Go in order

You gotta just take them off the clothesline starting with the one right in front of you. (Image by Pete Linforth)

When you’re working my way through a difficult series of tasks, it’s tempting to skip around.

Sometimes it’s appropriate. You can start with what’s appealing to build up a little momentum.

You can start with the hardest, scariest, ugliest one to get it out of the way -- from that point, the work will be like coasting downhill.

You can arrange all of the tasks according to priority, starting with the most important one.  

But the way that works the best for me is to go straight down, in whatever order the tasks have been presented, until I can’t anymore. 

There are several benefits to working in order.

First, it’s efficient. You strip away all of the decision-making, the planning, the assessing. The work becomes only the work, with no time and energy wasted in weighing the options or going over the possibilities. This can allow you to move very quickly.

Second, when there is no other choice, you find the strength and fortitude to do the work required. You make the difficult decisions or have the uncomfortable conversations without postponing them. You push through something that you didn’t know how to do and find yourself on the other side. 

Then, you will enjoy the natural peaks and valleys of the work at hand. A demanding task may be followed by an easy one, allowing you to gear up for the next toughie.

And finally, working in order teaches you to let go of your own comfort and preferences. Instead of thinking about what you want and would prefer, you prove to yourself that you don’t need special circumstances to get the work done. You can make it happen even when the conditions aren’t perfect and you would rather be doing something else. This makes you stronger and more effective over time, allowing you to accomplish more with less effort. 

I will acknowledge that working in order can be intensely challenging. In fact it’s so hard that it can’t always be sustained for very long. For me, a first sign of fatigue comes when I switch from doing things in order to picking and choosing. This is when my progress starts to slow down and I’m just looking for some way to continue. 

But even though this approach is taxing, it can be enjoyable in its own weird way. When it comes to taking a road trip, knitting a garment, making a meal, painting a wall, or raising a child, going in order is the only way. You simply have to take each stage of the process as it comes, whether you feel like it or not. Accepting this reality is the beginning of a more pleasant experience with less frustration and resistance.  

Of course, rules like this were made to be broken. If I’ve spent twenty minutes working through my tasks in order, the relief that comes from switching things up and not doing this can be its own magnificent rebellion. For me, acknowledging and manipulating these different modes of work allows me to extend and expand my capacity for concentration, making the work a game to play instead of a misery to slog through. 

The rule that really matters is that if what you’re doing isn’t working, you should try something else. And sometimes that means purposely sticking with a task that you wish would go away. Soon enough, you can make that happen. And then you’ll be glad you did.