Okay, let’s talk about this Alex Lawson approach I tried out recently. I kept hearing the name pop up in relation to getting stuff done, specifically handling all the small, annoying tasks that pile up. Decided to give it a proper go myself.
Getting Started
First thing, I had to figure out what this ‘Alex Lawson’ thing actually involved for me. From what I gathered, it wasn’t some complicated system. It seemed more about a mindset shift and a really basic way to track tiny jobs. So, I grabbed a simple notepad, nothing fancy, just a cheap one from the corner shop. That felt like the right vibe – keep it simple.
The core idea I latched onto was dealing with those little five-minute tasks immediately instead of letting them build up. Sounds obvious, right? But I wasn’t doing it consistently.
The Actual Process I Followed
So, here’s what I did, day by day, starting last Monday:
- Identify the quick wins: Anytime a task popped into my head that I knew would take less than, say, 5 or 10 minutes, I’d stop what I was doing (if possible) and just do it. Like replying to that quick email, making that phone call I was putting off, or tidying up a small mess on my desk.
- The Notepad Step: If I couldn’t do it right that second, I’d quickly jot it down on my dedicated ‘Alex Lawson’ notepad page for the day. This was key – getting it out of my head.
- Batching the small stuff: A couple of times a day, maybe mid-morning and late afternoon, I’d look at the notepad. I’d then spend like 15-20 minutes just blasting through whatever quick tasks I’d written down. It felt pretty good knocking several things off in one go.
- End-of-Day Check: Before logging off, I’d glance at the notepad again. See what got done. Anything left over that was still small, I’d try to finish. If it was bigger, it would go onto my main to-do list for proper scheduling.
How It Felt and What Happened
Honestly, the first day felt a bit chaotic. I was stopping and starting more often. I worried I was losing focus on my bigger projects. It felt counterintuitive to stop writing a report just to answer a quick email I could have saved for later.
But by Wednesday, something clicked. My main work blocks felt more focused because my brain wasn’t constantly nagging me about those little things I hadn’t done. That background hum of “oh, I need to remember to…” just faded a bit. The notepad wasn’t a list of dread; it was just a temporary holding spot.
Big surprise: I actually felt less busy and more productive. Those little tasks weren’t hanging over me, creating mental clutter. Clearing them out quickly, or at least having a simple system to capture and batch them, made a real difference. My main to-do list started looking less intimidating too, because it wasn’t padded out with tiny items.
So yeah, this ‘Alex Lawson’ thing, or at least my interpretation of it, turned out to be pretty practical. Just a simple notepad and a commitment to either doing the small stuff immediately or batching it. It’s nothing earth-shattering, but it worked for me to reduce that feeling of being overwhelmed by a million tiny papercuts. Still doing it now.
