[PODCAST 296]: Buried under the backlog? Here are some of our best tips!

Learn | Do | Become

Content provided by Learn | Do | Become. All podcast content including episodes, graphics, and podcast descriptions are uploaded and provided directly by Learn | Do | Become or their podcast platform partner. If you believe someone is using your copyrighted work without your permission, you can follow the process outlined here https://podcastplayer.com/legal.

18d ago 25:55

MP3•Episode home

Backlog is something we all can’t seem to escape. Whether we have thousands of emails built up in our inboxes, decades of family photos we want to sort, or lots of papers stuffed in dozens of boxes in the garage, there’s at least one thing in our lives that needs to be addressed someday.

But when we are getting organized, it sometimes feels like we need to get rid of the backlog FIRST before we can move on to everything else.

I used to have this exact same mindset when it came to backlog, and it felt incredibly frustrating to not have the time or energy to get to everything from the past while I was trying to sort through the current stuff that was coming into my life. And it felt even more impossible to try to squeeze time in for the backlogged items while I was going to school, working on big projects for work, and trying to create meaningful relationships in my life.

However, once my mindset shifted and I learned the importance of putting the backlogged items onto my Next in Line and Someday Projects Lists, my life was changed!

I went back through several LearnDoBecome resources and podcasts on this topic and compiled some of our best advice for dealing with backlog. I hope it’s helpful for you!

Podcast 264: A Shorter List…TODAY.

April shared that she frequently hears this kind of sentiment from our community members:

“I love the idea of a small list but if I don’t make more headway on my tasks each week, they will get backlogged and either there will be consequences or I will be overwhelmed the following week or both.”

This podcast is one of my absolute favorites because it walks us through the process for creating a short list and shows us that we will actually get MORE done when our lists have less on them.

And this podcast/post offers some incredible insights into why many of us believe that we need to have long lists with lots of things to check off in order to be productive. This is such a great resource for doing personal mindset work before addressing the backlog. Here’s a quote from April’s post on this topic:

“It isn’t easy to lighten our lists. It often feels incredibly counterintuitive. I had to do this a couple of weeks ago when I had too many expectations for myself and didn’t even realize that was the problem until my incredibly insightful doctor pointed it out. As soon as I lightened my load and visibly made my lists smaller, my body responded, and I can’t even explain what a gift that is.”

Podcast 220: 3 Organizing Skills That Actually Make a Difference

I absolutely LOVE the process of doing a Mind Sweep and getting everything out of our heads and into our STEP System. This quote comes from this podcast’s show notes page and illustrates how sweeping our minds of all the “stuff” we’re thinking about can help us with the backlog:

“That mountain of “to-do’s” can sometimes feel overwhelming, but when we know how to address this kind of situation, our minds can feel calm and we can create a clear path forward.

“This is one of the most incredible aspects of the STEP Command Central–there is a place for doing a ‘Mind Sweep’ and getting all of the items out of our heads and subsequent places for projects, one-time tasks, routines, and next actions that are identified from the Mind Sweep.

“Alia and I both shared instances in our lives where we were dealing with health challenges, busy schedules, or interruptions to our day-to-day schedules, but we were able to work through the backlog and identify what was most urgent and needed our attention soonest.”

When we can identify the many projects, tasks, and routines that are swirling inside our heads, we can create a solid plan for tackling one thing at a time when the time is right. When we try to take on the backlog of items while we are going about our everyday lives, there’s a big chance that we’re going to overload ourselves and not end up making as much progress as we hoped we would.

When you do a Mind Sweep, the things you write down and put on your future projects list, for example, are SAFE and ready for your future self!

Podcast 188: Digital Photo Organization with Alia

In this episode, I detailed my routine for processing all the new photos in my life. There’s a video on that page (linked above) showing my process, and I have kept up with this routine for almost 10 years now.

Here’s what I wrote about backlog back when I recorded this podcast:

Most of us have smaller sub-projects that we need to address when it comes to photos from the past or a lack of an organizational system. Here are a few things that might need to happen as examples–these would all be individual sub-projects (under the umbrella of “total photo organization” as the large end goal project). These might go on your Next-In-Line or Someday Projects List depending on your ability to work on them:

Go through old files of photos and assign names/dates for consistency
Purchase an external hard drive (or research the method that you’d like to use for long-term photo storage)
Transfer all digital photos to said hard drive or storage location (this can be done in small, Next Actions!)
Make a copy of these hard drives and give one to each child/sibling where applicable
Move photos into special albums for big life events, vacations/trips, and other categories that you’d like to reference
Research scanning tools or a local business that can help digitize all of my printed photos
Create a process for getting these newly scanned pictures onto my hard drive/online storage platform
Ask parents/friends if they have any pictures that I might not have access to yet–create a plan to acquire these photos in order to “complete” my collection

As you can see, there are a lot of smaller projects that can come to mind from this overall project of photo organization.

When you identify these small sub-projects, they don’t seem quite as daunting. This is how I’ve tackled my goal of getting all of my favorite family photos onto Google Photos over time. I started this project in August 2021 and am just finishing this project this week in April 2023!

One might look at this timeline and think that it took me way too long to accomplish this project, but in reality, I was able to use small, next actions to break the project down into manageable, bite-sized pieces. I was able to make progress on this project in the midst of a lot of life changes–getting married, moving a couple times, finishing up and graduating from college, and expecting a baby this summer. I’m so proud of the progress I’ve made on this project, and I was never stressed out by the thought of needing to simplify certain parts of it during the busy seasons of life.

Our Free Emails to Zero Training

This training includes a 13-minute video and simple steps that will TRANSFORM the way you use and look at your email inbox.

Instead of using your email inbox as a holding space for everything, April will show you how to move all your past emails into a “safely stored” folder. Once all the backlog is out of your main email inbox, she will teach you strategies for processing all the new emails that come your way each day. You will develop a routine to handle each incoming email and its corresponding tasks as it comes your way.

Then, it becomes one of your Next in Line or Someday Projects to handle the backlog of all your safely stored emails. Those thousands of emails are patiently waiting for you and when you are able to do a Next Action of spending 10-20 minutes sorting them and processing them, you’ll know exactly where to go/look!

Here is what Barbara shared last week about her experience with Emails to Zero–we had a great conversation about this training in our STEP Mastery Facebook group, and it was exciting to see how many people were going to add this to their Next in Line Projects List.

Podcast 133: Characteristics of a Successful Project – Week 3 Report – Four Weeks to Finished!

In this episode, April shared these two community testimonials and wrote, “Ignoring the piles of stuff often feels like the easy route, but honestly, when you build your Command Central and realize you have the tools to actually get out of the overwhelm and stay out of the overwhelm, that feels so much better.”

Podcast 104: What to Do When You Feel Overwhelmed by Tasks

This podcast has some great resources that aren’t strictly related to backlog, so if you’re looking for more tips to handle the general overwhelm, this is a great place to start!

This is what April shared in regards to using the 2-minute rule:

“David Allen teaches it in his books, and it works EVERY DAY for me. If you can do something in two minutes or less, you do it. You don’t write it down. Now, sometimes when you’re returning from a vacation or catching up on backlog, you have like 20 2-minute tasks. I get it. But it saves time in the long run and helps build that momentum!”

When we are going through the backlog, we are going to find a LOT of 2-minute tasks and other 10-20 minute Next Action type of tasks buried in the emails/papers/other items we are sorting through.

Instead of feeling like we need to take action on every single item right away–especially if we don’t have the time right now to do those tasks–create a list of all the 2-minute tasks you’re finding. You might even decide to group them by context: Home, Computer, Phone, Email, To Discuss, Errands, etc.

I go into depth on how to turn a collection of 2-minute tasks into one of your Current Projects in this episode: Podcast 277: Turning Tiny Tasks Into Big Wins – The 2-Minute Rule in Action!

This allows you to know that ALL the 2-minute tasks are safe for now inside their project containers. When the time is right to make this one of your Current Projects for the month, you can confidently begin working on them and chipping away at the backlog.