Minimum Viable Tasks

If I want to give myself a break, normally I will take Friday afternoon off. But recently I took a Monday afternoon off and I loved it. I’m always very busy on Mondays but it occurred to me that I could reduce the stress of that day if I just focused on the main things I needed to get accomplished and then consider that good enough. So, that’s what I did and I felt so refreshed and happy when I started work on Tuesday morning that I decided I need to do it more often.

The “Minimum Viable” Concept

One of the concepts that has greatly enhanced my life as a small business owner is “minimum viable marketing.” I have worked out the minimum amount of marketing I have to do to market Club Ed so that it does not to lose steam. Any less than that, and there’s a problem. But any more than that is not strictly required to keep the lights on.

I call that my “minimum viable marketing” (MVM) and I make sure to do those tasks every week no matter what else is happening.

When I have more time, I can do more marketing, but as long as I’ve done my MVM, I don’t sweat it.

So, I started applying this concept to other aspects of business ownership, including the tasks that need to be accomplished every day. Thus, “minimum viable tasks” was born.

These are tasks that have to be done within a given day, like replying to emails and giving feedback to students. They are the “serious trouble ensues if I don’t accomplish this today” tasks. So, I identify those, and once they’re complete, I can be done for the day (if I want or need to be). On most days, I do more than MVT, but on days with a lot of non-work obligations, MVT is a life-saver.

There are always so many things a freelancer could be doing that you can feel like your work never stops. MVT helps you shut off work so that you can take care of your other obligations and – surprise! – go enjoy your life.

If you’ve heard of the Pareto Principle (also known as the 80/20 rule) this approach will ring a bell. If eighty percent of our results come from twenty percent of our efforts, we should figure out what twenty percent matters and do those tasks, and then kick back and relax a while.

That’s what I’ve started to do and I recommend you try it, too!

Jennifer Lawler has been a freelance editor for more than twenty-five years and has been teaching editing skills for more than fifteen years. She is the founder of Club Ed LLC.