Tutoring Lesson #2: Break Down Difficult Tasks into Bite-Sized Pieces

If there’s one thing I’ve learned on my path to Simplifying Life, it’s this — Break down the overwhelm in order to conquer it. In my self-published book, Playground Instruction for the Growing Adult, I stated that “tasks are less intimidating (especially the undesirable ones) when you can view them in more manageable, bite-sized work items that are easier to digest than trying to swallow the oversized task as a whole.”

It’s true, you know. If I’ve seen it one time, I’ve seen it a dozen in the tutoring experience. I have more success in getting a reluctant reader to perform a reading task when I take what seems like a formidable reading activity (to my student) and break it down into several smaller activities —  multiple task components combined to make up the overall.

I’m not changing the original task. It remains the same; it’s just being tackled in parts . . . in phases . . . in rounds. My student and I are taking bite-sized chunks out of our full main course assignment and chewing it up really well so it goes down the digestive tract nicely and smoothly. No indigestion. No heartburn. No feeling like we bit off more than we could actually chew.

I’ll give you an example of how I’ve used lesson #2 with my students.

Instead of giving my student a paragraph to read by him or herself, especially when that student is unwilling to read by him or herself, I’ll read with the student. We’ll take turns alternating the sentences. (Student reads the first sentence, then I read the second, the student reads the third, and so on. Then, we do a switch-a-roo and I read that same first sentence, then the student reads the second, I read the third, and so on until we finish the paragraph).

Do you know what that does? Well, the partner reading still gets the original reading task accomplished. Here’s the psychology behind it . . .  the paragraph is read by splitting it between student and tutor (breaking down the task into a smaller, more manageable task). And, by splitting it up twice and alternating reads, the student ends up reading the full paragraph when both reads are added together (original intent of the task stays intact).

After doing the two partner reads (more often than not), my student ends up gaining the confidence needed to go ahead and read the full paragraph all by him or herself, because it’s already been done once. The scariness of the start . . . the attempt of the unknown has been approached. The “difficult task” glass has been shattered.

That’s the beauty of the breaking down of a task into smaller pieces, and then the attacking of those pieces . . . over time . . . one at a time until all pieces are handled. The overall task will eventually get done anyway.

And consequently, the mindset benefits from the breaking down of a task because it doesn’t have to feel the daunting weight of the overwhelm of a task, leading to frustration, doubt, avoidance, and inevitably, abandon.

Time for a call-to-action:

Okay. I want you to look at Tutoring Lesson #2 as a directive that commands the achievement of tasks in your everyday life. You know the tasks I’m talking about. The doozies, the undesirables, the dreaded, and the too hard to handle tasks that cause you to take a pause when trying to wrap your head around where to even start. 

You know what the desired end result should be. The outcome you want to achieve. The task that needs completing. You just can’t see a clear path on how to get the job done.

Hey, I’ve got you. And, here’s the thing: I want you to try something for me, and don’t get nervous when I tell you some writing is involved. I mean . . . writing therapy is always in season and it can help organize your direction in accomplishing your end goal. Trust me on that.

So . . . 

Here’s how you break down tasks into smaller activities to tackle (oh, and I snagged these steps from my book, as well):

1. “Identify the overall task you’re attempting to accomplish.” – Write it down, please. (This is your complicated main course.)
2. “Break down the task into smaller, more manageable tasks.” – Write down (in detail) all the baby steps needed to get the overall task completed. (This is your plan of attack. Your meal plan, or ingredients and instructions to bring that main course to life.)
3. “Create a realistic deadline for the completion of each small task as well as the overall task.” – Again, write it down. You’re more likely to act on something you see in writing. (Here’s where you estimate the required cooking time to completion of your main course. And, don’t be too hasty here. Be realistic on the timing needed to get the job done and you’ll decrease the frustration factor because you’re not trying to do too much in too short of a timeframe. You’re only human.)
4. “Complete all the small tasks until the overall task is completed in its entirety.” – Okay, so it’s time to stop the writing and get to the actual cooking. Put your rear into gear and walk the walk, or baby steps you wrote out in step #2. Don’t forget to check off your mini tasks, or steps, as you go along. IT FEELS GOOOOOOD to do so. And by all means, don’t stop until the end goal gets got. The main course ain’t preparin’ itself.

Oh, and you can type (rather than write) out items 1 – 3 (above) if you so choose. Typing, writing, tomato, tomahto . . . you get where I’m coming from. The point is that the documentation of the process for getting difficult tasks done is key to getting the difficult task done. It doesn’t matter which “in print” method you choose. Choose the one that will best organize your successful path toward achievement of the overall task.

And, I’m even going to provide you with a helpful project planner to use if you decide to write everything out. Check it out in the link below.

The Project Planner

So, what do you think about this lesson learned? I’d love to know if you’ve experienced a similar teachable moment and how you’ve used the “break down” to simplify difficult tasks in your own day-to-day.

Until next time . . .