When you take the time to simplify complex tasks you will be able to handle so much more with very little stress. I am going to explain how this process should work for you and give you some tips to get you started. If you master this simple concept you will be one step closer to getting your life much easier.
Benefits
- You Will Be Able to Finish Complex Tasks Easier
- Reduces the Stress From Heavy Work Loads
- Saves You Time
- Saves You Money
- You Will Be Able To Complete Much Larger Challenges
- Better Quality Work
- You Will Be Able To Better Track Your Progress For Completing a Larger Task
- Better Organization
So you have decided to take your complex tasks and problems and convert them into much smaller and less complex ones. This is a great ability to have, because it will allow you to take on much bigger projects and keep you on track to finishing them on time and without as much effort as you probably think you would use. Taking a complex task and breaking it into much smaller micro tasks is a great way to track your progress and keep quality a top priority. Just think if you were solving a 1000 piece puzzle. If you were given all 1000 pieces at once and expected to put them together that task might take some time and get quite frustrating. Now if you were given the 1000 piece puzzle with all of the pieces divided up into piles of 50(assuming each pile of 50 had all of the pieces to connect to each other) and then you solved them in little piles before connecting to the larger puzzle your 1000 piece puzzle would become a much simpler task to complete. You would also be able to track how much progress you have made by checking how many 50 piece segments you have completed. You could even assign out the 50 piece segments to other people. They could help solve the complex puzzle without getting into the other persons way. Do you see where I am going with this? By breaking a larger task into much smaller ones you make things ten times better for yourself.
In my example above I explained how this would work on a puzzle, but you can use it in almost any situation. You could use it at home, work, school, bill day, personal finance, cleaning, for teaching children, spending your free time, hobbies, and so many more places. This is one of the really great skills to develop and master, because it will save you time, money, and tons of stress. If your interested in learning how to take advantage of this awesome skill keep reading and I will give you some tips and advice to start using this right now.
Tips and Advice
- Write Down Your Task and Break It Down
- Convert One Big Task Into Micro Tasks
- Break Down Your Time and Use Time Management
- Take Out All Unessential Steps
- Stay Organized
- Multitask Whenever Possible
- Work Smart Not Hard
Ok so your ready to learn how to reap the benefits of simplifying complex tasks. The first thing I would recommend is to take a pencil and paper and write down your task in its most complex form. After you do this then try to break it down a few times, but not too much yet. Maybe take the task and break it down into two to five smaller but still slightly complex tasks. You can draw some lines off to the side showing where each tasks stems from. Next do this same thing again for all of your smaller tasks. Keep doing this until you reach a point where either the tasks are in their simplest form or where than are so small you can complete them in under 15 minutes. Now that you have your list of very small tasks you need to rewrite them in the order you will need to complete them in. Make sure you eliminate any redundancy and combine together things you can do at the same time. Multitasking is a great time-saver when you are doing complex tasks. Now that you have your tasks in order take the total time you have available and divide it out so that you assign a time frame for each task you have to do. Allow some time for breaks if needed and allow yourself some extra time at the end in case something takes longer than planned. After you have set up your list of things you are going to do get started as soon as possible.
The suggestion I have listed for you above is a great starting point for breaking your tasks into something simpler. It’s all about using your time wisely and learning time management. Multitasking and eliminating unnecessary parts is also a great help to make the job easier on you. Be very organized when breaking this task into micro tasks. Remember to form some sort of structured way to complete each task while eliminating all of the wasted steps you can. Once you get started you will be able to mark off your list each micro task you complete. This will give you a great sense of progress, because it is very trackable.
Also, try to only cover the same ground once if possible. What I mean by this is that you should plan out your task so that you are not doing any unnecessary repeating of steps. Lets say for example you are planning to go out and run errands today. You have seven stops plus the bank to go to before you return home. First plan everything out that way you don’t have to run back to the bank for a second time to get cash for bills. This would great a wasted step and cut into your productivity. Also, when you plan your route through town try to make it into a big circle if you can. Don’t got across town to pay the light bill, then back to this side of town for the water bill, then back to the other side of town for groceries, then back to this side of town for the phone bill, then back to the other side of town to pay the cable bill, etc. Try to plan your trip with as little wasted time as possible. You can start on this side of town and make one big circle covering everything you need to do and return home without driving all of those extra miles back and forth for nothing.
Complex tasks are a part of every-bodies daily life. We may not realize it until we get overwhelmed and stressed, but truthfully we take on a lot of very complex problems very easily. Without the proper organizing and structure we can get stuck wasting a lot of time and money doing things that either aren’t productive or redoing the same steps more than once due to improper planning. This really isn’t a complex skill to learn, all it takes is a little thought and planning going into the task you are about to begin beforehand. Taking five minutes to plan out your task can save your hours of time in the long run so it is very worth it.