Oh, hi friends!
When we let something linger unfinished for too long—an incomplete task, an unsent text, an overdue appointment—it starts to grow. It starts to mushroom out.
This is annoying!
But the hidden cost is more annoying.
An unfinished task becomes an invisible mental speed bump.
I am 100% convinced that everything else becomes harder because you’re driving over the speed bump again and again.
What’s the fix?
You gotta clear the road.
So I just made a list of four little bumps (schedule dentist, follow-up with editor, pull weeds outside my window, file invoice) and am going to do these first in the hopes of making everything 10% smoother.
The road might be crooked and windy today, we might encounter fog or maybe a moose, but at least we can deliberately remove what is standing in our way.
What are your bumps right now?
What’s causing your head to hit the roof?
How can you clear the road?
Keep driving.
Love the metaphor. I realized at some point in my career that the key to productivity was to get all the crap out of the way early in the day. I now arrive at work before anyone else, and do all the little things that need be done but are hard to get to on a busy day. Because, as you note, if you don't get to those little things, you don't just forget them. They prey on your mind or jump up to bite your ass at the wrong moment.
Now I have a name for them. Speed bumps.
I LOVE this message! Clearing the "bumps" or those tiny unfinished tasks, projects, or annoyances to move forward more smoothly makes so much sense. Their undone-ness can fester in our minds making them more significant and more challenging than they are. But when we allow ourselves to prioritize them and knock them off the 'list,' amazing how life opens up again. It clears the path for focus, action, and a massive sense of relief.