Saturday 8 June 2013

The Daisy Chain Approach to Getting Things Done


I'm not greatly given to compiling To-Do lists, even though I know that ticking off the achieved tasks can be so gratifying. What happens to all those little things that need to be done but hardly warrant a place on a list? If I zealously write all of them down, the list becomes quite daunting, if not completely overwhelming. I find a less regimented approach works better for me - well, most of the time it does.
Each day has its priorities due to habit, occasion or the acceptance that procrastination has gone on for way too long. I suppose those priorities would be the backbone of a To-Do list if I was making one and then there are other things that I hope to fit in as opportunities arise. How does the list-free daisy chain work?

Imagine this:

Having established that the rest of the house is in order, you head into the kitchen. It is rather early to be making lunch but you know that there are lots of things that would make it all run much more smoothly later on, so you empty the dishwasher and clear all the work surfaces.
You notice that a banana peel has been set aside from breakfast. You know that snipping it to shreds and scattering under a rose bush is such a good idea because in the few years since you have been doing this, the roses have never flowered so abundantly. It is such a little job that won't take long.
 As you are scattering the shreds, you remember seeing some rather pernicious weeds around another rose and if you were to whip those out right now they could be put in the garden waste which is being collected today.
On your way back from the waste sack by  front gate you notice that there is enough rhubarb to harvest. The leaves can go in the compost bin so you track up the back garden to do that.
You notice on the way that the box bushes are overdue their annual 'haircut'. It has been  left until later this year waiting for the chance of an overnight frost to be past. Just then you notice a blackbird with a beakful of potential baby chick food. You have suspected they are nesting in the garden and you settle down to watch where the bird is heading as it may mean that an occupied box bush will have to wait until the baby birds have fledged before being trimmed. It takes a few food runs to establish which bush it is as the parent doesn't fly straight to the nest but cunningly diverts through other shrubs.

You then notice that some tulips in a tub should be dead-headed and that the tub is rather dry - in fact all the outdoor pots and tubs need water on what is set to be a warm sunny day. Several watering can runs later you then think that the cuttings that have been sheltering on the conservatory window sill could be outdoors now so you go to bring them out.

You look up and notice the clock on the conservatory wall seems to be very fast. Now that really will need adjusting as you rely on that when you are pottering about outside. Just then a voice at your elbow says "Ahem. You haven't forgotten that we have someone coming to lunch, have you? You know he will be right on time." (Oh, so that really is the time!)
"Of course not." Your voice trails over your shoulder as you try to make a hasty sprint to the kitchen look like a nonchalant stroll.

So what is really going on here? A butterfly brain at play, displacement behaviour or serial distraction? In this instance it was probably nothing more complicated than finding excuses reasons for staying in the garden on the warmest day of the year so far. Drawn as a diagram would it be a mind map or a flow chart? I like to think of it as a daisy chain.
And yes, lunch worked out just fine with everything on the table on time.

4 comments:

  1. Simply perfect! This is exactly how the minutes and hours fly in our everyday lives! So full of tiny riches and challenges. I too am not a list writer anymore: it just seems easier to get on with things. Besides, it's less stressful, I find, to act rather than to anticipate.

    Your comment on my post gave me so much pleasure and touched me too. Thank you.

    Stephanie

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    1. Thank you Stephanie. I can see your words "act rather than anticipate" could well become something of a mantra with me.

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  2. Brilliant post! Now when anyone suggests I am easily distracted I shall tell them that it's a proven strategy for getting things done that even has a name ... The daisy chain approach!

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    1. Of course it does take practice to perfect it - like most worthwhile things.

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