

Francis