I was talking to a friend of mine the other day who is also my new accountability partner. We check in every Friday to see if we’re staying on track with our goals and tasks that each of us have laid out for ourselves.

I usually don’t like this sort of thing- being checked in on by someone to see if I accomplished something. Even when I was a kid I didn’t like due dates or people telling me what to do. I’m pretty independent and quite self-motivated, so usually when someone tries to manage me, I want to do the exact opposite of what they say. I like, instead, when people are encouraging, like “great job! You’re amazing! Keep doing that unique thing, you extremely special snowflake!” etc. But I guess everyone likes that.

However, accountably partnership apparently works really well for me! Who knew?  I’m really trying to stay on track with certain online business tasks, and when my friend proposed the idea of checking in on each other, I thought I’d give it a try. And it has been great! Beyond great! It has been brilliant. I’ve gotten SO. MUCH. DONE. Sometimes something you think won’t work because it hasn’t ever worked in the past suddenly works in the present. So really, you never know. Try new things, guys. Or try old ones again…

Anyway, something we both discovered when working through our numerous To Do list items is that some items are super easy and can be crossed off in milliseconds, and others seem to drag on for yearsssssss…

Well, maybe not YEARS…but a really long time. And then you don’t get that awesome satisfaction of checking off a to do list item (isn’t that the best feeling ever?) Instead you get stuck on one darn thing.

Why does this happen? My friend and I asked ourselves that question numerous times as we struggled on sudden tasks that brought us to full stops and felt crazyyyy slowwww. And then we realized it- sometimes a task is a zip file. You know, those files that you open up and suddenly see….more files. Sometimes a whole lot more files.

So when you’re working through a task list, watch out for those ZIP FILES that will slow you down. When you realize a task is a zip file (hint: it has many parts and takes forever), break it down into smaller tasks! Then you can check them off and gain satisfaction from checking items off and, you know, accomplishing stuff! A good example of a hidden zip file is a list that looks like this:

• -Get groceries
• -Do Laundry
• -Write novel

I’m kind of exaggerating, but which one of these tasks do you think is a zip file? Yeah, probably not laundry. So, if you’re struggling to check off your novel-like task, break it down into something like:

• Write first draft of chapter one of novel
• Edit chapter 1
• Write first draft of chapter 2 of novel
• Celebrate with glass of wine!

Open up the zip file! Then do your laundry. And your tasks may truly get a whole lot more manageable!