I used to surf. Since I live in Oregon I rarely if ever go. The water is just too cold for it to be enjoyable for me. Maybe I am just not truly dedicated to the sport anymore. But I do dream of surfing in warm water.
In surfing, the spot to be at is right before the wave break on the wave in what is called the pocket. One of the reasons surfers turn is to stay in the pocket of the wave. Whether at work, at home, in reference to debt, homework, or laundry, the best spot to be is ahead of it all.
To stay ahead of it, the challenge is to find and stay in the sweet spot. Again, in surfing, the surfer turns on the wave to position into the break. Going up the wave slows them down, going down the wave speeds them up, and going straight down the wave can maintain their speed. An experienced surfer uses the entire face fo the wave to generate speed while staying in the pocket. Speed control allows the experienced surfer the ability to ride a wave for its entire length.
This same concept of speed control can be applied to endeavors outside of surfing. I practice (well try to) a method of close out. I plan the year, the month, the week, the day and the task. I correspondingly and in reverse order close out the task, the day, the week, the month and the year (sometimes the quarter too). The act of close out sets a pace to ensure I finish the task, the tasks of the day, the task fo the week, etc, before moving too far into something else.
For example, at work, I use a Work Order system through Quickbooks. this system does not let me invoice a customer (or get paid) until the products they ordered are made in the system. And I can not make the products until its components are completed. I can not complete the components until the raw materials are received. And finally, I can not receive the raw materials unless there was a purchase order entered. These dependencies in the system mean that I can not get to the next task until the tasks I had planned are complete.