Input and output tasks

Over time, I gathered a bunch of helpful mental models to manage my work and motivate myself. These mental models can be applied in professional work, but also in private life at times. I often forget these are things I learned at some point, so I am writing them up for my Startup Therapy series as they come to me. Just in case they may prove helpful for someone at some point 😊

Today's mental model: Input tasks and output tasks.

Input tasks

Input tasks are defined by how much you put into them. Most often it is some unit of time. Input tasks create clear rules of engagement and time box the work.

An example can be:

Brainstorm ideas for the new communications strategy for 15 minutes.

With this input task, I can clearly plan fifteen minutes in my calendar and know I will be successful by the end of it. During those fifteen minutes, I might produce one, ten, or one hundred ideas of varying quality. The task was to put in the work, not to produce something specific. Timer says done!

Output tasks

Output tasks on the other hand, define the outcome you want to see upon completion. It helps articulate what should be ready, regardless of how long it may take.

Similarly to the previous example, an output task formulation could be:

Generate 10 ideas for the new communications strategy

When articulated with specificity, output tasks can be liberating as they highlight the time spent no longer matters. You might have more ideas, but once you hit 10, you are done. Output tasks can also be overwhelming, when there are external or internal pressures that make you evaluate the output as you are creating it.

Output tasks are helpful when other tasks are dependent on them. Output tasks are easier to plan with in a project and are helpful when you know where you are going. They also can be pernicious, as they can end up taking much less or more time than you thought they would.

Deciding on input or output

Every task can be articulated in either an input or an output manner. Choosing input or output helped me in many situations to move forward in my work.

Sometimes, I am strapped for time and simply need to get things done. I need to know I can get something off my to do list, so I decide to use an input task. "I have thirty minutes, and I will spend those 30 minutes finishing up this blog post" is an input task. It is hard to fail this task. It is how I actually finished this blog post, as I kept shifting the goalposts on what finished meant.

Other times, I might want to ensure the quality and not care how long or short it takes. I might want to enable my inner perfectionist some more and polish things. In that scenario, formulating an input task would not be helpful. "I will revise this blog post until I am happy with it" is an output task (the risk that "happy" is too ambiguous!).

There is no better kind of task here – input or output is merely a tool to help you feel more in control of the work that you are doing. Are you feeling blocked on a task for some reason? Often, that means the output has the focus. Reframing the task as an input task and spending (for example) fifteen minutes on it, can get it done or unlock the motivation to work on the task further. Getting started can be the hardest task of all. I use input tasks as a way to trick myself into just getting started, and there is no shame in that.

And yes, you can always reformulate from input to output, or the other way around. Do what works for you in that moment; there are no rules or permanent insights with respect to motivating yourself. I can recommend the heuristic of using input tasks to get started on something, in order to build the momentum you need to move towards output tasks.

A big shout out to one of my business mentors over the years, who taught me this little trick in an off-hand comment. Mentorship is important, and if you are looking for it, do not be afraid to ask someone you think you can learn from. The act of articulating what support you are looking for is already a form of self-help.