There are daunting tasks, and ones more mundane, ones we dread, and ones we can’t imagine they’d ever be finished. In a workplace there are things we think colleagues would be better qualified for, or to-dos that seems a waste of our time. But at the end of the day, some of these we cannot get out of. We must accomplish them on our own. That is when it is best to remember: if you can’t get out of something, get into it.

This fits into two parts.

So many things are boring or tedious and don’t seem to offer any tangible or interesting reward. But that might be because we aren’t paying enough attention to it.

Or, tasks are daunting because they don’t reveal an obvious path forward. But they are just waiting for us to take the first steps in untangling it.

In both instances, in our distracted spaces, it might just take setting aside dedicated time to work on this task alone. Either use that focus to knock it out, or create a plan for its completion. Whether that thing is doing QA for a new software release or picking up all the kids toys from the living room floor, trying to not multi-task is key to swift accomplishment. It might not always be enjoyable, but it will be more efficient, and perhaps we will find something interesting.

It’s a bit like the song lyric, “If you can’t be with the one you love, love the one you’re with.”