Oh Jeez. How is this not taught in high school? Or maybe if it were we wouldn't appreciate the value. If I had been taught this (and understood it) in my 20's it would have changed my life. Thanks for this now. 💙
School isn't designed to teach you anything except getting you ready to be a "good" submissive worker in life in front of "authority" . As a kid when you enter school you are excited ...when you leave , you leave sad , depressed and not knowing anything .
I taught this to myself at work. It only made sense to me to get the easiest thing out of the way first, not to rush through it, but to just do it. They really should teach this at school. Maybe when we get our public education system back they will.
I don't think I could have or would have been able to wrap my head around this in my 20s, as much as I wish that I had. I'm almost 33 and I understand what this is saying-- but it's very challenging. It requires humility. That's hard at any age.
Operational prioritization (task triage) : 1. Accept some tasks that some tasks will not get done. 2. Do the task that takes the least time to complete. The fastest task. No matter what the task is. 3. Do the task that takes the next least time to complete. 4. Repeat this again and you've reduced the number of tasks and gotten closer to a manageable number of tasks.
Saw something once on "to do" lists, and why they are bad and it is for this very reason. People do the easy tasks first, just to say they got something done, rather than doing the priority tasks first. Doesn't matter how hard you work if you are working on the wrong thing...
Creating a list makes the list manageable. If you keep in your head it can seem overwhelming that you can’t even get started. Doing the easiest tasks first alleviates pressure and anxiety and makes it easier to go on to the next task. ?
Thanks for the upvotes. When you're not task saturated, an approach can be to 'Eat the frog' first. Doing the most unpleasant task resets your dopamine and your motivation in turn. I assume the next step is then to eat the next biggest frog.
Andrew: How many tasks do you feel comfortable handling? Me: 1 Andrew: Now subtract that number by 2 because that's what you're really capable of. Me: -1
@@meatballhead15 I suppose the reasonable assumption is that everyone works best when they focus on just one task at a time. Reality, on the other hand, presents you with a variety of tasks of varying complexity and time constraints. These various prioritizing and triaging methods allow you to see how much you can comfortably and confidently do at any given time.
15 years of military service and am being medically released. My brain can never relax or feel safe. Deeply affects my quality of life and relationships. Cannot understate the importance of feeling safe, without anything to do next. What I've learned is take time for yourself, so you can be better for everyone else.
Praying you find healing, that sounds awful, I struggle with panic attacks I couldn't imagine what your going through. Don't give up you will find peace❤
feeling safe is dumb when you think about it. you are NEVER safe. feeling safe is a lie. the trick is to understand you are never safe and safe at the same time. you should understand you are only safe in the one moment in time. the next moment can change and you will never know if you will be safe until it is here.
When applied to non spy - shootout situations, the problem with this technique is you might end up spending all your time on urgent things, not important things.
I guess there's an implicit assumption that by doing the easiest tasks first instead of 'eating your frog' and starting with what's most difficult, you'll quickly be on to the more pressing stuff. Still, yeah, you have to trust you or whomever will actually go from task to task. If you just do the easy stuff and stop before getting anything significant done, you won't get anywhere.
This the exact same strategy as Dave Ramsey recommends for getting out of debt. It's the same strategy I thought of myself years ago when my life was in a tailspin. It's the same strategy I used to help the company I worked for get out of their rut. Now I know it works well spies too. At this point, this is a universal truth to me.
I need to apply this at my job. I am a psych rn at a state facilitated psychiatric hospital in Texas. Almost a year ago, I was attacked and physically assaulted by a patient whilst attempting to calm them with talking. In my 8 years of psych nursing, this was the first time a patient has laid hands on me. I always form a very good rapport with my patients from the start. It psychological traumatized me and I have yet to be allowed to return. I will be going back next month and I am planning on how I can do things differently to ensure better safety. It is difficult due to we are perpetually very under staffed and our patients are violent. Thank you for this information!
do not lose faith in your ability to establish a good rapport. It just can't work all the time and we can't control anything, just accept that. That is my humble advice. I appreciate your effort!
My mom was a R.N. at a state mental hospital and the same exact thing happened to her. She was hurt pretty badly. She had worked several years before. The patients loved and trusted her as well. I'm sure you know but it usually happens when a paranoid schizophrenic comes in off their meds. You will heal mentally and physically. Give yourself time and space to heal. There is no time limit to get over something. Trust your gut, instincts and never turn your back on any distressed patient. When you return and feel yourself getting overwhelmed or stressed take 3 deep breaths or give yourself a few minutes alone even if it's in the restroom. Keep a work journal to process your thoughts. You will be fine. I hope this helps.
I have done this the last 2 days and literally ALL of my laundry is washed AND put away (after 3 months), bed and bedroom cleaned, half of my junk boxes sorted and condensed, litter boxes washed and refilled, and a few other things...WITH 8-9 hours of sleep, naps/rest breaks, 3 cooked meals, movie marathons, and 😉 -- all after waking up at 11am both days. I have done this exact list for each day, btw. This method is life changing!!!! Thank you P.s. it feels sooooo good to sleep in a cleaner house
I have struggled with procrastination, and this is basically how I get myself moving: do the quickest thing first and just keep going. It really does work. As long as you can do those first few tiny tasks, momentum continues from there. Nice to see this advice as government training.
Thank you Andrew. I’m a child and youth worker and step dad to 4. I’m working through some PTSD from child welfare stuff at work; this really helped to put the simplicity back into my self-regulation strategies when being quicker to overwhelmed than my previous baseline before the PTS. Much thanks brother 🙏. Helping me to continue my growth as a husband, father, and professionally with greater accountability.
Key Takeaways: - Task saturation is where the number of tasks on your mind exceeds the number you're capable of comfortably dealing with. - Accept that some of the tasks you have ahead of you will not get done, period. - To recover from task saturation, do the task that is quickest to accomplish. Repeat this as many times as necessary to regain comfort with the number of tasks on the table. - The first clue to task saturation is feeling uncomfortable with the number of tasks. Don't trust emotion at this point - do the next fastest thing you can do. - To stay ahead of saturation, estimate the number of tasks you can comfortably manage, then reduce that number by two. When you have more tasks than that result ongoing, apply the recovery technique.
Just came accross your channel, this is great advice. As a manager, other than lack of motivation, I have noticed the biggest problem most people have is trying to do too much all at the same time. We all want it all, but trying to have it all, at the same time, often results in not much getting accomplished successfully. The next fastest thing will work provided the 'things' on your list are important and should be there. Prioritize and execute - yes, but also - know what is important, know your limits and stay within them as you establish your priorities.
In Summary: Task Saturation - Understand Personal Threshold for Managing Tasks. (Parental Multi-tasking) - If a task takes less than 15 min to accomplish, task takes priority based on time sensitivity. - Take number of tasks in task management threshold, reduce by two. (Im able to complete 5 tasks simultaneously, I’ll commit to 3 for ease of mind and efficient completion.) - More tasks than able to immediately prioritize = Task Saturation. - Understand and realize some of the tasks you have ahead of you will not be completed. - Triage - Simplify your tasks down to brass tacks. - Least time to completion = first task taken. Break down tasks by time for completion. Complete in least to greatest order. - Emotions dominate your conscious thought if you’re in Task Saturation. - Do The Next Fastest Task! Thank you so much for this info, i have it saved in my notes and will cite and forward to friends and family who i feel get overwhelmed by tasks in their day-to-day lives.
Hi Andrew, I subscribed to your site after watching this video, which then lead me to your other work. As I was watching it my partner was getting ready for work and a glance from her informed me she was also listening to it, so I turned the sound up a notch. As she left the room to go downstairs she turned to me and said, "I do some of that at work," and briefly explained what she meant. She asked me if I'd forward the link to her so she could watch it from the beginning and retune her performance. She works in a relatively high pressure administration role where the unbalanced dynamics of the workplace makes... anyhow, I'm rambling. Thanks for the information, anything that may make her work life more manageable is always welcome. I look forward to watching more of your work. Good luck, mate
How is it possible that a channel providing such invaluable information has not yet reached a million subscribers? On one hand, I genuinely hope for this channel to reach the one million subscriber milestone. On the other hand, there's a part of me that appreciates the exclusivity of this content, desiring it to remain within a community of devoted seekers who truly value it. Thanks Andrew🎩
There is some serious holes in this logic. Firstly, my task threshold is -1 according to 1 minus 2. Also, 6:48 doesn't make sense. If people could ignore the head-trash as you name it then people wouldn't be overwhelmed by task saturation in the first place. It's the fact that you are overwhelmed that makes it such that you can't prioritise and organise. How do you explain that? You can't simple say "ignore being overwhelmed when you're overwhelmed" as an argument to dealing with being overwhelmed.
I absolutely suck at this. I can manage a LOT… or I used to be able to. I’m more prone to feeling overwhelmed now. I am very big picture and bite off too much sometimes considering I have lower energy than I did and I keep myself in an overwhelmed state… or a state of task saturation way too much of the time. This framework seems very useful. I suppose my task management threshold was very high and it’s not the same now and I haven’t adapted.
If it takes less than 15 min to complete, go ahead and take care of it. One of the best things ive learned to combat procrastination, which works hand-in-hand with Task Saturation discipline.
Then you spend a bunch of time doing trivial stuff instead of addressing larger important tasks that need a lot of time given to them to resolve. You will be constantly putting out tiny fires while the main fire rages and is never put out. Here is a scenario where doing the quickest task first falls completely apart: little johnny is hungry and wants you to make him a bowl of cereal, he also broke his arm while playing outside. By following the advice given to complete the quickest task first we must give little Johnny a bowl of cereal to eat since he is hungry instead of taking him immediately to the hospital to get him the help he needs before any complications to his injury arise.
I feel saturated at work. I constantly feel like I need to sacrifice quality in order to complete the tasks I'm given, and I'm a recovering perfectionist so i appreciate this video because I'd love to learn how to better manage my time and tasks.
It's crucial for system design to address every conceivable failure mode that could bring things to this crisis level. This video is not at that level. This is about: what happens after all that? What does the ATC do when everything is failing and/or there's a flood of traffic? It's going to have to look a bit like this, I suspect. That said, I would love to hear what ATC or 911 training does about this problem.
@@ioannplatte there is no "9/11 training." if you want to reroute an airplane you say cleared to (new airport) via (route), (altitude) and (further instructions). on 9/11, we just had to do that 3000 times in a few hours. the only people you hear saying how amazing it was were the media and other non-controllers. every enroute controller has rerouted an airplane many times.
@@ioannplatte aditionally, ATC has "priority of duty." you do what needs to be done first, first. and so forth. the key is having the knowledge and experience to know what comes first, second, third. then, know that you can truly do only one thing at a time. ever.
@@cchanc3 That's the system design I was referring to, and isn't talking about the catastrophic failure scenario I was referring to, but rather "every conceivable failure mode". This video is covering situations that for whatever reason don't have that available. That was my point. Fully agree that in any scenario where there can be a system to determine priorities reliably, using that system would be better than throwing it away in favor of the advice in this video. In fact, needing to use this advice repeatedly should be seen as a sign that there's system design work to be done.
Helpful hint on crying. If a kid gets hurt and looks around to see if someone is there, but isn't already crying, don't say anything and they will usually walk away. That's how narcissists are made.
@@Eleventyeleventhhe's saying they are made from negative attention reinforcement. That's absurd of course. Most children will cry from embarrassment. Narcissism is far more complex
In 4th grade we had a coaches son on our baseball team. He honestly sucked. And after every failed attempt to play the game or hit the ball he would freak out, cry and blame his dad. And he always started by crying. This was 4th grade btw
Thanks so much for taking the time to share this. I work in a job where the organization's management model has forced me to operate in triage on an almost daily basis. I don't wish to remain there much longer; however, ... this just may have saved my sanity for the time that I do remain. Much thanks!
I'm so glad I found your channel. Your teachings are too expensive for me right now, but I'm already saving up money to learn from you. I'm an ex-banking operations guy, turned business owner, and I absolutely relate to your concept of managing time. Thanks for making this, I hope you keep teaching and I'm looking forward to when I can get more into your stuff.
6:33 I learned this from my IFR training when I was trying to learn instrument flying for airplanes. A common scenario for the IFR pilot where task saturation easily occurs is getting ready to land, for example... setting up the approach, talking to ATC, flying the aircraft, maintaining situational awareness of where I physically am right now and where other traffic is right now, getting the current weather for the airport I'm flying into, briefing the approach (I brief on the ground before the flight now), and verifying that i am getting the performance I'm expecting. When all of those things are slamming into you at once you have to begin prioritizing what to do right now, and what to do 10 seconds from now. We break it down into Aviate, Navigate, Communicate which means anything related to keeping positive control over the aircraft is ALWAYS numero UNO! After that is handled we thing about where we are, where we're going, and where everyone else is, then we can start talking to ATC. Hearing you put that process directly into words was definitely eye opening as if someone asked me "How do you deal with task saturation?" I really wouldn't have been able to answer, but now I can. Thank you.
It's really interesting how I learned all of this just by doing retail for so long and having a limited amount of time to complete a bunch of tasks. I guess I had so much time to think about it that I was able to formulate this strategy naturally.
It seems to me a weak point of this method is how you define a "task". Depending on how you cut the cake, you are either task saturated or totally fine. If you decide you have one task: "Deal with reality and life", you are never task saturated. On the other hand you can cut that task in to almost endless sub-tasks and almost always be task saturated.
Interestingly I came to a variant of this intuitively some years ago. Note, I suffered as a kid from attention deficit issues and this became one important mitigating mechanism as an adult. However it occurs to me that there is one aspect to this (and my own variation of it which I won't discuss here) which is very much about energy management. Longer tasks take a lot more focus and more energy, and so knocking out a couple of short tasks first can both build momentum and make it easier to take on another high priority task. So also if you find yourself unable to get started with a large task for other reasons also, it can make a lot of sense to bypass it, and knock out a couple of short tasks first in order to reduce your load. Additionally, it is worth noting that multi-tasking is error-prone for everyone and so reducing the number of immediate tasks you have to worry about also increases accuracy.
@@CarelessGamer15 I maintain a task list and note short quick tasks. I usually understand I will never get everything done. When I am stuck I pick up two quick tasks in succession to build momentum. Then I will usually (for a while) do two quick tasks followed by a longer one and repeat until either there is a big imbalance of short vs longer tasks or priorities need to shift towards something urgent. It's a lot easier to tackle a big task when you have got some smaller ones done than when you are making a cold start.
Slight correction here. at 11:48 you instruct to take the foot off the gas if fish-tailing. Technically, "speeding up" is considered the method to pull out of a fishtail. It's counter-intuitive, yes.
From the CIA's perspective, what is right with the current educational system in America, and what is wrong with it? What is it doing right, and what is it doing wrong? Andrew!
From the CIA perspective? Well, what's right with the system is that it's turning out a bunch of brainless morons who utterly lack the capacity for critical thought. What's wrong with the system is that a few slip through the cracks.
@@ArtSio443 If you sort comments by newest first you can see it. In a nutshell, the CIA would prefer that our educational system be anything but educational.
Even though the video is 1 year old, it's new to me, and it's fantastic. This is how computer processors prioritize their work, and it has the added benefit of reducing total wait time for all tasks. Some comments seem to be missing the point. I don't think the "subtract 2" is set in stone. It's a way to combat those of us who overestimate our capabilities. For those who underestimate, you should probably stick with the original number you came up with. Also, I think, since we're already accepting some of these tasks won't get done, maybe before we see which task is smallest, that we first see which tasks we can just say "no" to immediately. Then start with the smallest task.
It's frustrating when you have a micromanaging boss who NEEDS the thing that THEY think is most important done first. Even if it takes the longest, by far. I naturally prioritize the quick and easy things, and save the most difficult for last. But some people will think you are avoiding the most obvious problem or are too dumb to see it.
This is also a CPU task scheduling technique I've applied on and off since learning about it. It's good in general but can lead to programs freezing (ie some things never getting done) if you don't make time for them.
Unlike a CIA agent, you can determine which tasks need to be done & which can fall of by the wayside. 1. Negotiate at work 2. Negotiate at home If you are de facto overburdened by too many tasks, there are not enough hours in the day. The vid is about simultaneous tasks (ie, everything deemed urget to complete over a limited time) & brain overload, not about biting more than you can chew.
You forgot to mention how this goes when other people have their hands on your time and can reset your priorities at will. Task Saturation is where I spend my days. I don't get to decide what happens next, and there's always at least one of those people who direct my time who gets disappointed, reports my "failure" to management, and I get invited to a closed-door meeting about my refusal to work cooperatively. This is a great process - where it is allowed.
as mentioned in the comments, this is a topic that is better left to experts on task management. It is situtational, it depends on a number of factors. First off, there are some tasks that might come up and you need to decide whether can put it off, or do you need to take care of it right away. Others have recommended you tackle the tasks that take longer first. Sometimes other people are going to set the priority for a task, and other times you can it. You are better off trying out a number of methods/systems to see what works best for you.
Is entering a panic room or slipping out the back really faster than pulling a gun? I see it is of higher priority, but (as I am not a spy, trust me) I doubt it is faster.
Pretty sure it’s “just lie about Everything, and don’t give a shit” because the odds of getting called out, or any sort of actual fallout is negligible 😂
Ironically I heard about this lesson working EP/PSD for a security company. I wouldn't be surprised one of my on the job training supervisor was one of your guys
Knowing myself, I started with 3 simultaneous tasks. DOH! That takes me to one--and that is hair in my oatmeal. However, I am pretty darn productive and creative in auto-pilot. I drive my truck in auto-pilot mode--no actual "trying" to drive safely. I focus on stimuli and a perceived critical action, but I trust my instincts to prioritize. Heading out to the shop now to work with sharp objects moving at high speeds--while keeping all my blood on the inside as a primary goal.
I think I have OCD or something I am opening and closing and checking and perfecting my calendar all day from morning to night.. I don’t think I learned to do tasks correctly. I do complete things and find myself stable but it is overwhelming and more poor on my health than positive on my life. It drives me crazy.
How to not get overwhelmed, infantry edition: - be prepared and bring enough ammo. - lay down supressive fire - move when possible. - have IDF or CAS on station.
"My name is Michael Westin. I used to . . . " I couldn't help myself! Followed my a voice over: "Controling task saturation and using operational prioritization, works in protecting an asset in Afghanistan desert and in the living room of a cat loving client in a Miami retirement village. Do it well, and you'll survive another day. Do it wrong and your team may die." Somebody get me some yogurt!😊
this is basically manually entering a flow state and once you enter it you don’t realize how much time has gone by and how much you got done. even with my adhd as a kid i would naturally enter this state and get sm done. i never payed any attention in class, never turned in assignments or participated in groups but i passed nearly every class because i would teach myself the subject then passed the test.
Not to jump way off into a different scenario. But I can think of a real life situation where doing the quickest thing first saved everyone on a badly damaged aircraft. The miracle on the Hudson with Captain Sully. He didn’t follow the emergency procedures in order. But he did what he could do the fastest first. By the time he landed the plane in the water he had accomplished about 25 tasks in a minute and probably resulted in the survival of everything on plane. As a pilot I understand task saturation when something doesn’t go as planned. Things on the flight deck get overwhelming quickly.
Holy crap. I didnt realize this was a thing. In 2007 my marine platoon spent a week with fbi hrt learning cqb in hostage and antiterrorism situations. As a team leader i was in charge of 3 other marines as we cleared room to room securing individuals and marking areas safe. I remember one situation where the instructors intentionally set up the scenario where there was no chance of success. It a simex and essentially we walked into a trap. But while we were attempting to not get killed i.e. covered in welts from the simunitions, one of the instructors kept yelling at me, the leader, to attack the next fastest thing. It gave me an incredible amount of situational clarity. Me and one other guy took "fatal" shots, but focusing on the next fastest thing meant my other two guys were able to pull back to a safe area with only minor injuries. For the last 16 years I just always thought that was something the instructor made up.
I now realize what I've been doing wrong. I always stack my day TO THE BRIM. I want to say, on average, I maybe complete 6 tasks and it because I do the smaller tasks in between other tasks. What I need to do is be realistic about how many tasks I can actually do before I start wandering off because I know all of it will not get done. I'm going to to take a look at everything I do daily and see which ones I can do the fastest daily and what can be finished quickly ( if something takes a week to finish, do that first instead of the month long task). I feel like I knew this info, but just wasn't following my intuition smh
The hidden assumption here is that you first discard all tasks that are optional. Then triage by time makes sense. Because even if it's fast, you will not wipe down the coffee table in the safe house...
hvala , da ste nam razlozili nekaj kar pocne CIA..in CIA pocne zelo zelo zanimive stvari..popolne stvari..itd.na koncu ste rekli,ker ste res govorili meni, da sem zival zenska.. in imate prav..
I think the people criticizing this video aren’t understanding the implied purpose of this technique. The purpose I took from this is pretty straightforward and obviously not a one size fits all solution, but a situational solution. Yes it’s obviously slightly geared toward the whole spy/tactical mindset, an example of a shootout being used makes sense. Cover yourself first so you can be safe and not shot, then you can accomplish other tasks one by one. But another way which is obviously Stated in the title is when you just don’t know where to start and feel overwhelmed. For example, cleaning up a messy room. The whole room might be trashed to the point you feel overwhelmed and don’t know how to even begin. So instead of trying to figure out where to start, just start with what’s closest to you. Little by little you will alleviate the mess enough that you will be able to focus more, because the previous obstacles, while maybe not individually being as important, are now removed and no longer distracting you or disrupting your work flow. The rest is simply common logic, of course you wouldn’t try to fix your broken mirror on your car if the motor was blown up. You would need the motor first. There’s a time to use this, and a time not to. That’s what makes a person competent: understanding when to act appropriately. Which really just comes down to awareness and understanding your tasks at hand.
What about "the eat the frog strategy" that is so popular now? Do the hardest thing first so it is out of the way, and everything else is relatively downhill, according to the concept...
Oh Jeez. How is this not taught in high school? Or maybe if it were we wouldn't appreciate the value. If I had been taught this (and understood it) in my 20's it would have changed my life. Thanks for this now. 💙
It is because sick adults playing war games and pretending to be peter pan, decided they need more privacy than children and the innocent.
School isn't designed to teach you anything except getting you ready to be a "good" submissive worker in life in front of "authority" . As a kid when you enter school you are excited ...when you leave , you leave sad , depressed and not knowing anything .
I taught this to myself at work. It only made sense to me to get the easiest thing out of the way first, not to rush through it, but to just do it. They really should teach this at school. Maybe when we get our public education system back they will.
😊
I don't think I could have or would have been able to wrap my head around this in my 20s, as much as I wish that I had. I'm almost 33 and I understand what this is saying-- but it's very challenging. It requires humility. That's hard at any age.
Operational prioritization (task triage) :
1. Accept some tasks that some tasks will not get done.
2. Do the task that takes the least time to complete. The fastest task. No matter what the task is.
3. Do the task that takes the next least time to complete.
4. Repeat this again and you've reduced the number of tasks and gotten closer to a manageable number of tasks.
Saw something once on "to do" lists, and why they are bad and it is for this very reason. People do the easy tasks first, just to say they got something done, rather than doing the priority tasks first. Doesn't matter how hard you work if you are working on the wrong thing...
Also the emotional strain of some tasks are best tackled at a good timr of da 10:42 y. For me thats first thing in morning
Creating a list makes the list manageable. If you keep in your head it can seem overwhelming that you can’t even get started. Doing the easiest tasks first alleviates pressure and anxiety and makes it easier to go on to the next task. ?
Thanks for the upvotes. When you're not task saturated, an approach can be to 'Eat the frog' first. Doing the most unpleasant task resets your dopamine and your motivation in turn. I assume the next step is then to eat the next biggest frog.
In the real world where tasks are added back daily, this is absolutely the path to the unemployment line.
Andrew: How many tasks do you feel comfortable handling?
Me: 1
Andrew: Now subtract that number by 2 because that's what you're really capable of.
Me: -1
🤣🤣🤣
I kind of wish he spoke to this. I chose "2" as my safe number... -2... is 0 o.O
@@meatballhead15 I suppose the reasonable assumption is that everyone works best when they focus on just one task at a time. Reality, on the other hand, presents you with a variety of tasks of varying complexity and time constraints.
These various prioritizing and triaging methods allow you to see how much you can comfortably and confidently do at any given time.
Same 😅
My number is also 0. 😂 This explains why I procrastinate. 🤣
15 years of military service and am being medically released. My brain can never relax or feel safe. Deeply affects my quality of life and relationships. Cannot understate the importance of feeling safe, without anything to do next. What I've learned is take time for yourself, so you can be better for everyone else.
I needed this. Thank you. Thank you for your service and I wish you happiness and healing.
That's reality though. Maybe your brain is working normally, and the normies is not.
Try EMDR and also read "The monkey Mind" . I have been there
Praying you find healing, that sounds awful, I struggle with panic attacks I couldn't imagine what your going through. Don't give up you will find peace❤
feeling safe is dumb when you think about it. you are NEVER safe. feeling safe is a lie. the trick is to understand you are never safe and safe at the same time. you should understand you are only safe in the one moment in time. the next moment can change and you will never know if you will be safe until it is here.
When applied to non spy - shootout situations, the problem with this technique is you might end up spending all your time on urgent things, not important things.
Or just that things. Could be neither urgent or important
I can find some merit to it because when you don't have time to think at least you just automatically act
@@VigilanceTech or should (situationally). Fight, flight, or freeze. It's like rock, paper, scissors that you were hardwired for lol
I guess there's an implicit assumption that by doing the easiest tasks first instead of 'eating your frog' and starting with what's most difficult, you'll quickly be on to the more pressing stuff.
Still, yeah, you have to trust you or whomever will actually go from task to task. If you just do the easy stuff and stop before getting anything significant done, you won't get anywhere.
@@WK-47Brian Tracy! Is that you?
This the exact same strategy as Dave Ramsey recommends for getting out of debt. It's the same strategy I thought of myself years ago when my life was in a tailspin. It's the same strategy I used to help the company I worked for get out of their rut. Now I know it works well spies too.
At this point, this is a universal truth to me.
I was thinking the exact same thing. "Snowball method"
I need to apply this at my job. I am a psych rn at a state facilitated psychiatric hospital in Texas. Almost a year ago, I was attacked and physically assaulted by a patient whilst attempting to calm them with talking. In my 8 years of psych nursing, this was the first time a patient has laid hands on me. I always form a very good rapport with my patients from the start. It psychological traumatized me and I have yet to be allowed to return. I will be going back next month and I am planning on how I can do things differently to ensure better safety. It is difficult due to we are perpetually very under staffed and our patients are violent. Thank you for this information!
do not lose faith in your ability to establish a good rapport. It just can't work all the time and we can't control anything, just accept that. That is my humble advice. I appreciate your effort!
@@ArtSio443 Thank you!! That is great advice! I'll take it!
You have to be OK with the fact that you cannot directly control these people. I think it is too risky.
My mom was a R.N. at a state mental hospital and the same exact thing happened to her. She was hurt pretty badly. She had worked several years before. The patients loved and trusted her as well. I'm sure you know but it usually happens when a paranoid schizophrenic comes in off their meds. You will heal mentally and physically. Give yourself time and space to heal. There is no time limit to get over something. Trust your gut, instincts and never turn your back on any distressed patient. When you return and feel yourself getting overwhelmed or stressed take 3 deep breaths or give yourself a few minutes alone even if it's in the restroom. Keep a work journal to process your thoughts. You will be fine. I hope this helps.
@@Rhiannoncout Thank you! I hope your mom is okay!
I have done this the last 2 days and literally ALL of my laundry is washed AND put away (after 3 months), bed and bedroom cleaned, half of my junk boxes sorted and condensed, litter boxes washed and refilled, and a few other things...WITH 8-9 hours of sleep, naps/rest breaks, 3 cooked meals, movie marathons, and 😉 -- all after waking up at 11am both days. I have done this exact list for each day, btw. This method is life changing!!!! Thank you
P.s. it feels sooooo good to sleep in a cleaner house
I have struggled with procrastination, and this is basically how I get myself moving: do the quickest thing first and just keep going. It really does work. As long as you can do those first few tiny tasks, momentum continues from there. Nice to see this advice as government training.
Thank you Andrew. I’m a child and youth worker and step dad to 4. I’m working through some PTSD from child welfare stuff at work; this really helped to put the simplicity back into my self-regulation strategies when being quicker to overwhelmed than my previous baseline before the PTS.
Much thanks brother 🙏. Helping me to continue my growth as a husband, father, and professionally with greater accountability.
Sounds like you’re killing it! Just focus on the next right task. I’m sending you strength and fortitude, and I tip my hat to you.
step dad to 4? did you really get with a single mom with 4 kids and accept all responsibility?
God bless, Shaun. 🙏
Youth worker, step dad, PTSD and all while still a child. Incredible.
@@incredulousd9408 Hehe. Dad joke! 😅
In the spy scenario, "preserve your life" seemed to be a major factor in prioritizing action choices. Like the first aid prompt "first, do no harm".
Key Takeaways:
- Task saturation is where the number of tasks on your mind exceeds the number you're capable of comfortably dealing with.
- Accept that some of the tasks you have ahead of you will not get done, period.
- To recover from task saturation, do the task that is quickest to accomplish. Repeat this as many times as necessary to regain comfort with the number of tasks on the table.
- The first clue to task saturation is feeling uncomfortable with the number of tasks. Don't trust emotion at this point - do the next fastest thing you can do.
- To stay ahead of saturation, estimate the number of tasks you can comfortably manage, then reduce that number by two. When you have more tasks than that result ongoing, apply the recovery technique.
summary at 13:00
Thank youu !
Just came accross your channel, this is great advice.
As a manager, other than lack of motivation, I have noticed the biggest problem most people have is trying to do too much all at the same time. We all want it all, but trying to have it all, at the same time, often results in not much getting accomplished successfully.
The next fastest thing will work provided the 'things' on your list are important and should be there.
Prioritize and execute - yes, but also - know what is important, know your limits and stay within them as you establish your priorities.
In Summary:
Task Saturation
- Understand Personal Threshold for Managing Tasks. (Parental Multi-tasking)
- If a task takes less than 15 min to accomplish, task takes priority based on time sensitivity.
- Take number of tasks in task management threshold, reduce by two. (Im able to complete 5 tasks simultaneously, I’ll commit to 3 for ease of mind and efficient completion.)
- More tasks than able to immediately prioritize = Task Saturation.
- Understand and realize some of the tasks you have ahead of you will not be completed.
- Triage - Simplify your tasks down to brass tacks.
- Least time to completion = first task taken. Break down tasks by time for completion. Complete in least to greatest order.
- Emotions dominate your conscious thought if you’re in Task Saturation.
- Do The Next Fastest Task!
Thank you so much for this info, i have it saved in my notes and will cite and forward to friends and family who i feel get overwhelmed by tasks in their day-to-day lives.
Weird how often "experts" suggest the opposite. i.e. "Do the most difficult or overwhelming task first." I like your way better Andrew.
Once everything is under control, it’s best to eat the frog first thing in the morning
@@wintermatherne2524fax. Eat the frog first. Or second. It pays far reaching multiple dividends than just “getting stuff done”
@@wintermatherne2524I'm currently mulling the 2 over in my head. Maybe how you've said it is the best way.
It can’t hurt to listen. Wise men always listen.
Hi Andrew, I subscribed to your site after watching this video, which then lead me to your other work. As I was watching it my partner was getting ready for work and a glance from her informed me she was also listening to it, so I turned the sound up a notch. As she left the room to go downstairs she turned to me and said, "I do some of that at work," and briefly explained what she meant. She asked me if I'd forward the link to her so she could watch it from the beginning and retune her performance. She works in a relatively high pressure administration role where the unbalanced dynamics of the workplace makes... anyhow, I'm rambling. Thanks for the information, anything that may make her work life more manageable is always welcome. I look forward to watching more of your work. Good luck, mate
How is it possible that a channel providing such invaluable information has not yet reached a million subscribers? On one hand, I genuinely hope for this channel to reach the one million subscriber milestone. On the other hand, there's a part of me that appreciates the exclusivity of this content, desiring it to remain within a community of devoted seekers who truly value it.
Thanks Andrew🎩
everyone is stumbling around blind and no one wants to admit it to themselves.
Bruh. It’s just another self-help/ life hack channel with minimal transformative or even unheard advice.
This is the basics of taking an exam, you always take on the questions you can do faster first
There is some serious holes in this logic. Firstly, my task threshold is -1 according to 1 minus 2. Also, 6:48 doesn't make sense. If people could ignore the head-trash as you name it then people wouldn't be overwhelmed by task saturation in the first place. It's the fact that you are overwhelmed that makes it such that you can't prioritise and organise. How do you explain that? You can't simple say "ignore being overwhelmed when you're overwhelmed" as an argument to dealing with being overwhelmed.
I’ve literally been struggling with this lately and this is a godsend.
"Just do the next fastest thing"
Beautiful 🔥💯
I absolutely suck at this. I can manage a LOT… or I used to be able to. I’m more prone to feeling overwhelmed now. I am very big picture and bite off too much sometimes considering I have lower energy than I did and I keep myself in an overwhelmed state… or a state of task saturation way too much of the time. This framework seems very useful. I suppose my task management threshold was very high and it’s not the same now and I haven’t adapted.
At least you are honest with yourself. Apply what you can, rather what others expect.
If it takes less than 15 min to complete, go ahead and take care of it. One of the best things ive learned to combat procrastination, which works hand-in-hand with Task Saturation discipline.
Then you spend a bunch of time doing trivial stuff instead of addressing larger important tasks that need a lot of time given to them to resolve. You will be constantly putting out tiny fires while the main fire rages and is never put out. Here is a scenario where doing the quickest task first falls completely apart: little johnny is hungry and wants you to make him a bowl of cereal, he also broke his arm while playing outside. By following the advice given to complete the quickest task first we must give little Johnny a bowl of cereal to eat since he is hungry instead of taking him immediately to the hospital to get him the help he needs before any complications to his injury arise.
@5:35... That's huge, "reduce it by two" brilliant. Wish I heard this long ago before being the first to raise my hand in the past.
Nurses need this in school …would help a lot in the beginning.
Somehow I have learned it on my own but this clarifies how to do it even better.
Actually nurses do learn this in school. It’s called triage. You triage your patients and you triage your work.
The people at the CIA need to get real jobs, instead of being hard core criminals.
They’re destroying the world by focusing on their individual tasks instead of looking at the cumulative effects of their “work”
Agreed, the CIA is gaeeee
Exactly!! they are nothing but criminals in action (scum)
real and true
….What if I told u being hardcore criminals is the job…😎
I feel saturated at work. I constantly feel like I need to sacrifice quality in order to complete the tasks I'm given, and I'm a recovering perfectionist so i appreciate this video because I'd love to learn how to better manage my time and tasks.
"What did the kids just break?" 😂😂😂 Classic! 💓
for the next 60 days im going to implement this into my everyday life, on a hardcore level. will report the results. thank you
Going strong?
andrew has never been an air traffic controller. his sense of priorities are out the window
It's crucial for system design to address every conceivable failure mode that could bring things to this crisis level. This video is not at that level. This is about: what happens after all that? What does the ATC do when everything is failing and/or there's a flood of traffic? It's going to have to look a bit like this, I suspect. That said, I would love to hear what ATC or 911 training does about this problem.
@@ioannplatte there is no "9/11 training." if you want to reroute an airplane you say cleared to (new airport) via (route), (altitude) and (further instructions). on 9/11, we just had to do that 3000 times in a few hours. the only people you hear saying how amazing it was were the media and other non-controllers. every enroute controller has rerouted an airplane many times.
@@ioannplatte aditionally, ATC has "priority of duty." you do what needs to be done first, first. and so forth. the key is having the knowledge and experience to know what comes first, second, third. then, know that you can truly do only one thing at a time. ever.
@@cchanc3 By "911 training" I meant the training for 911 telephone dispatchers.
@@cchanc3 That's the system design I was referring to, and isn't talking about the catastrophic failure scenario I was referring to, but rather "every conceivable failure mode". This video is covering situations that for whatever reason don't have that available. That was my point. Fully agree that in any scenario where there can be a system to determine priorities reliably, using that system would be better than throwing it away in favor of the advice in this video. In fact, needing to use this advice repeatedly should be seen as a sign that there's system design work to be done.
Helpful hint on crying. If a kid gets hurt and looks around to see if someone is there, but isn't already crying, don't say anything and they will usually walk away. That's how narcissists are made.
I got confused while reading, Are they made by saying anything or by not saying anything?
@@Eleventyeleventhhe's saying they are made from negative attention reinforcement. That's absurd of course. Most children will cry from embarrassment. Narcissism is far more complex
Make them cry for real. Assert dominance. ( sarcasm)
@@Ed_Gein_crafts😂
In 4th grade we had a coaches son on our baseball team. He honestly sucked. And after every failed attempt to play the game or hit the ball he would freak out, cry and blame his dad. And he always started by crying. This was 4th grade btw
Thanks so much for taking the time to share this. I work in a job where the organization's management model has forced me to operate in triage on an almost daily basis. I don't wish to remain there much longer; however, ... this just may have saved my sanity for the time that I do remain. Much thanks!
“Take the amount of tasks you think you can do and subtract 2.”
Me: 3-2=….well damn.
I'm so glad I found your channel. Your teachings are too expensive for me right now, but I'm already saving up money to learn from you. I'm an ex-banking operations guy, turned business owner, and I absolutely relate to your concept of managing time. Thanks for making this, I hope you keep teaching and I'm looking forward to when I can get more into your stuff.
don't spend money on some guru. it's a waste.
this guy can't even edit his videos
6:33 I learned this from my IFR training when I was trying to learn instrument flying for airplanes.
A common scenario for the IFR pilot where task saturation easily occurs is getting ready to land, for example... setting up the approach, talking to ATC, flying the aircraft, maintaining situational awareness of where I physically am right now and where other traffic is right now, getting the current weather for the airport I'm flying into, briefing the approach (I brief on the ground before the flight now), and verifying that i am getting the performance I'm expecting.
When all of those things are slamming into you at once you have to begin prioritizing what to do right now, and what to do 10 seconds from now. We break it down into Aviate, Navigate, Communicate which means anything related to keeping positive control over the aircraft is ALWAYS numero UNO! After that is handled we thing about where we are, where we're going, and where everyone else is, then we can start talking to ATC.
Hearing you put that process directly into words was definitely eye opening as if someone asked me "How do you deal with task saturation?" I really wouldn't have been able to answer, but now I can. Thank you.
I didnt realise this is something I've been learning by myself. But this helped solidify things much better
This why I have do list , more inefficient use of time is getting caught up on your list
and have no idea about what I need to do next .
Super helpful. Not everyone is organized so this clarity and the procedures can help clear head trash.
It's really interesting how I learned all of this just by doing retail for so long and having a limited amount of time to complete a bunch of tasks. I guess I had so much time to think about it that I was able to formulate this strategy naturally.
I listen to this one every few months Andy. During difficult times, it really helps. Ty for this.
Drummers are the original CIA agent. 4 tasks at once. And that’s not counting the mind wandering during all the above. 5 tasks. ❤️ the drums
I can do maybe 2 tasks at a time. So I'm just going to be using this technique constantly even when I'm not doing anything.
It seems to me a weak point of this method is how you define a "task". Depending on how you cut the cake, you are either task saturated or totally fine. If you decide you have one task: "Deal with reality and life", you are never task saturated. On the other hand you can cut that task in to almost endless sub-tasks and almost always be task saturated.
“Many people can hand 5-7 things at the same time, like my wife.”
Shit sounds so funny out of context😭
Interestingly I came to a variant of this intuitively some years ago. Note, I suffered as a kid from attention deficit issues and this became one important mitigating mechanism as an adult. However it occurs to me that there is one aspect to this (and my own variation of it which I won't discuss here) which is very much about energy management. Longer tasks take a lot more focus and more energy, and so knocking out a couple of short tasks first can both build momentum and make it easier to take on another high priority task.
So also if you find yourself unable to get started with a large task for other reasons also, it can make a lot of sense to bypass it, and knock out a couple of short tasks first in order to reduce your load.
Additionally, it is worth noting that multi-tasking is error-prone for everyone and so reducing the number of immediate tasks you have to worry about also increases accuracy.
Same
Can you tell us more about your strategy?
@@CarelessGamer15 I maintain a task list and note short quick tasks. I usually understand I will never get everything done.
When I am stuck I pick up two quick tasks in succession to build momentum. Then I will usually (for a while) do two quick tasks followed by a longer one and repeat until either there is a big imbalance of short vs longer tasks or priorities need to shift towards something urgent.
It's a lot easier to tackle a big task when you have got some smaller ones done than when you are making a cold start.
@@WorldTravelerCooking thanks for the idea! i will try that the next time i'm stuck
Slight correction here. at 11:48 you instruct to take the foot off the gas if fish-tailing. Technically, "speeding up" is considered the method to pull out of a fishtail. It's counter-intuitive, yes.
From the CIA's perspective, what is right with the current educational system in America, and what is wrong with it? What is it doing right, and what is it doing wrong? Andrew!
From the CIA perspective?
Well, what's right with the system is that it's turning out a bunch of brainless morons who utterly lack the capacity for critical thought. What's wrong with the system is that a few slip through the cracks.
@@slappy8941 Too bad your comment was hidden. It's true.
@@ArlenGunClubwhat did it say?
@@ArtSio443 If you sort comments by newest first you can see it. In a nutshell, the CIA would prefer that our educational system be anything but educational.
Why?
Therapy for depression directs one to accomplish something, no matter how small ,each day
Even though the video is 1 year old, it's new to me, and it's fantastic. This is how computer processors prioritize their work, and it has the added benefit of reducing total wait time for all tasks.
Some comments seem to be missing the point. I don't think the "subtract 2" is set in stone. It's a way to combat those of us who overestimate our capabilities. For those who underestimate, you should probably stick with the original number you came up with.
Also, I think, since we're already accepting some of these tasks won't get done, maybe before we see which task is smallest, that we first see which tasks we can just say "no" to immediately. Then start with the smallest task.
I appreciate your perspective.Until we value our freedom and think for ourselves nothing will change.
It's frustrating when you have a micromanaging boss who NEEDS the thing that THEY think is most important done first. Even if it takes the longest, by far. I naturally prioritize the quick and easy things, and save the most difficult for last. But some people will think you are avoiding the most obvious problem or are too dumb to see it.
I am confident doing 1 thing. 1 - 2 = -1. My task saturation level is delegating one task.
LOL
This is also a CPU task scheduling technique I've applied on and off since learning about it. It's good in general but can lead to programs freezing (ie some things never getting done) if you don't make time for them.
My boss wouldn't go with this. He just keeps pilling shit on until I'm about ready for a breakdown.
Kind of like the debt snowball for tasks. I like it
My threshold is one. Literally one. I have no ability whatsoever to handle anything more than one task at a time.
Unlike a CIA agent, you can determine which tasks need to be done & which can fall of by the wayside.
1. Negotiate at work
2. Negotiate at home
If you are de facto overburdened by too many tasks, there are not enough hours in the day.
The vid is about simultaneous tasks (ie, everything deemed urget to complete over a limited time) & brain overload, not about biting more than you can chew.
Thank you. Your advice applies exactly to me and my life.
My natural Task threshold is 1 task. Period. Not right now Chief, I’m in the Zone.
You forgot to mention how this goes when other people have their hands on your time and can reset your priorities at will.
Task Saturation is where I spend my days. I don't get to decide what happens next, and there's always at least one of those people who direct my time who gets disappointed, reports my "failure" to management, and I get invited to a closed-door meeting about my refusal to work cooperatively.
This is a great process - where it is allowed.
as mentioned in the comments, this is a topic that is better left to experts on task management. It is situtational, it depends on a number of factors. First off, there are some tasks that might come up and you need to decide whether can put it off, or do you need to take care of it right away. Others have recommended you tackle the tasks that take longer first. Sometimes other people are going to set the priority for a task, and other times you can it. You are better off trying out a number of methods/systems to see what works best for you.
Yo Andrew that soundtrack by tone Jones is Nice. I'm definitely going to support and continue to listen to you and figure out my next moves in life
Man i dont know how i could servive without someone telling me how to live my life.
Is entering a panic room or slipping out the back really faster than pulling a gun? I see it is of higher priority, but (as I am not a spy, trust me) I doubt it is faster.
Pretty sure it’s “just lie about Everything, and don’t give a shit” because the odds of getting called out, or any sort of actual fallout is negligible 😂
One can only hope the CIA continues to have worse than task overload in the future
THE STREETS ARE
PAVED WITH BLOOD:
CONCRETE IS
MADE WITH BLOOD
Ironically I heard about this lesson working EP/PSD for a security company. I wouldn't be surprised one of my on the job training supervisor was one of your guys
Love hearing your stories and experiences and learning from them. Thank you.
Knowing myself, I started with 3 simultaneous tasks. DOH! That takes me to one--and that is hair in my oatmeal. However, I am pretty darn productive and creative in auto-pilot. I drive my truck in auto-pilot mode--no actual "trying" to drive safely. I focus on stimuli and a perceived critical action, but I trust my instincts to prioritize. Heading out to the shop now to work with sharp objects moving at high speeds--while keeping all my blood on the inside as a primary goal.
You're preaching to an ADHD choir. Haha. A choir that keeps endlessly sweeping and cleaning the office while major projects pile up in the backlog.
I love this guy, seen quite a few of his talks.
Is this why David Goggins always starts running?
I think I have OCD or something I am opening and closing and checking and perfecting my calendar all day from morning to night.. I don’t think I learned to do tasks correctly. I do complete things and find myself stable but it is overwhelming and more poor on my health than positive on my life. It drives me crazy.
How to not get overwhelmed, infantry edition:
- be prepared and bring enough ammo.
- lay down supressive fire
- move when possible.
- have IDF or CAS on station.
You forgot- Pack the hole with dirt and drink water!
@@thechrisandphaedrusshow thanks, that comes with being prepared.
Don't forget about popping smoke
Delegate
@@thechrisandphaedrusshow oh he packed his hole alright
As a business owner, this advice is gold!
"My name is Michael Westin. I used to . . . "
I couldn't help myself!
Followed my a voice over:
"Controling task saturation and using operational prioritization, works in protecting an asset in Afghanistan desert and in the living room of a cat loving client in a Miami retirement village. Do it well, and you'll survive another day. Do it wrong and your team may die."
Somebody get me some yogurt!😊
Just watched this for the first time.
Got a vibe this is something I needed to hear
Thank you.
Do the hardest first thing when you have the drive and the rest is downhill!
1 - 2 = -1
Sounds about right.
when in doubt, throttle it out...
I love this format and intro. Sets my mood right.
this is basically manually entering a flow state and once you enter it you don’t realize how much time has gone by and how much you got done. even with my adhd as a kid i would naturally enter this state and get sm done. i never payed any attention in class, never turned in assignments or participated in groups but i passed nearly every class because i would teach myself the subject then passed the test.
we all have this flow state naturally
My task saturation is at 2 so I’m not doing anything today…
I think we just stay at 2, and even drop to 1 if necessary.
Not to jump way off into a different scenario. But I can think of a real life situation where doing the quickest thing first saved everyone on a badly damaged aircraft. The miracle on the Hudson with Captain Sully. He didn’t follow the emergency procedures in order. But he did what he could do the fastest first. By the time he landed the plane in the water he had accomplished about 25 tasks in a minute and probably resulted in the survival of everything on plane. As a pilot I understand task saturation when something doesn’t go as planned. Things on the flight deck get overwhelming quickly.
Holy crap. I didnt realize this was a thing. In 2007 my marine platoon spent a week with fbi hrt learning cqb in hostage and antiterrorism situations. As a team leader i was in charge of 3 other marines as we cleared room to room securing individuals and marking areas safe. I remember one situation where the instructors intentionally set up the scenario where there was no chance of success. It a simex and essentially we walked into a trap. But while we were attempting to not get killed i.e. covered in welts from the simunitions, one of the instructors kept yelling at me, the leader, to attack the next fastest thing. It gave me an incredible amount of situational clarity. Me and one other guy took "fatal" shots, but focusing on the next fastest thing meant my other two guys were able to pull back to a safe area with only minor injuries. For the last 16 years I just always thought that was something the instructor made up.
“Do the next fastest thing” got it.
Noc noc... nicely done.sir...may The Force be with you.
I now realize what I've been doing wrong. I always stack my day TO THE BRIM. I want to say, on average, I maybe complete 6 tasks and it because I do the smaller tasks in between other tasks. What I need to do is be realistic about how many tasks I can actually do before I start wandering off because I know all of it will not get done. I'm going to to take a look at everything I do daily and see which ones I can do the fastest daily and what can be finished quickly ( if something takes a week to finish, do that first instead of the month long task). I feel like I knew this info, but just wasn't following my intuition smh
Bro i learned this shit in literal 5th grade. I remember the class and the room and the lecture vividly.
Personally, I like the Eisenhower Matrix the best of all for prioritizing tasks.
MY ESTIMATE ,...2 TASKS - 2 TASKS = 0 TASKS
The hidden assumption here is that you first discard all tasks that are optional.
Then triage by time makes sense.
Because even if it's fast, you will not wipe down the coffee table in the safe house...
I always thought getting the hardest task done first was a good tactic. But I guess quicker ones makes sense
Nice, I'm actually learning something. Thank you.
hvala , da ste nam razlozili nekaj kar pocne CIA..in CIA pocne zelo zelo zanimive stvari..popolne stvari..itd.na koncu ste rekli,ker ste res govorili meni, da sem zival zenska.. in imate prav..
I think the people criticizing this video aren’t understanding the implied purpose of this technique. The purpose I took from this is pretty straightforward and obviously not a one size fits all solution, but a situational solution. Yes it’s obviously slightly geared toward the whole spy/tactical mindset, an example of a shootout being used makes sense. Cover yourself first so you can be safe and not shot, then you can accomplish other tasks one by one. But another way which is obviously Stated in the title is when you just don’t know where to start and feel overwhelmed. For example, cleaning up a messy room. The whole room might be trashed to the point you feel overwhelmed and don’t know how to even begin. So instead of trying to figure out where to start, just start with what’s closest to you. Little by little you will alleviate the mess enough that you will be able to focus more, because the previous obstacles, while maybe not individually being as important, are now removed and no longer distracting you or disrupting your work flow. The rest is simply common logic, of course you wouldn’t try to fix your broken mirror on your car if the motor was blown up. You would need the motor first. There’s a time to use this, and a time not to. That’s what makes a person competent: understanding when to act appropriately. Which really just comes down to awareness and understanding your tasks at hand.
Music sounds like the Sean Ryan’s show’s start of the show.
What about "the eat the frog strategy" that is so popular now? Do the hardest thing first so it is out of the way, and everything else is relatively downhill, according to the concept...