Your To-Do List Is A Scam
Welcome to Issue 90 of Yath’s Blogletter. My aim is to help us optimise life for time control and freedom to explore the things we really love.
Dear friends,
I think you might be scamming yourself. Most of us, including me, create extremely ineffective to-do lists.
Previously, I would wake up and list out everything I had to achieve that day. Then I would hack away at the list, stressing, and ticking things off until I get to the end of the day and realise there are still so many things on this list. I would be disappointed and move everything left over to the following day. This is not only unproductive, but it also serves to reduce your motivation and grit.
Let's say you add 10 things to do in a day and achieve 3, that's a 30% completion rate. On the other hand, let's say you add 3 things to do and achieve all 3, that's a 100% completion rate. Which of these would give you more confidence and motivation?
The reason most of us are ineffective at creating daily to-do lists is that we stop at the brain dump stage. The key is to spend a little longer to triage, prioritise, and form an executive list of 3 must-do tasks. At most these additional steps will only take 5-minutes. So, here's how I have started to create more effective to-do lists with a 3-step process:
- Brain dump - freely list things you want to get done. Have no limits, list freely as your mind desires. Go wild.
- Prioritise - re-arrange the list with the most pressing tasks at the top. Do this by thinking about what cannot wait until tomorrow and what doesn't need to happen today at all.
- Triage - decide on the 3 most important tasks. Then move any tasks that can wait to specific dates. Leave the rest of the tasks as 'maybe' for today.
Now you have an executive list of 3 must-do tasks. Then beneath you have a list of might-do tasks if you get the time. Finally, you've already shortened your list before you've even started the day by moving non-priority tasks to future dates.
Now of course if your three tasks are "take the bin out", "tidy the room", and "buy groceries" then you won't be achieving much and I don't think these are the things that take up significant time in the day and so no task of this nature should be triaged into the executive must-do list. The must-do tasks should always be tasks that require significant time and contribute towards significant important contributions towards a timely deadline, such as "completing X presentation" or "edit/write 1 piece of content".
In this manner, you have more clarity. You are not stressing about getting done 10 different things, your mind is only focused on 3 key tasks. This way you begin achieving a 100% completion rate and anything above and beyond is a bonus.
Quote of the week:
Instead of wondering when your next vacation is, maybe you should set up a life you don't need to escape from — Seth Godin
Recommendation of the week:
Tool 🧰 - Ergonomic Footrest
One of my lingering fears is the detrimental impact on my body from sitting at desks for extended periods. Things like carpal tunnel syndrome and lower back pain are no joke and can significantly impact our quality of life. So, last year I optimised my mouse and chair to be ergonomic. But, just last week I purchased this excellent footrest which has helped me sit in the recommended optimal position. I felt the improvement almost immediately and can definitely recommend it (particularly if you're a shorter human).
As always be safe, be happy.
Warm regards - Yath 🤟🏾