Why You Need to Pick Up Your Tortoise (and Run With It)

Written by - 25 Comments
Categories: productivity tips, self improvement

Most of us live complicated lives and are constantly juggling several tasks at once. You might have a number of work or business projects on the go at any one time, and you might also have a number of personal goals.

And that’s on top of all the other commitments that make up our lives; household chores, family and social events, and those essential 12 hour sessions watching Battlestar Galactica. Okay, that last one isn’t entirely essential, but we all need some downtime too or we’d burn out pretty quickly.

Overwhelmed?

Sometimes the sheer number of different tasks can be overwhelming and lead to feelings of despair as you wonder whether you’ll ever achieve anything. I know from experience that it isn’t a pleasant feeling.

One day when I returned home from work I complained to my long-suffering girlfriend about my frustrations. I told her it felt like every project I was trying to complete was a small tortoise, ambling along a vast racetrack. Despite having worked hard on each project for several weeks, none of my tortoises had moved more than a few feet from start line.

Lack of Momentum

It felt like I was out there on the racetrack, giving each tortoise a little nudge of encouragement each day. By doing this I might manage to make one of the tortoises progress a few meters, and for that day it would edge ahead of the pack. But I never seemed to be able to get any momentum going.

As a result I was leaving work frustrated, feeling that I hadn’t achieved anything. It didn’t do my self-esteem any good to feel so ineffectual and I was in a pretty miserable mood. But thankfully my girlfriend is an extremely patient listener.  And whilst we were discussing my tortoise problem, I suddenly realized what I had to do.

Get to the Finish Line Quicker

As essential as it was that all my tortoises get there eventually, by straining to give all of them a shove each day, I was achieving very little. What I had to do instead was pick up one of my tortoises and run with it, all the way across the finish line. The others would still be there when I went back, and it would mean I could get the others there much quicker too as any challenges along the way were likely to be similar. Not only that but I would now have fewer tortoises to worry about and I’d be a lot more encouraged to keep going with the next one.

What I’m talking about is of course prioritizing one task at a time and then taking massive action to complete it. It’s not a new idea, and in those terms seems incredibly simple and obvious. But sometimes it helps to look at things from a different angle (known as ‘reframing’ in NLP), and by thinking about each of my projects as tortoises on a racetrack, I’ve finally been able to get both them and myself moving. Maybe you can do the same?

Milo McLaughlin is a freelance writer and blogger and has a number of tortoises still waiting for his attention.

Photo credit: Tim Parkinson

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  • Bassem Mamdouh

    you gave a brilliant picture on unfinished projects (tortoises), that’s what happen to us all the time.Great article Milo

  • http://hanofharmony.com The Vizier

    Hi Milo,

    This is a delightful post. I love how you use the idea of tortoises to illustrate the concepts of prioritizing and focus.

    I agree with you that when we try to do too many things at a time, we divide our energies and lose focus. Because we fail to give 100% to any given task, nothing really gets going or done.

    As you have rightly pointed out, once we focus by choosing a task and applying massive action to it, we achieve more in the process. At the same time we also become less overwhelmed. Thanks for this much needed article. I’m going to pick up one tortoise at a time and run with it to achieve more with less stress.

  • http://www.idearella.com Bon “Idearella” Crowder

    Wow, Milo!

    I see people do this – drop everything else to focus on one thing – and it never occurred to me that it was okay. I always thought that those people would be looked down upon.

    I’m occasionally one of those people – I will do it more often now!

  • http://www.milomclaughlin.co.uk Milo

    Hi Bon, thanks for commenting.

    I can see how it could be problematic if you have several urgent things to get done at once, but if you have a little space in your schedule I find focusing on one thing for a decent chunk of time means making a lot more progress in the long-run.

    Plus, I actually think of my projects more fondly now that I see them as tortoises who need a helping hand!

  • http://peacefulplanetcommunication.com Leah McClellan

    Hi Milo,

    I like your analogy! I know the feeling–it’s very frustrating to feel like I’m getting nowhere with any of my tortoises. But then again, sometimes I have a lot of tortoises left in the dust back at the start line because I’m running with one that is so exciting and interesting, I’m so focused on it that I can’t bear to look away, and I also just have to get it done so I can feel that satisfaction….so I run with it. Meanwhile, a bunch of tortoises are freaking out aka dishes piled on the counter and other mundane or not-so-mundane tasks unattended to (shower? laundry? friends? sleep? other projects? hurry up and catch up! lol good thing I work at home).

    Great post; it has me thinking :)

  • http://www.milomclaughlin.co.uk Milo

    Thanks to all of you for your kind words

    Bassem, I’m glad it’s not just me who has this problem!

    Mr Vizier – you put what I was trying to say perfectly – glad it’s inspired you or at least served as a reminder.

    And Leah – you’re right. I read somewhere that successful people also procrastinate, but they only procrastinate about the small stuff, the stuff that’s not essential to what they want to achieve. So yes, household chores are a frequent victim for me as I try to focus on my writing!

  • http://goodlifezen.com Mary | Goodlife ZEN

    I enjoyed this post! It gave me a new perspective on how to tackle the many things on my to-do list today…
    - Mary

  • http://www.milomclaughlin.co.uk Milo

    Hi Mary, thanks for commenting – I’m really glad you liked the idea! If I could be 25% as productive as you are with the many projects/tortoises you have on the go, I’d be laughing :)

  • http://www.milomclaughlin.co.uk Milo

    Thanks to all of you for the kind words. Bassem, I’m glad it’s not just me who has this problem!

    Mr Vizier – you put what I was trying to say perfectly, good luck with your tortoises ;)

    And Leah – you’re right. I read somewhere that successful people also procrastinate, but they only procrastinate about the small stuff, the stuff that’s not essential to what they want to achieve.

    So yes, household chores often fall way down the list of priorities as I try to focus on my writing!

  • http://www.liveboldandbloom.com Barrie Davenport

    Hi Milo,
    What a fantastic post — I love the headline! You really encouraged me this Monday morning. I’ve been out-of-town all weekend, with a plate full of tortoises this morning. I was feeling anxious about where to start, but I read this and picked something. Thank you for the nudge.

  • http://milomclaughlin.co.uk Milo

    Thanks Barrie, glad it helped! I’m having to remind myself of my own advice this Monday morning too ;)

  • http://www.fearlessendeavors.com/ Nate

    Milo – Good idea here….I think sometimes we have ‘too many irons in the fire’ which creates problems such as ‘what is the progress of each one’ and ‘which one should I be paying attention to the most?’ Obviously we need to juggle multiple tasks and projects, but I think your idea is a good one. Have all of them on your list, but pick out the one that is the most important (for whatever reason that may be) and run with it. Putting this kind of focus on one item can absolutely restore some sort of order in our consciousness, which makes us happier and more productive at the same time.

  • http://milomclaughlin.co.uk Milo

    Hey Nate, thanks for your comment. I agree that cutting back on commitments is a great thing to do if possible. Though I don’t know if a post about ‘culling your tortoises’ would go down as well ;)

    i agree about more focus leading to more happiness too, there’s nothing worse than feeling like you’re all over the place.

  • http://friendlyanarchist.com/ Fabian | The Friendly Anarchist

    Milo, while I am a little bit of a tortoise myself, it’s good to get a reminder that I’m a little bigger than my project tortoises, and that I’ve got the nitro that kicks in when I really need it. Thanks for that, one project at a time is certainly easier to tackle than a dozen of them! :)

  • http://milomclaughlin.co.uk Milo

    Fabian, I know how you feel, a nitro powered tortoise sounds like a great idea – strapping a jet-pack to a couple of mine would certainly help!

  • http://www.ricardocurtis.com Ricardo

    Really enjoyed the article, Milo…. reminded me to step back and take stock of how many tortoises I have going at the moment.

    Now, it’s simply a matter of choosing which tortoise to run with first :)

    Ricardo

  • http://www.milomclaughlin.co.uk Milo

    Ha ha yeah I feel a follow-up post coming on Ricardo! Thanks very much for commenting.

  • http://mekms.wordpress.com/ Karen

    I love the reframing. So much easier to visualize than “prioritizing goals”.

    Also, I’m fond of tortoises.

  • http://milomclaughlin.co.uk Milo

    Glad you like it Karen! They are nice creatures aren’t they. I can’t help but feel a bit protective of them :)

  • http://kimmanleyort.wordpress.com/ Kim

    I could really relate to this visual of several tortoises and love the idea of picking one up and running with it. It is something I am going to start doing more of. Great to see you on TTAP.

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  • http://www.clearmindedcreative.com Milo

    Hey Kim thanks for commenting, glad the idea was useful for you. Yes, I think 2011 is going to be a very creative year!

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