Last week, we looked at Stress Free Ways To Get More Done. Evidently, that idea resonated with quite a few people. Part of the problem has to do with having multiple, competing priorities that all seem to be screaming at you for attention.
In February, I offered a few thoughts about how to keep track of all those incomplete items that take up at least some of your attention. That would seem to lead us toward using to do lists to keep track of what has your attention.
In a way, that is what I'm suggesting. However:
To Do Lists Don't Work - Unless, of Course, They Do!
Many of us have tried "to do" lists and, to be honest, a "to do" list works better than not having one at all. Or at least they kind of work. Sometimes.
If you have a "to do" list, where do you put it? Do you write out a "Things to do list for today" on a piece of paper? Perhaps you even have a pad pre-labeled "Things To Do Today." If so, what do you do with your to do list when you get to the end of the day?
If you're like most people, you probably wind up with several items that you didn't get done. Do you then create a brand new list the next day, copying over those items that you didn't get done the day before?
Sound familiar? If so, you may find that some of the same items keep getting transferred from one list to the next, over and over again. If you do that long enough, you may stop transferring those items, or, worse yet, you may abandon your "to do" list altogether. After all, who needs a list reminding them of all the things they keep putting off? Enough of the guilt thing already!
If you are more sophisticated, you might put your "to do" list directly on your calendar. Perhaps you even assign a time to each item. And then what happens? End of the day rolls around and somewhere between a handful and a bunch of items still aren't done. Now what?
Thank goodness for computers - all we have to do is select the item and assign it a new date and time. Again, and again, and again. And, after a while, it no longer gets transferred.
"To do" Lists Are the Buggy Whip of Productivity
It doesn't matter whether you use paper and pencil, a Word document, Outlook, or some fancy "to do" list manager - they all suffer from the same problem. The notion of "to do" list manager was dead way before we hit the 21st century. In fact, it was dead by the time we hit the '70's.
Back in the 1920's, Charles Schwab, the first president of US Steel and later founder of Bethlehem steel, found that he needed a way to get more done in the day. Legend has it that he issued a challenge offering to pay any amount within reason for ideas that would significantly improve his ability to get things done.
Ivy Lee, often cited as the creator of modern public relations, apparently got wind of the challenge and offered Mr. Schwab what was then an innovative idea. His suggestion was that Mr. Schwab and his executives begin each day by taking out a sheet of paper and writing down the ten most important tasks in front of them for that day. They were to then number them in terms of priority, and begin working on "job one." When, finished, they could move to #2 an so on until the list was done. Once the top ten were out of the way, they were free to do anything else.
Apparently, Mr. Schwab and his executives tried the idea for a month and received such incredible value from it in terms of accelerating their ability to be productive, that Mr. Schwab cut a check to Mr. Lee for a substantial amount of money. I have heard versions of the story ranging from a low of $10,000 to as much as $25-35,000. Even $10K is a significant amount of money, especially back then!
The "to do" list was a great idea for 1920-something. Back then, you could actually get 10 things done in a day without being interrupted all day long. Telephones were high tech and in low supply; email, texting, and cell phones hadn't been imagined.
In today's world, no sooner do you get started on something than the phone rings, the boss wants you, the customer has a problem, or any of a dozen different unplanned interruptions take place.
If you're trying to work the 1920's concept of a to do list executed in priority order, about the only way you can make that happen is by disappearing and unplugging from all things electronic.
The real world, however, requires a different work model.
Our next step is to get a real world list of all the things that have your attention, and get them into some kind of reliable system that will enable you to keep track of all your projects, goals, commitments, to do's, and next actions. (Cautionary note: if you haven't already compiled your "Incompletion Trigger List" then I strongly suggest you do so.)
Notice that I didn't say the system will help you get them all done - just keep track of them. Getting things done comes later. The first you need to do is get everything out of hiding and into a form where you can organize it and develop a system that will work for you.
In many respects, your list of incomplete items will become a 'to do' list that makes sense - you now have all the things you think you need to do in one place. From there, all you have to do is keep track of the list, check off the things you get done, add new ones, and keep the ball rolling.
However, that process can be a bit dulling and can lead to "why bother" thinking as the list never seems to end.
Next up, we need a 21st century way of managing all those "to do's."
Stay tuned!
You can find out more about Russell Bishop at http://www.lessonsinthekeyoflife.com. Contact Russell at: russell@lessonsinthekeyoflife.com
The author of Lessons in the Key of Life, Russell is an Educational Psychologist, professional life coach and management consultant, based in Santa Barbara California.
Follow Russell Bishop on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Russell_Bishop
http://www.Gtdagenda.com
You can use it to manage your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, schedules and a calendar.
A mobile version is available too.
Here I've been making these damn lists (and losing them) for year, and NOW you tell me they don't work?
Where were you when I was trying one calendar system after another, and covering my screen in Post its?
Now I find out I was wasting my time all along.
Drat.
Some of the main things I learned that help me get things done, are simple but effective:
• Don't waste time doing things you don't need to do, shouldn't do, etc. You'll often find that you suddenly have time to do far more things that are more valuable.
• Change direction the moment you realize that what you're doing, needs to wait, or doesn't need to be done at all, in favor of doing something else with more pressing priority.
• Don't let the TV or radio babble endlessly in the background--at least mute them during ads.
• Keep late-night work sessions to a bare minimum, if at all, so you can have the energy to do things during the day.
I have a to do list, and as you said, I keep transferring them to the next day, and I'm overwhelmed with stuff I can never get done, and it's discouraging to look at the list. At the same time, due to the constant interruptions, new emergency projects, meetings at the drop of a hat, and problems, there will be managers or customers opening a pandoras box by mentioning some item that never got done, and is sitting in my to do list from a month ago, and in one of the many bins or folders on my desk. Folder after folder, bin after bin, list after list. Things fall through the cracks.
So maybe like you said, getting things out of hiding is the first step, so you can see it all, and put it in some kind of system.
I need help big time with this.
BTW one of the key problems you mentioned was competing priorities. So when you have management that can't prioritize, and assign jobs and projects at will....you have no choice but to work a little bit on every one, which of course results in nothing getting done in a timely fashion.
So the question isn't what's on your To-Do List, it's what are your goals and what goals are your To-Do actions trying to help you achieve.
The mistake is that we think we have full control of our actions - consciously. But we don't. Every second, our conscious mind is being bombarded by our subconscious mind. And those are driven by deep seeded unconscious goals (not conscious goals). And most of your unconscious goals are focused on "maintaining the status quo".
If you want to change your behavior, you have to consciously face the goals you are working towards, not the ones you "think" you are working towards. You have to begin your day, not just with your to-do list, but also your actual long term goals which are driving your actions.
Check out my blog on the difference between Goals and To-Do Lists:
http://bizsuxs.blogspot.com/2009/06/your-list-of-goals-is-not-to-do-list.html
If you're on a Mac it's a must-have tool.
If you're not on a Mac, save time and money and get one. ;)
2) Whew, that's one less thing to do!
Then make one list - putting the ongoing things on top of the list and drawing a line to separate that list from the one time only list. Then once a week, I get out my calendar and schedule time to get each "ongoing" thing done and then schedule the "one time only" list. I can easily see when I am overscheduled or overwhelmed and then can make changes to get it done. Its gratifying to see both lists, the one that tells me how much I do on a weekly basis and the one that I can check off when things are truly done.
This system has been working to a degree, but it's not enough. So I'm looking forward to the article to see what system can manage everything I have a lot better.
It is not a bad idea to set aside time each day when all incoming goes to storage and you work on your own "to do" list.