The PhD Life Coach 4.23 How to manage tasks that are not on your To Do list
Feb 2, 2026
Strategies for handling tasks that arrive unplanned and derail your week. Tips on pausing before saying yes and checking what you already committed to. Ways to swap, defer or partially accept new work without losing control. Reasons to record completed unplanned tasks to boost motivation and learn for the future.
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Launch-Week Podcast Panic Turned Opportunity
- Dr Vikki Wright recounts real-time launch-week scramble when a planned episode almost didn't exist.
- She turned a workshop comment into the episode topic, modelling calm problem-solving under pressure.
Stop Prioritising Others By Default
- Avoid habitually prioritising other people's tasks over your own commitments.
- Reserve doing others' work as an occasional choice, not your default pattern.
Newness Bias Steals Your Focus
- Novel tasks feel more exciting than long-term ones, which biases us toward new work.
- Notice the "new thing" effect and ask whether the novelty is driving your choice.