The Beach House and the Crapshack

Are you spending time on the right tasks?

Whether a task is the right one depends on two factors: its priority and your satisfaction in completing it. If you spend all your time on important tasks that you do not enjoy at all, every job becomes a slog. And if you only ever do the fun stuff, the important tasks may never get done. There needs to be balance.

The way I like to think about spending time on tasks is whether they are in the beach house or the crapshack. It is a simple framework for ensuring you spend your time wisely. Wisely means you maintain a sensible balance between what is important and what you enjoy. Variety is, after all, the spice of life.

Important tasks can be in the beach house or the crapshack, although they have a tendency to nestle in the latter. You only spend time in the crapshack if you have to, not because you want to. So, if an important task is in the crapshack, do it quickly yet properly. Ideally, you spend most of your time in the beach house.

That said, habituation implies that the more time you spend in the beach house, the less resplendent it appears. Everything in it becomes normal, dull even. That is when you set your eyes on a mental villa. Anything left in the crapshack is ripe for delegation. If you can delegate, that is. What you consider a crapshack may very well be a beach house to someone else: tasks in your crapshack may be exciting opportunities for someone else. The reverse can also be true: their idea of a crapshack is your beach house.

All in all, the beach house vs the crapshack is a graphic mental model to ensure the right balance between important and pleasurable activities.