WEBVTT - The magic number of tasks for a productive work day

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Healthy Ish. Thanks for joining us on the

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<v Speaker 1>Body and Soul podcast. I am Felicity Halle Now. Organizational

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<v Speaker 1>psychologist and executive coach. Simmy Rayett wants us all to

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<v Speaker 1>feel productivity joy. Yes, this is the name of her

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<v Speaker 1>new book, and she is here today to discuss why

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<v Speaker 1>you may struggle with productivity and how many tasks we

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<v Speaker 1>should tackle each day to feel joy, to feel like

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<v Speaker 1>we're getting stuff done. Make sure listening to our sister

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<v Speaker 1>pod extra Healthy Ish, where she shares her five minute

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<v Speaker 1>formula to be more effective in your day. You can

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<v Speaker 1>catch that one wherever you get your podcasts. Simmy, thank

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<v Speaker 1>you for joining us today on Healthy Ish.

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<v Speaker 2>How are you?

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<v Speaker 3>I'm really good, Thank you? How are you?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, well, I'm actually very excited to talk to you

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<v Speaker 1>because this is right up my ali, how to be

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<v Speaker 1>more productive in your workday. It's something that every single

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<v Speaker 1>listener and all of us want. What typically hinders people

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<v Speaker 1>from achieving what they want in a day?

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, Look, I think there's a couple of things.

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<v Speaker 3>One is just having.

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<v Speaker 4>So much to do and having a lack of clarity

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<v Speaker 4>on what are.

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<v Speaker 3>The things that really.

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<v Speaker 4>Will move the dial and that are the most meaningful

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<v Speaker 4>and important, so I call them the high impact task.

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<v Speaker 4>So that lack of clarity can make it harder to

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<v Speaker 4>prioritize your goals, prioritize what you need to get done.

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<v Speaker 4>And then also it can make it easy to get sidetracked,

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<v Speaker 4>and we can then spend our time being busy rather

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<v Speaker 4>than focusing on those impactful tasks. I think the other

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<v Speaker 4>thing is energy and focus. So quite often, you know,

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<v Speaker 4>if we've got limited physical energy or emotional energy, we

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<v Speaker 4>can feel fatigued and it's so hard to stay focused

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<v Speaker 4>and motivated. And then there's also the distractions like emails

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<v Speaker 4>and vocals and notifications.

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<v Speaker 3>Worry and stress.

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<v Speaker 4>All these things can really hinder us from being able

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<v Speaker 4>to achieve what we want in the day.

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<v Speaker 2>Well answered, And you're so right about the distraction. I

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<v Speaker 2>mean I find it myself.

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<v Speaker 1>I go into Instagram and I'm like, oh, I just

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<v Speaker 1>need to research this person, and then I'm on there

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<v Speaker 1>for fifteen minutes and then I'm like, oh, what was

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<v Speaker 1>I supposed to do? On he here again? It is

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<v Speaker 1>so frustrating. You've got some different thinking patterns well three,

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<v Speaker 1>that some of us can fall into when we put

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<v Speaker 1>off things or procrastinate or overthink. Can you talk us

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<v Speaker 1>through these well thinking patterns?

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<v Speaker 4>Yeah, So the three thinking patterns, as you said, is

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<v Speaker 4>what I refer to is action bias, procrastination, and overthinking.

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<v Speaker 4>So if we start with action bias, this is that

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<v Speaker 4>tendency to really urge ourselves to take action, to do

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<v Speaker 4>something because we feel that if we are taking action,

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<v Speaker 4>at least we're making some kind of progress. And often

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<v Speaker 4>that's in a response to us feeling anxious and that

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<v Speaker 4>we need to feel busy, so we'll quickly dive into things,

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<v Speaker 4>perhaps not planning or preparing. So a lot of people

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<v Speaker 4>experience action bias. The other one is procrastination, and this

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<v Speaker 4>is essentially rooted in fear.

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<v Speaker 3>It's a fear of either you know we're going to fail.

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<v Speaker 4>We're not going to be successful, perhaps you know others

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<v Speaker 4>are going to criticize us. So this is really about

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<v Speaker 4>delaying what we really need to get done, so you

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<v Speaker 4>just put it off and you kind of leave it

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<v Speaker 4>till the last minute. And then the third one is overthinking,

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<v Speaker 4>and this is where we essentially just think so.

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<v Speaker 3>Much, we analyze, and we.

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<v Speaker 4>Just avoid making a decision because we're so worried about

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<v Speaker 4>making the wrong decision, we become really indecisive, and we

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<v Speaker 4>can then stagnate in moving forward, and that over thinking

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<v Speaker 4>can really paralyze us from taking action, making progress, and

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<v Speaker 4>we can stay stuck. So they're the three thinking your patterns.

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<v Speaker 1>Is it normal to oscillate between the three or are

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<v Speaker 1>you just one? Does one type particularly dominate someone's thinking.

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<v Speaker 4>It's a great question because most of us tend to

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<v Speaker 4>have a tendency to fall into one of those three,

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<v Speaker 4>and it's really important just to try and recognize which

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<v Speaker 4>of those three is you because it will be your

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<v Speaker 4>general preferred style and once you're aware of it, you

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<v Speaker 4>can then take steps and actions to help with that.

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<v Speaker 3>So, yeah, tendency is to fall into one of the three.

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<v Speaker 1>In the beginning, you answer that we have so many

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<v Speaker 1>things to do. I mean, you've been in this space

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<v Speaker 1>for a while. Do you think I have to lists

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<v Speaker 1>have got bigger?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, I really do.

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<v Speaker 4>I think the demands placed on us at work, in

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<v Speaker 4>our businesses, in our home life, in our personal life

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<v Speaker 4>is so much more. We're trying to do a lot

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<v Speaker 4>more with less in you.

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<v Speaker 3>Know, quicker time and speed, and you know a lot

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<v Speaker 3>of people don't want to let others down, so it's

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<v Speaker 3>hard to say no or decline things.

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<v Speaker 4>There's a lot of new We call it the shiny syndrome,

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<v Speaker 4>the shiny object syndrome, where we get distracted and we

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<v Speaker 4>want to move on to the next thing we don't

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<v Speaker 4>want to miss out. So FOMO is really apparent and

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<v Speaker 4>clear for many people as well. So we placed a

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<v Speaker 4>lot of demands on ourselves, and that to do list

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<v Speaker 4>is not getting any smaller. And the thing is, we

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<v Speaker 4>might even knock off a few things off our list

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<v Speaker 4>because we're actually all doing a lot of things, and

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<v Speaker 4>then the list is still growing and growing, and at

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<v Speaker 4>the end of the day or end of the week,

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<v Speaker 4>you still feel dissatisfied, unfulfilled, and it can feel really

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<v Speaker 4>overwhelming or that you're just stuck in that ongoing rout.

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<v Speaker 1>So you've got well a magic formulaere I call it

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<v Speaker 1>one that spoke to me personally about how many tasks

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<v Speaker 1>we should tackle in a day that perhaps can stop

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<v Speaker 1>those feelings at the end of the week of not

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<v Speaker 1>being able to get anything done or not ticking off

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<v Speaker 1>the list. What is the magic number of tasks we

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<v Speaker 1>should tackle per day?

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<v Speaker 2>From your expertise as psychologist, thanksfull.

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<v Speaker 4>As do look, the magic number I believe and from

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<v Speaker 4>the research and trialing and testing the web that we've

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<v Speaker 4>done is limiting your task to three high impact tasks

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<v Speaker 4>a day. Now, you know some of your listeners over

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<v Speaker 4>that you're, oh my god, I have so many more.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes, maybe twenty.

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<v Speaker 4>Yes, yes, and then completely get it, completely get it.

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<v Speaker 4>But if in terms of planning your day, if you

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<v Speaker 4>really focus on the three, limiting it to three core tasks,

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<v Speaker 4>it really prevents that sense of overwhelm. It makes your

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<v Speaker 4>day more fulfilling and achievable and a more of a

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<v Speaker 4>focused day. And it helps in terms of your cognitive

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<v Speaker 4>load because our brains are equipped to handle a limited

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<v Speaker 4>number of complex.

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<v Speaker 3>Tasks in a day, and.

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<v Speaker 4>When we're committing to three high impact primary tasks, you're

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<v Speaker 4>reducing that cognitive load and you're really increasing your chance

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<v Speaker 4>for real success. So also, having three high impact tasks

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<v Speaker 4>means that you can leave space for any unexpected demands

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<v Speaker 4>or even opportunities that may come up in your day.

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<v Speaker 4>So I know I say three. In the book, we

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<v Speaker 4>share a way to pick and choose and help you

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<v Speaker 4>select what your three high impact tasks are. Think if

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<v Speaker 4>you did that every single day after a week, you

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<v Speaker 4>would have completed.

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<v Speaker 3>Fifteen high impact tasks. In a month, in.

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<v Speaker 4>A working week, you would have completed sixty high impact tasks.

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<v Speaker 2>Wow, that really sounds impressive.

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<v Speaker 1>That speaks to me that number seem Thank you so

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<v Speaker 1>much for coming on healthy Ish.

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<v Speaker 3>Thank you so much for listening.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, if you do want to feel energized and me

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<v Speaker 1>more effective in five minutes a day, grab Seem's new book.

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<v Speaker 1>It is called a Productivity Joy. Doesn't the title just

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<v Speaker 1>make you feel joyous?

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<v Speaker 2>Well? Her book is out now now.

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<v Speaker 1>If you do have any ideas for upcoming apps on

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<v Speaker 1>healthy ish or Extra healthy Ish anything before Christmas, dmme

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<v Speaker 1>at Felicity highly across social media, anything else, head to

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<v Speaker 1>Body and soul dot com, dot you follows on socials.

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<v Speaker 1>Grab our print edition which is out in your local

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<v Speaker 1>Sunday paper. Thanks again for listening, and stay healthy ish