Pop-Up Tasks

During my day things pop-up that need to be addressed.  This happens every day and most of these are fairly benign tasks that are quickly resolved.  However, sometimes these things are urgent and can really stress me out.  If you've read this blog you might guess that I forecast spending "all" my free time on this task, not getting to work on the things I'd like, and other distorted thoughts.  Yesterday was a hectic day and I was hit with several pop-up items that all seemed urgent and high priority.  I handled them pretty well and later in the day reviewed my event log to see that I already have an entry related to pop up tasks.  In the Event-Thoughts box I cover thinking that my day will be ruined, that I'll be stuck at work for a long time, and that I won't get any of the rest of my tasks done.  In the Mitigating Ideas box I tell myself  to look for things that can be delayed, prioritize, recognize that some things can be completed quickly, and a couple of more ideas.  That's exactly what I did yesterday. I prioritized, performed triage and did enough work on some that I could delay completion until today, and some other stuff.  It felt good reading that entry while reflecting back on my day.  I felt more comfortable with how I handled the events and also recognized that I've gotten better and handling pop-up tasks from an emotional standpoint.