3 Unusual Lists To Write Today That May Well Change Your Life
Steal these lists from James Altucher, Gary Keller and Mrs Hinch
I bloody love a good list. Who doesn’t?
We’ve all heard of Benjamin Franklin’s to-do list (image below), scheduled into his daily agenda. Items like ‘Contrive day’s business’ and ‘Put things in their places’ inspire reverence amongst the productivity nerds amongst us. ‘What good shall I do this day?’, he asks himself. Wow. What a question. What a list.
An inspiring list is a tonic. Lists make us feel calm, like we have control over this terrifying, chaotic world. The first bullet point goes down on the page. We exhale. Mastery of the day awaits.
So it’s highly likely that 99% of the lists you write in your life today are a form of ‘to do list’. I don’t blame you — it’s a classic. The aspiration of achieving it all is thrilling.
But — there’s a whole host of different lists out there that can help us make sense of ourselves and the world.
Some of these lists are challenging, and will require some soul searching. Some will lift you up and inspire. Some are a one-time brain dump, and some are worth doing daily. Spoiler: One isn’t even a list at all.
1. For when you’re feeling low: The ‘Ta Da’ list
Marc Andreessen (of Andreesen-Horowitz success) coined the ‘Anti To-Do list’: writing down everything you’ve achieved that day, to get a sense of what you’ve accomplished.
“Each time you do something, you get to write it down and you get that little rush of endorphins that the mouse gets every time he presses the button in his cage and gets a food pellet.” — Marc Andreessen
But I prefer the term ‘Ta Da list’, coined by the Instagram cleaning phenomenon of 4.6 million followers, Mrs Hinch. Thousands of her fans post their own ‘ta da lists’ daily.
How it works: Write down what you did today, marvel at your productivity, and give yourself a pat on the back. It’ll build your sense of accomplishment, helping you to continue your forward momentum for tomorrow.
2. For when you want to move forward: A ‘Top Excuses’ List
Every day, we tell ourselves “I can’t do x because y”. Example: “I can’t exercise today, because I’m too tired”. We probably don’t even hear that little internal voice that whispers to us before we bin off our goals.
Cue the ‘Top Excuses’ list.
How it works: Write down the 3 to 5 excuses you find yourself making day to day that prevent you from moving forward. Then write yourself a response to each, as if you were a kindly, no-nonsense aunt.
I wrote my ‘Top 3 Excuses’ list and it looks like this.
- I’m tired → No one died of tiredness. You can still do the thing.
- I’m not good enough → So what. Do it anyway. No one is thinking about you.
- I haven’t got time → Yes, you bloody well do. Make it a priority. Now.
Acknowledging your excuses up front for not doing the things you need to do in life is like shining a huge spotlight on a lazy teenager. They’ll writhe around complaining, but eventually, begrudgingly, follow you to the kitchen to help with the washing up.
Writing this list has helped me to identify excuses as soon as they arise, and giving myself a pre-defined rebuttal means I can switch back to action-mode, quickly.
3. To build the muscle of creativity: The ’10 ideas per day’ list
I love the story of James Altucher, who went from bankruptcy to building a hugely successful career as a serial entrepreneur.
Altucher describes creativity as a ‘muscle’ that needs to be trained as part of a daily practice. One of the inspiring daily habits to which he attributes his ongoing success is writing down 10 ideas a day.
“Good ideas buy you good experiences, buy you better ideas, buy you better experiences, buy you more time, save your life” — James Altucher
How it works: Get a notebook and pen. Write down 10 ideas. Lather, rinse, repeat — daily.
Your ideas can be about anything — new inventions, business ideas, ways to improve your relationship, creating a new parlour game — you name it. The main thing is to show up, commit to coming up with 10 ideas, and to work that old noggin of yours.
Within a few days you’ll start seeing the results of your growing creativity show up in different areas of your life.
🎁 Bonus: The ‘Non-list’ (Gary Keller’s ‘The One Thing)
Sometimes a list can be distracting. Dangerous, even. When there’s a lot on your plate and the list keeps extending, it can be overwhelming.
Cue the ‘non-list ‘— a.k.a honing in on the one thing that you need to do to drive impact.
This is the concept that Gary Keller shares in his book The One Thing, which perfectly articulates how to use ruthless prioritisation to get maximal results.
“What’s the ONE Thing you can do this week such that by doing it everything else would be easier or unnecessary?” — Gary Keller
In the book, Keller describes how his 14-strong executive team became dramatically more productive as soon as he gave them one single task to focus on after their team meeting.
Building on this idea, Keller cleverly calls out how to eliminate unnecessary distractions, choose a focus that has exponential gains, and narrow in on our true goals to reach maximum potential.
Maybe you need that to do-list today…or perhaps what you need isn’t a list at all — it’s a single task, written on a post-it, tagged above your computer, driving you forward every day. ❤️
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