3 Keys Thursday: 3 Keys to Managing One-More-Thing-Itis

Do you suffer from one-more-thing-itis? If you consistently find yourself trying to squeeze in just one more thing before you:

      a) head out the door;

      b) start a new task;

      c) go to bed;

      d) sit down and relax;

      e) any and/or all of the above....

...you might have one-more-thing-itis.

This affliction is especially prevalent around the holidays when seasonal to-do lists augment our regular to-do lists. And, while it's not all bad, it does have down sides. It can: 

        a) make us late; 

        b) enable procrastination; 

        c) interfere with our ability to get enough sleep; 

        d) exhaust us; and 

        e) all of the above. 

As you might have guessed, I suffer from one-more-thing-itis. Since I'm unlikely to ditch this habit any time soon, I've decided I need to finesse it a little; Organizing by STYLE is built, after all, on turning liabilities into assets. Here are a few things I use to keep it in check.

Set a deadline. I'm less likely to fall prey to one-more-thing-itis when I have a clearly determined end time. Sure, I might try to sneak in a couple of extra tasks, but when I know when I'm supposed to stop, I'm less likely to run it down to the wire.

Set an alarm. Another problematic part of this habit is that I lose track of time. Once I've set my deadline, I need to also set an alarm. That way, my deadline doesn't come and go, leaving me scrambling to get out the door on time, apologies in tow.

manfredsteger via Pixabay

Write it down. An alarm announcing my pre-set deadline might sound before I've finished my task. In order to fight the urge to finish just this one thing, I need to remind myself that tomorrow is another day and employ some list-making strategies. If it's already on the list, I can highlight it, circle it, star it or put a big #1 beside it as a promise to myself to give it priority when I have the time to do so. If it's not already on the list, I can add it. 

None of these is a long-term solution, however, Until we one-more-thing-itis sufferers learn to prize our time, our rest, and our peace of mind as much as we prize our productivity, this habit is likely to interfere with all of those things. While some days, we have no choice but to get through the list, often, we power through more out of habit than anything else. Asking ourselves if the thing we're doing now must be done now is a good way of assessing whether this learned behavior is working in our service or vice versa. And, if we decide to continue with the task-at-hand, we know we're doing so by choice, not habit.

And that's a key to success.