“Scary hour,” an hour-long time block where you only work on tasks you’ve been holding off, is the newest productivity trend. Often, workers will set a time on their phones and rush to complete all the work they have been putting off.
But while this approach can be appealing, many employees find it hard getting all of their tasks completed within this hour. Others find that instead of relieving anxiety, “scary hour” only magnifies their nerves. A race against time to finish your most daunting tasks can leave anyone with a racing heart.
I’ve been a CEO for more than 16 years, while I have always tended to stay away from productivity hacks, I believe “scary hour” may be one of the worst ones yet. Plus, I believe it is a leaders’ responsibility to provide their employees with tips on how to avoid “scary hours” and to offer various ways to stay productive when challenging tasks arise. Here’s what you should do instead of trying “scary hour.”
1. Prioritize your most important tasks
Instead of saving all your tasks for a “scary hour,” I recommend that workers prioritize completing their most pressing task first. Rather than reserve all your energy for a daily dose of “scary hour,” focus on what needs your most immediate attention now.
I’ll use myself as an example. Each day I write down my most timely task on a sticky note and post it on my desk as a reminder. I find that it doesn’t just improve my productivity, but also my overall motivation to get things done.
“Being intentional about one thing will get you working to completion on something that matters,” writes Peter Bregman.
He adds: “Keep at it even if you feel the pressure of emails awaiting replies or of other things left undone. It’s working through the muck that gets you to the other side. Leaving the challenge for something that’s easier in the moment may let you tick off more items on your long to-do list, but it will leave you with a hollow sense of accomplishment.”
It’s also important to consistently evaluate whether our smaller tasks can be automated. For instance, rather than tediously aligning schedules, you can save time by using a calendar app to cut out the back and forth.
2. Toss the never-ending to-do list
I often offer the same advice to my team members: Ditch your to-do list,
When I first founded my startup in 2006, I was chained to a never-ending to-do list. It felt like a cruel, arduous punishment to have it constantly regenerate with more things to add to my plate.
But over time, I began to notice that my to-do list was leading me to prioritize minor chores and crucially important tasks equally. Both meaningless errands and critical projects would receive the same checkmark of completion, even though they carried very different weights. This dynamic would keep me in a loop of breezing through the tedious, yet easy, items—and avoiding the more challenging tasks that are more meaningful.
“Many of the actions on our to-do lists—those that govern our daily lives—don’t actually correspond to our main values,” writes Reva Seth, a strategic communications consultant. “And that only exacerbates the feeling of being overwhelmed.”
3. Automate your email inbox folders
One of the most anxiety-inducing daily tasks we face is our overloaded email inboxes. Sorting through important correspondence from general spam isn’t just time-consuming, it is tedious and overwhelming. Instead of forcing yourself to get through all your emails during a “scary hour,” I recommend that workers automate their inbox folders.
Filters, for example, can help you classify and categorize any spam that lands in your mailbox so that you don’t lose hours doing it yourself. By cutting out busywork from your day, you won’t have to try to hack your productivity with a self-imposed “scary hour.”
What I love about email filters is that I bypass having to delete messages like “*~Special Car Insurance Offer~*” and can focus on more complex tasks.
Automating your email folders also allows you to view the emails you most care about. You can also identify what’s most critical and use a filter to move them into a high-priority folder.
The bottom line: We should feel energized and inspired when we show up to work—not dreading the most challenging tasks ahead of us. “Scary hour” only makes this dread worse and there are many other approaches we can take instead.
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