Breaking big tasks down
A big task feels heavy and vague. Cut it into small, concrete steps that each fit into one sitting, and start with the first one.
Why
Noor has to give a talk about an animal in two weeks. She looks at the assignment and does not know where to start. Why is that?
A big task is vague. Your mind sees one big mountain and does not know where to begin. That feels unpleasant, and so you push the task ahead of you.
A small step is concrete: you know exactly what to do and when it is finished. That is much easier to start. And every step you tick off makes you want to do the next one.
Breaking tasks down helps with planning too. You estimate a four hour task badly, a twenty minute step much better. That way you also see sooner whether your plan still works.
See it
A big project of 240 minutes as one block. Slide to choose how many minutes one step may take and see how the work falls apart into steps that each have their own name.
Project on a country of your choice
In one block: four hours, and no idea where to start.
Description of the picture
A bar of 240 minutes stands for a big project. With a slider you choose the minutes per step, and the bar splits into smaller steps, each with a name, such as choosing a topic, finding sources or reading the text through.
Get it
Write the task at the top and ask yourself: what has to be ready at the end? Then work backwards: which steps do you need to get there?
Make every step small and concrete. Not: work on my talk. But: write down three questions my talk has to answer. A good step starts with a verb and fits into one sitting, for example 20 to 30 minutes.
Put the steps in order and spread them over your week. Tick off what is done. If you notice along the way that a step is too big, cut it in two again.
If it is a kind of task you have never done, first look at a worked example, such as a good talk from last year or a solved exercise. Researchers found again and again that with something new, you learn a lot from seeing how someone tackles it step by step.
Cut a big task into small, concrete steps that each fit into one sitting, put them in order and start with the first one.
Worked example
Elias has a project of about 150 minutes. He splits it into steps of 30 minutes. How many steps is that, and how many evenings does he need if he does 2 each evening?
Divide the total time by the time per step.
$150:
30= 5$ After 2 evenings he has done 4 steps. For the last step he needs a third evening.
$5:
2= 2.5$ - Answer
5 steps, spread over 3 evenings.
Do it
Choose a level. You get a new exercise every time, checked on the spot.
Do it tomorrow
Tomorrow, pick one task that has been waiting for a while. Write down three small steps, each with a verb, such as look up, write or read through. Do only the first one.
One small habit. Try it for a week and see what it does.
Pitfalls
Wrong: My list says: do my talk.
That is not a step but a mountain. You do not know where to start, and so you do not start.
Right: Write down the first concrete step, such as: note three questions my talk has to answer.
Wrong: I only start when my whole plan is ready.
Planning can become a way of not starting. The plan does not have to be perfect.
Right: Write down the first few steps and start. You fill in the rest along the way.
Wrong: I do the most fun step first, the rest will follow.
Steps often depend on each other. Making slides only works well once you know what you want to say.
Right: Put the steps in a logical order. Within that order you are welcome to start with something easy.
In real life
- A talk: choose a topic, write down questions, find information, make a draft, make slides, practise out loud. Six small steps instead of one big one.
- A set of exercises in Ruit can be split up by kind of exercise, with a short break in between each time.
- A reading book for Dutch class goes better with a few chapters a day than with the whole book on the weekend before.
History
In the eighties, John Sweller studied how many new things your mind can handle at the same time. From that work came the advice to learn something new with worked examples.
At the table
Which big job at home, such as clearing out the attic or getting ready for a party, have you ever cut into pieces? How did that go?
A question to talk about together, for parents and children. There is no wrong answer.