Posts Tagged To-do list

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“Every object persists in its state of rest or uniform motion in a straight line unless it is compelled to change that state  by forces impressed upon it.”

- Newton’s First Law of Motion

It’s advice that they give every running back in the NFL: “Keep your feet moving.”  The theory is, if you continue to grind it out while you’re being tackled, you may just be able to pick up an extra yard, or even break free of the tackle.  All of the great ones practiced this maneuver, and it’s part of what made them great.

If the object that Newton was referring to can be compared to my work, then this uncertainty is the force pressed upon my work.  When I get stuck on a problem at work, the easiest thing to do would be to put it aside for later.  But later might never come.  The unaddressed problem just goes onto the pile of unfinished tasks.  It becomes part of the psychic clutter of my life.  It’s another boogeyman that I’ll wind up having to face later on my to-do list.

The reason it goes on the unfinished pile is because we lose momentum.  We lose momentum every time we:

• Stop to “take a breather”;
• Overanalyze a situation;
• Hit the vending machine;
• Start doing “busy work” like cleaning up our desks;
• Check our emails;
• Get a cup of coffee;
• Surf the web.

Then, inertia sets in.  How do we prevent this inertia from stopping us?  Newton’s Second Law of Motion talks about force, or in our case, “keeping your feet moving“:

“Force is equal to the change in momentum (mV) per change in time.  For a constant mass, force equals mass times acceleration.”

When you start your task, you’re building up momentum.  Every time that you stop, you must go through this process again.  This is very inefficient.  Or as Patton used to say: “I don’t want to pay for the same real estate twice.” That’s why you need to keep your feet moving, in order to keep up the momentum.

Newton’s Third Law of Motion states:

“For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.”

This is probably the better-known of the laws, at least for me.  I can relate this to the effort that I put into completing a task (the action) causing the work to be completed (the reaction).  When i feel fatigued by a tough task, I don’t cave in.  I just kick myself in the ass and keep my feet moving!

So why am I quoting a British scientist from over 300 years ago?  Because you can find wisdom in any field of study.  It doesn’t matter where the advice comes from, as long as it’s useful.  It could come from a physicist or a defensive coordinator.  When you read about new things, you get smarter.  Reading is the action, and knowledge is the reaction.

So the next time that you get stuck on a task, just dig in, and keep those feet moving!

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