Q: What is the absolute worst thing that you ever have to do?
A: In my case, two issues are struggling for supremacy. The first is catching a rat, which lives under our deck. The second is reading the instruction manual that comes with a new car.
Worst Job:
At the back of the house, we have a decking area. The house is south facing, so it gets a lot of sunshine. Over the past couple of weeks, a local rat (I’m assuming that he is a local) has taken up residence under the decking. With all the warmth in there this summer, he probably thinks it’s a penthouse in Marbella. Linda has laid down the law. It’s either me or him; one of us has to go. That’s the worst job I have on the agenda at the moment.
2nd Worst Job:
My last car was getting old. I bought it a couple of years back and had racked up a good few miles, scrapes and bumps (always, other people’s fault, of course). So, it was time to check out a younger model. The new car has more computing technology than Apollo 13 and came with a 485-page manual. That manual was sitting on my desk for weeks. I had to read it – because every time I wanted to turn left I put on the wipers and the Sat-Nav kept trying to bring me to an obscure town in the Arctic Circle. I’m sure it’s idyllic – but Norway is such a long drive during the working week. So, it had to be done. Plough through the manual with the 7-point font. It took just over a week. Now I know how to open the boot and have broken off my relationship with the annoying voice that kept telling me to “turn back” as I was heading for home (Clontarf is broadly in the direction of Norway anyway – what was her problem?)
Just do It:
For some people, procrastination is an art form. They keep having the same conversation, over and over again. They play the ‘what if’ game, with more twists than a Harry Potter novel. This endless churning of possibilities is a form of self-torture. If you have something to do that’s uninteresting or downright unpleasant – then get it done. Now. Not tomorrow or next week. Now. Tough tasks take the same amount of time done immediately – and you save all the angst. In the days when Tony Ryan ran GPA there was a huge sign hanging over the boardroom table. It read. Do it now! Not a bad motto for your managerial life.
That’s it. Sorted. That f*****g rat has to go!