Sometimes the little things matter

In my last blog post, I wrote about figuring out the 2-3 things that I intend to get done on my list, no matter what happens.  But there can be countless little things that can't be ignored.  Sometimes I need to deal with those first.  I can no more ignore them that Gulliver could ignore the "Lilliputians".

At work, I've often heard people talk about focusing on the "critical few" and ignoring the "trivial many".  But I think that, when I've got too many little, "trivial" things in front of me, I can't see clearly, can't gain perspective, and can't decide what critical few things really matter.

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity talks about being getting through the little things so that focus and perspective are possible.  The author, David Allen's, counsel is that if it takes less than 2 minutes, just do it.  The key is swing back and forth between times when you knock off dozens of small items as fast as you can and times when you work on something that challenges your concentration, intellect and creativity and gives you a huge sense of achievement.