‘Never Touch Things Twice’

‘Never Touch Things Twice’

Keeping productive is as much about maintaining your momentum as it is about managing your use of time. You’re better off finishing everything you start, not saving halfway done tasks for later.

Photo by Stacy Spensley.

Obviously some tasks are long-term projects that require you to revisit them. For normal day-to-day tasks, however, Dr Travis Bradberry, the co-author of Emotional Intelligence 2.0, suggests you never leave any task incomplete:

Never touch things twice. That’s it. Never put anything in a holding pattern, because touching things twice is a huge time-waster. Don’t save an email or a phone call to deal with later. As soon as something gets your attention you should act on it, delegate it, or delete it.

When you stop leaving things halfway done and complete tasks as they come your way, you’ll preserve your productivity momentum and get more done in the long run. Plus, you won’t forget what you were doing or how you were doing it. There’s no better time to complete a task than when you start it.

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