Delusional Optimism and a Bonus Level!

A time management tweak.

Today I have 3 main tasks to accomplish.

Often, when planning these tasks for my day, I tend to assign the minimum amount of time it might take me to accomplish a particular task. My wife calls this trait ‘delusional optimism. Today as I look at my 3 tasks, I’m trying a different Tact.

So here are some tweaks.

1. I’m calling my tasks Quests, so I no longer have 3 tasks (chores, work, drudgery) - I have 3 Quests (adventure, challenge, excitement). The activity is the same but the change of words is enough to change my mental approach to the work. Switching on the parts of the brain that would otherwise remain dormant.

2. I’m adding a 50% buffer to the timer of each Quest, allowing me to work with more calm. I recognize that my initial ‘delusional optimism’ does not leave any margin for error And adjust accordingly.

3. I’m including a 4th Quest, or Bonus Level¹, it’s a fun task (Drawing Comics). The idea is if I complete any of the Main Quest, I can use any ‘leftover time to do the bonus Level Quest.

On a Quest

1. When adding a margin to quests, it’s useful to know what to do with the remaining time if a quest is completed. Otherwise, one might dilly-dally and end up using more time than is required.