When is As Soon As Possible (ASAP)

Time is such an odd and funny thing. In reality, it is simply an agreement that everyone has made to allow her or him to interact more efficiently with one another.

Time drives us, it helps us keep score on how we’re doing with tasks and responsibilities. Time keeps us all in sync, both personally and professionally.

The problem is, when we need to get things done, we often put tasks off to a time called ASAP (As Soon As Possible).

But when is that?

It’s different for every situation. In a work environment it may mean as soon as I get another task done.

With your children, it could mean “In the near future” with no real set date or time.

For chores or to-do’s that you may not enjoy it probably means never or I’ll put it off as long as I can.

There is something important to learned about ASAP.

As soon as you get it done, you feel a lightness of being. The stress of worrying about the task vanishes because it is completed.

Completing tasks, whether for business or personal reasons feels great. Yet, we still have that place called ASAP adding stress to our life.

Here’s a strategy that I thought of for my book, 90-Minute Time Manager.

When you have a task that needs to be done ASAP, simply schedule the exact time and date you’ll do it.

Add it to your appointment book.

When the appointed time arrives, just do the task. Don’t wait.

Notice how you feel now that the task is accomplished.

First, because you scheduled the time and wrote it down, the burden of the task lifts from you mind. You don’t think about it again until it shows up on your calendar.

Then when the time arrives to do the task, you simply got it done. Task finished, benefit received, no need to worry about it further.

ASAP can rob you of sleep.

Have you ever woke up in the middle of the night thinking about something that should have been completed but wasn’t. You lie awake, staring at the ceiling, worrying about it while your precious sleep time slips away. It’s not a fun experience, that’s for sure.

However, if you have your tasks written down and scheduled with an exact time and date, they are accomplished efficiently and ASAP vanishes from your life.

Think of the freedom of mind space you’ll gain when ASAP no longer take up the thought energy it does now.

You’ll feel great. You’ll be more efficient and overall, you’ll be happier.

Good luck with it and feel free to add a comment to the blog on this post.

Let everyone else know how you went from ASAP to greater efficiency simply by changing how you thought about time and tasks.