A Simple Fix For Your Task List To Increase Productivity
Take a more active approach to managing your schedule.
What’s your to-do list like?
If you’re like me (and why not?), it’s a shopping list style of brief words — often abbreviated — indicating tasks that need to be completed by the end of the day or week.
For example, here’s a peek at what my work to-do list used to look like before I switched things up a little:
- MedWed
- Dante
- Matt
- Podcast
- SilvLight
- ColTax
- LoneR35
Like I said, very brief. And somewhat cryptic unless you live inside my head. From the outside, I can’t imagine anyone would be able to decipher much of it. There might be some guesses based on what you may know about me, but that’s about it.
My personal to-do list code isn’t the point, though.
At least not entirely.
I intend to check off these tasks when they’re completed, but they don’t really tell me what I’m going to be doing to get them completed.
It’s a subtle difference.
Here… take a look at what my list looks like these days:
- Write Medium post for Weds
- Finish editing on Dante book
- Contact Matt re: books
- Record latest podcast
- Write SilverLight article, 750 words
- Collect tax records
- Finish layout Lone Ranger chaps 3–5
Compare this to my previous to-do list. Spot the main difference?
It’s not so much that I’ve taken time to write out a more descriptive line item, but more with how each line item begins.
See it yet?
Each listed item begins with a verb.
Write, finish, contact, record, collect, etc.
Language matters
By changing how I word items in my to-do list, I’m not calling attention to the action that needs to be taken. I’ve moved from a list of simple things to a list of actions that need to be undertaken and completed.
It’s a subtle sort of difference, I grant you, but it’s helped me view my week’s work in a different light. In fact, I rarely used the term “to-do list” any longer. I tend to refer to it now as my “action list.”
Checking tasks off my action list feels more satisfying now. Acting upon them seems easier. The whole process has become more fulfilling. Even composing my list at the start of the week gets me more attuned to what goals I have lined up.
It’s a small hack, but it makes a difference. Any boost in productivity — even a minor one — is a good thing.
Try it out and see what happens.
You might be pleasantly surprised.
Thank you for reading. I’d love to share more with you via my Bi-Weekly Word Roundup newsletter sent to subscribers every other Sunday. It will feature news, productivity tips, life hacks, and links to top stories making the rounds on the Internet. You can unsubscribe at any time.
