Balancing Tasks in the Real World vs. the Digital World

I was recently pondering the complexity of our technology-driven world and how many of us lead two different yet parallel lives - one in the real world and one in the digital world. Now, I’m not talking about those crazy catfishers who pretend to be someone else, but your everyday person who constantly struggles to allocate their time between both worlds.

Let me give you a little insight into what I’m talking about: It’s Saturday morning. I have two separate to-do lists, and I must decide which of the two to start. The garage floor needs cleaning, my car needs a wash, the living room could use some dusting and there are a few do-it-yourself projects around the house that need tending – a few wall scuffs that need to be painted and a shower door that really could use some re-caulking. On the other hand, I need to make some Facebook cover images for the coming week, archive and back-up my computer files, get a jump on reading some trade articles so I can schedule my Hootsuite posts, and as always, there’s more than a few articles in my head I would like to get down on digital paper. So, which world do I work in today – the real world, or the digital world?

And, if it isn’t hard enough to make a choice between these two worlds, I also need to work on some things that bridge the gap between them. I have hundreds of old pictures and other mementos I have been scanning over the past few years in my spare time just to ensure their longevity into our years of ripe old age. Nowadays, we have all these digital memories backed up to our “clouds”, but most of us are just one house fire away from losing all of the memories we made back when we had these things called cameras that exposed light to film and provided us with paper real-world pictures that aren’t backed up to the sky like their new digital counterparts. And being a writer, not only do I have pictures that could be gone forever thanks to a little Fahrenheit 451, I also have a good deal of early writings I still need to introduce to the digital world.

And thus, this is the conundrum in which I find myself whenever I set out to get some things done. Spend too much time organizing, archiving and backing up computer files, and the scanning of pictures and digitizing of hand-written items doesn’t get done. Spend the day scanning or typing and dust starts to gather on all the furniture. Spend the day cleaning the house or completing other tasks in the real world, and that inbox and those social media alerts sure start to stack up. What is a first-world, pre-artificial-intelligence-brain-implant human who still must interface with some type of electronic device in order to get something done in the digital world supposed to do?

Well, let me share a little trick that helps me work on all of my to-do lists – the real world, the digital world, and the bridge in between – just about equally. And ironically, my trick uses a very old technology to help me deal with balancing my digital world tasks with those in the real world.

The first thing I do is maintain lists of the tasks I need to complete in each of the two worlds as well as the hybrid tasks, giving me three separate lists of tasks. I maintain my lists in an Excel spreadsheet stored in DropBox so they are accessible anywhere. If you choose to try my method and you’re not a fan of Excel, you can maintain your lists on your phone, or even on that ancient tool our ancestors called paper. Whatever media you choose for maintaining your lists, just make sure they are easy to update, and above all, can be easily and promptly accessed when you think of something to add. I’ll often make a note on my phone when I think of a task, and then transfer that task to my spreadsheet the next time I open it in Excel. This helps me ensure I don’t forget anything that needs to be added.

Then, with my three lists handy, when I have some spare time to get things done, I pull out my hourglass. Yes, I said hourglass. What? You don’t have one?! I told you I used a very old technology. I turn the hourglass over and start on the first list. When the sand has run out, I turn the hourglass over again and start on the second list. And – you guessed it – when the sand runs out again, I start in on that third list. I then repeat the process over and over again, going from the third list back to the first list until my free time has run out.

I don’t always start with the same list, but tend to start with the list that is either the most pressing or has the most items. There remains some subjectivity in this method in terms of what I start with, but if I adhere to the hourglass’s time and switch when the sand runs out, I find at the end of the day, I have worked on all three lists and made progress in the real world, digital world, and the bridge in-between.

Of course, in these modern times, you can use any clock you possess – the one on your cable or satellite box – the one on your phone – the one on your microwave – the one on the solar-powered floating radio you use in the pool – the one on your laptop or other device. Use any clock and this method will work just as well. As for me, I found that without the physical running out of the sand, I tacked on extra minutes to finish a little more on the current list, and those minutes would add up to extra hours, defeating the purpose of the method.

Now, don’t get me wrong, if you’re midway through an oil change or painting a wall, or scanning a picture, or responding to an email, go ahead and finish out the task, but be sure you don’t linger on one list to forsake the others. Just be reasonable, and a little disciplined, and you’ll see this method can work well for helping you split your time between your worlds.

Images via Gordon Johnson and WikiImages