The Bulletproof To-Do List
Estimated reading time: 2 minutes, 25 seconds.
When it comes to planning our days we are almost always unrealistic about what we think we are going to accomplish. This is simply the nature of people who actually take the initiative to plan. We want transformation. We want to be in action. We want relief from our obligations. We want more out of every day and we expect more from ourselves. It follows then that if we plan our day we should obviously get more out of it, right? Sometimes yes. Sometimes no. Will slogging through a daily brain dump unlock the secret to being more focused and to getting more done? Nope. Not if you have kids, or a job, or make daily decisions, or own a pet, or have emotions. The next time you gear up to take on the world try this instead.
Make a list of everything you are going to accomplish today. Are there any appointments or deadlines imposed by others on your list? Those stay. Note the exact time that they occur or are due.
Now ask yourself “are these really tasks or are they projects?” If they can be completed after only one action then they’re tasks. If they require more than one action then they are projects. Projects require deeper planning and usually require more than a day. Move those items to a “projects list” and carve out at least thirty minutes each week to break those projects into a series of individual actions.
Still have stuff on your list? Ask yourself if you are really the only person who can do these things? Delegate as many tasks as you can. For all of the remaining items ask yourself Gary Keller’s famous focusing question,
“What is the ONE THING on this list I can do today such that by doing it I will make everything else either easier or unnecessary?”
Think about this. Really think about it. If after applying this question you can cross stuff off your list then do so immediately. And for the things that remain you can apply the aforementioned question again but re-frame it as “what can I do tomorrow,” “this week,” and “next week.”
By this point you should be looking at a much smaller to-do list than when you started. As you look at the one, or maybe two things, still on your list ask yourself how much time they will require? Now double that estimation. We must account for “The Planning Fallacy.” What kind of mental and physical energy is needed to complete these tasks? Can you do them when you are sleepy or distracted or do you need to be focused and strong? Schedule your tasks according to what you know about yourself and your typical daily patterns of energy.
Are there still a few things left? How would you feel if you gave yourself permission to not do them at all?
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