118. Open Tasks

In episode 118, Temetria explains how too many unfinished tasks, or “attention units” (per Jack Canfield), create mental clutter like open browser tabs or a full inbox. She recommends advanced planning and time management to schedule tasks. She also advises getting honest about long-delayed tasks by fixing, donating, reselling, or mentally letting them go; using a paper list divided into 10-minute, 30-minute, and 1-hour+ tasks to knock out items; delegating or hiring help (including TaskRabbit); learning to say no to avoid overcommitting. She also recommends giving yourself grace and celebrating small wins. 

00:00 Welcome to Curate Your Life
00:34 What Are Attention Units
02:03 Plan and Schedule Tasks
03:24 Get Honest and Let Go
04:53 Three-Bucket Task List
06:48 Delegate or Hire Help
07:59 Say No to Overcommitment
08:50 Grace Quick Wins and Next Steps
10:18 Course and Community Updates
11:12 Contact and Sign Off

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Transcript

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0:01

You're listening to the Curate Your Life podcast with Temetria, episode 118

Temetria 0:07

Hi, I'm Temetria a single woman in midlife. But not quite ready for the Moomoo life. I'm focused on curating a life that I love. A life that is bold and vibrant and full of purpose. And I'm passionate about helping other women do the same. So join me. If you're ready to create curate a big, bold, beautiful life that you love.

0:34

How many open tasks do you have right now? Either a list of things that you have to do or just things in your mind that you have to do, or things that you look around and see that feel like unfinished business. Jack Canfield calls these attention units, And he says that having too many attention units open can be very distracting. It's clutter in your brain So that would be having the thoughts in your head, "I need to call so and so," or, "I need to go to the cleaners. I need to book that flight and make those reservations and things like that. Each thing that you have to do, each task that feels incomplete is an attention unit that's cluttering up your brain. It's like having a bunch of open browsers on your computer or like having a bunch of Post-it notes or scraps of paper with reminders laying around. How do you feel when you see all of those open browsers on your screen or all of those Post-it notes or a full inbox? It's like having a bunch of things tapping you on the shoulder, calling your name, and saying, "I need you to do this now." So how do you get relief from that? What do you do? My first bit of advice would be advanced planning so you know when things will be done. Locking in time management and planning ahead helps you to know when things are going to get done, so you don't have this list of to-dos or competing priorities. You know exactly when you're gonna complete task A, B, and C. I teach a course called Simply Curated, and in that course, there's a module on time management. And that course is available right now through September 9th, if you're listening to this in real time, and it covers time management and other areas in your life that people tend to struggle with on a daily basis. Things like decluttering and organization, healthy habits, and what to wear. And that's available right now for $17 if you're listening to this in real time until September 9th. If you're not listening in real time, if you happen to be listening to this after September 9th, go to the show notes and download my Two Simple Steps to Love Your Life, which serves as a introductory course to help you shift your mindset and to begin to look at your life in a different way. It's free, and it'll get you on my email list and the waiting list for the next time Simply Curated opens So that would be my first bit of advice for you. My second bit of advice would be the next time you encounter one of those tasks or come across a Post-it note with a to-do item, get honest. If it's something you've been saying you would do forever but you haven't what's going to change? The watch that needs a new battery or a new band, are you really gonna do it? If it's been more than six months, probably not. That dress with the tags on it that needs to be altered, take it to get altered or donate it or resell it. Get rid of those things that you've been saying that you're going to do but you haven't gotten to. Get honest. You're probably not gonna do it, so what is the alternative? How do you get it out of the house? How do you move on from that? Get rid of things that are broken, that have been broken for a while that you haven't fixed. And free up that attention unit. If it's a friend that you've been meaning to call or a book that you were going to read and you've been meaning to do it for months, mentally let it go Say to yourself, "I'm taking that off my list for now." And it will pop back in your head because it's been in the loop, and it's gonna stay in the loop for a while. But gently remind yourself, "I've let that go," when it pops up. "Oh, I should call Sally. Nope, I let that go. Clear that open task. So the third technique would be to get out a piece of paper. I know, more paper, but work with me on this one. This is a piece of paper that you will keep with you in your purse or in your planner or with your laptop, someplace that you will see it throughout the day, every day. So on this piece of paper, I would say phone notes, but I feel like that's where we get distracted. We go to our phones to do one thing, and then we end up being distracted by a notification or message that pops up. So I would really encourage you to use paper here. Get out a piece of paper, divide it into three sections, and in the first section, put ten minutes, the second section, put thirty minutes, and the next one, an hour plus. So underneath those sections, list unfinished tasks that fit into those different categories. So if one is find your passport, that might take you thirty minutes. If one is call and make an appointment, that will probably take you ten minutes. So list the task in the section that corresponds with the amount of time that you've allotted. So the next time you find yourself with time on your hand and you don't know what to do because you're so overwhelmed because there's so many things to do, get this list out, think about the amount of time that you have, and pick a task and just knock it out. Or if you find yourself scrolling on your phone instead of doing something productive, set your phone down, go to your list. Pick a time that you have that you wanna commit to and knock a task off that list Or you can make a plan a couple of times a week to commit to a certain amount of time, put it on your calendar, and whatever amount of time you commit it to, go to this list, find a task and get it done The next option is to delegate or to hire somebody. If it has to be done but you can't do it or you don't wanna do it or someone else can do it, delegate it. And hiring someone is a form of delegating. It costs money, but it frees up time and mental space, and the task is done, so it can totally be worth it. I've never used them, but I have a friend who swears by TaskRabbit Look them up if you need people to put things together, to clear things out, to paint a room, things like that. You can pay people to do, to do the tasks that you can't do or that you don't want to do. That's another way of getting honest with yourself. "I'm not gonna do this, but I want it done. Can I pay somebody or ask for help?" If you have a friend or family member who has a particular zone of genius that you don't have, an area that you need help in, ask for help. And it may be that it's a reciprocal thing. You may have a zone of genius, something that you can do quickly and knock out a task that other people can't. So maybe you barter My next piece of advice to you is to learn when to say no. Do you have these open tasks because you've overcommitted? When you are faced with someone vying for your time and attention, take a beat. Think about whether you really have the capacity or if you wanna do it, and if the answer's no, say no. If they catch you off guard and they put you on the spot with their request, a perfectly acceptable answer is, "Let me think about that and get back to you." So you have the time and space to honestly decide if it's something that you, A, want to do, and B, if you have the capacity and time to do it. And if you don't, say no. And if they don't understand, that's on them And I just wanna say this. Give yourself some grace. Beating yourself up over this is not going to make it go away. So be your own best friend and ask, "How can I help you today? How can I support you? What do you need?" Instead of shaming yourself and beating yourself up around this. That's not gonna get anything done. So go finish some of your open tasks. Get in a quick win, and celebrate each time you get a task completed. And remember, the best way to address this is planning and scheduling time for all of your tasks. And again, I teach you how to do that in Simply Curated. So get it today if you're listening to this September 8th or 9th of 2026, get it today, There will be a link in the show notes that will be active until 11:59 on September 9th and if you're listening to it after the 9th, go get yourself on my waiting list. You can do that by signing up for Two Simple Steps to Love Your Life. Those are things that you can implement right now to help you have the mental shift to begin to really love the life that you're living. If you have questions, please reach out to me at info@coachtemetria.com And I just wanna give you a quick update while you're here. If you're a regular listener to the podcast, you may have heard me say, "Come over and join the Curate Your Life Facebook group for more support and to join like-minded women." That group is changing slightly. It is still there, but I'm going to be doing some new things with that group. So in order to be in that group going forward, you have to be a client who's worked with me, who's either coached with me or purchased a planner or purchased one of my courses. Purchasing Simply Curated will not only get you that course with lifetime access, it will get you into the group where we will be answering questions, doing some coaching, and doing live events to really help you get the most out of this course and take things to the next level Again, if you have questions, reach out to me at info@coachtemetria.com. I answer all the emails myself. Until next time