Cue-Card 31. Talk about a clever decision made by someone to solve a problem

Talk about a clever decision made by someone to solve a problem

You should say:
-Who this person is
-What the problem was
-What solution he gave
-Why you think it was a clever solution
  • Until recently, I had an unsolvable problem. Or at least, I was fully convinced that my problem couldn’t be solved.
  • I felt demotivated and disappointed as I made lists of tasks for each day but was unable to complete them no matter how hard I tried.
  • I tried to cope with this problem myself. For example, I sorted tasks by priority and I avoided checking my emails or texting my friends, hoping that these strategies would help.
  • No matter what I did I couldn’t get all the work done. And I was really angry with myself. The turning point for me was realising that I didn’t even want to start doing anything at all.
  • I was so upset that I complained about this situation to my friend. I told him that I had already tried all the time management strategies, but nothing helped.
  • This person gave me a really simple, yet efficient solution to my problem. He advised me to stop making to-do lists because I planned much more than I could do.
  • I saw the list and thought that I had to complete all the tasks on the list. He told me that to-do lists don’t work for visual thinkers like me and recommended me to start using a different approach to planning my day.
  • At first, he drew a circular diagram which looked like a clock face. Then he took my long to-do list and asked me to estimate how much time each of the tasks would consume.
  • So he transferred the task from my to-do list to this diagram. Every time he shaded a sector for the task. At some point, there were no empty sectors on the first diagram. He drew the second one.
  • And I realised that when I made lists of things to do, it seemed to me I was obliged to do everything on the list by the end of the day.
  • I realised that the problem was not about poor productivity, but my inability to make realistic plans. He taught me to set achievable goals and avoid planning too many things.
  • I am convinced this was a clever solution because, first of all, it worked for me and helped me solve my problem fast and efficiently.
  • What’s more, it didn’t require me to put any extra efforts into solving the problem.

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