Crush Your Day With This Powerful System for Organising Your Tasks
You are 5 steps away from regaining control
Having a to-do list is Productivity 101.
It is the sacred cow of all-time management strategies. Everyone has one. Everyone thinks they need one. It is an assumption that is never challenged.
Until now.
So let me enter the fire and say it.
The to-do list causes so many problems.
How not to use a to-do list
Here’s what we usually do:
- Start the day with your list of tasks
- Cross them out as you complete each one
- New work arrives so you add it to your list
If you have done well, your list might be shorter by the end of the day. Sometimes it is longer. But whatever happens, it is never empty.
This is ridiculous. You’d never do this in any other area of life.
This approach creates 3 major problems.
Problem 1: It doesn’t help you decide what to do.
You look at your list of tasks.
How are you going to decide what to do?
The to-do list itself offers no help. You already have more than you can do in 1 day. So you will turn to other ideas such as the silly urgent/important matrix or the Pomodoro technique.
You end up doing a random mixture of:
- the easiest
- the urgent
- the important
There is a better way.
But let’s consider the other 2 problems first.
Problem 2. It only offers demotivation
Imagine finishing work knowing you have completed all your tasks for that day.
You feel content, stress-free and fulfilled.
The traditional to-do list leaves us with a sense of failure at the end of the day. It is never completed. We lose every single day. This makes it hard to get motivated. Endless tasks don’t energise us.
In Greek mythology, Sisyphus is forced to push a boulder up a hill. It falls back down before it reaches the top. Condemning him to an eternity of useless efforts and unending frustration.
This is what we do to ourselves with our to-do list
You need a different type of task list.
Problem 3. It doesn’t encourage you to protect your time
It is difficult to protect your time to get your work done.
There are bosses, customers, and colleagues all battling to interrupt. It takes a lot of strength and self-discipline to resist these intrusions.
If you have a list of tasks that are impossible to do today. You will have limited motivation to protect your time. ‘What’s the point if we are going to fail anyway?’ your subconscious wonders.
Good news — there is another way.
A life-changing way to organise your day
The solution is simple but requires a shift in mindset. I’ve used this approach for many years and found it incredible.
Let me walk you through the 5 steps.
Step 1: Work out the size of your working day
When you go shopping you need to know your budget. It’s the same with planning your workload. How much time do you have to spend?
This can be tricky to work out.
- You are at work for 8 hours
- You have 2x1 hour meetings planned
- You estimate phone calls and interruptions will take another hour
- You need 30 minutes to make drinks and toilet breaks
- You plan a 30-minute lunch break
8–4 hours = 4 hours left to do your work
Step 2: Have a task list that fits the time available
You now need a task list that will take 4 hours. There is no point in having an 8-hour task list for 4 hours of available time!
Look at all your tasks. Do a rough calculation of how long each will take. Pick 4 hours’ worth of tasks. Put them on today’s list.
What do you do with the rest of your to-do list?
You put them on tomorrow’s list. If that starts to look full put it on the following day.
This means you need a task tool that is calendar based. A physical A5 page-a-day task diary works well. Todoist is a great app if you prefer a digital task list.
After doing steps 1 & 2 your task list should now match your available time.
Step 3: Complete your tasks in any order
How should you approach your tasks?
If you have 4 hours to complete 4 hours of work. Can you see that it doesn’t matter what order you do them in? You no longer need to prioritise. (shocking I know — there goes another sacred cow)
You should order your tasks to fit you and your energy levels:
- Do the high-value tasks when are you at your best
- Be aware energy levels drop as the day progresses — so do difficult tasks earlier
- Do easy tasks to get going at your lower energy moments — after a difficult meeting or late afternoon
Step 4: Do not add to the list
This is really really really important!
Whenever a new task comes up. Do not add it to your list for today. Your day is already full. Put it on tomorrow’s list.
If a boss or colleague insists you do it today politely say you have no time today. Promise to complete it tomorrow. If the task is an emergency or you decide it would be wise to say yes to your boss. Then you can do it today. But you must move a similar time task to tomorrow’s list.
This gives you a degree of flexibility.
Make any changes you want as your day progresses but always keep the balance of tasks = time available.
Now you have the information. You have power.
Being in control feels amazing.
Step 5: Create two other lists
There are 2 more lists you’ll need if you are to protect your task list.
- A someday list
2. Project plans
- You need to protect your task list from your ‘someday’ items.
Someday items are those tasks you might do.
Write them down so you don’t lose the idea. But you haven’t committed to doing them yet. Do not put them on your task list.
Create a separate list. A someday list, not linked to any day. This can be your dumping ground for all your ‘maybes’. Review it (this can be an item on your task list) and decide if you want to do any of the ideas. If you do then move it to tomorrow’s task list. Not today’s because that is already full remember!
2. Projects need careful handling and you have two options.
A project involves many tasks that can’t be done in one sitting. Examples include writing articles and organising events.
There are two ways to combine these with your new task list system
i. Write down all the tasks involved in the project and enter these into your task lists over several days. So for organising an event:
- Tomorrow: book the venue
- Monday: send emails to suppliers
- Tuesday: design publicity
- Wednesday: conduct a risk assessment
You might want to keep a separate task list for each project
ii. The other approach is to put the project itself on today’s task list. Do some work on it and then write it on tomorrow’s list. Repeat this until the project is finished.
You may vary the approach depending on the type of project.
The incredible power of a task list that matches your time
This approach is so powerful because of constraints and control
Constraints x10 your energy
Ever noticed the day before your holidays you get a ton of work done? It’s because of the time constraint.
The focus of having X hours to complete this list of Y tasks is invigorating.
Being in control
Having a task list that fits your day empowers you to adapt and keep agile throughout the day. You are no longer stressed when the unexpected happened. You can shift your tasks around.
The control this gives you is golden.
The bottom line is you will get more done. No need to fall for the latest productivity silver bullet. And this system is so simple.
Get started today. Buy an A5 diary or sign up for Todoist. You will not look back!
You’ll be too busy enjoying the control, freedom, and joy that results.
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