Summary

The website content advocates for focusing on three main priorities, termed "The Big Three," to enhance productivity and personal growth.

Abstract

The article emphasizes the inefficiency of managing an endless to-do list, suggesting it is detrimental to health and productivity. It introduces a method of prioritizing only three key outcomes for the year, known as "The Big Three," which are specific and personalized goals designed to move an individual closer to their envisioned future self. The author, who is experimenting with this approach, provides practical steps for implementing it, including setting monthly, weekly, and daily priorities that align with the yearly outcomes. The process involves committing to these goals, gaining courage, building capability, and ultimately fostering confidence, as outlined in Dan Sulivan's "4 C's Formula." The author also shares their personal "2021 Outcomes" and recommends using a smartphone's widget feature to keep these priorities visible and top of mind.

Opinions

The author believes that focusing on more than three priorities dilutes effort and leads to minimal progress.
Having a never-ending to-do list is seen as unhelpful and a source of stress.
The concept of "The Big Three" is presented as a solution to the stress and ineffectiveness of traditional to-do lists.
The author is in the process of testing a new method for productivity and plans to share the results.
Commitment to the "Big Three" is considered essential for achieving the desired outcomes.
The author values the importance of having close relationships, paying off debt, and building a dedicated audience as part of their personal "Big Three."
The author suggests that focusing on too many tasks can prevent any single task from

To Have More Than 3 Priorities Is a Waste of Time

Try these practical steps to reach your desired future self

The long, never-ending to-do list sucks!

That was really hard for me to say, considering that there’s nothing that I enjoy more than ticking items off of my never-ending list of things that I “need” to get done.

Having that never-ending list is actually not helpful, nor is it good for your health. If you’re like me, it causes you stress and gets very hard on yourself when you do not get things ticked off your list.

I am in the process of testing out a different method for getting things done but more on that later. I will let you know how it goes.

For now, let's talk about what I have been working on this year and a tool that I came up with to help with the process.

The Big Three

“If you have more than three priorities, you don’t have any.”

-Jim Collins

If you try and focus on too many things at once, you will end up making minimal traction on each. To make progress, you must narrow down your focus to three things.

So you must figure out the top three things that will move you closer to your future self. This is different for everyone and should be your big three for the year. I call them my “2021 Outcomes.”

Make sure that your big three are specific outcomes. Once you have your big three, then it’s time to commit to achieving these outcomes. It will help to learn what Dan Sulivan calls The 4 C’s Formula.

Commitment, which leads to
Courage, which leads to
Capability, which leads to
Confidence, then repeat.

My three outcomes for 2021 are:

Connection: Be in a close enough relationship with 2–3 guys that I would feel comfortable calling them in the middle of the night.
Debt Payoff: Pay off half of my current debt.
100 Fans: Have 100 fans to my weekly digest.

Once you know your big three for the year, it’s time to hyper-focus on those three outcomes.

To quote my old boss Jimmy Herron:

“What you focus on will improve.”

But remember, if you focus on too many things, nothing will improve.

Do the following to focus on your big three for the year:

Plan your big three for the month

At the end of each month, you need to plan your big 3 for the upcoming month. These should be three things that, if you accomplish, will move you closer to your big three for the year.

My big three for February is:

Create a landing page & start my weekly digest.
Set up an eBay seller account to sell items around the house to pay towards debt.
Publish at least one article per week.

Plan your big three for the week

Before the week begins, plan out your big three for the week. These are tasks that get you closer to your big three for the month.

My big three for this week is:

Setup Newsletter Automation
Research Online Course Creation
Publish One Article

Lastly, plan your big three every day

You probably see the pattern here. The next thing that you need to do is determine each day what three things that, if you accomplish, will move the needle forward on your big three for the week.

Sometimes you may choose to do things that lead to your monthly or yearly goals that may not necessarily be a part of what you planned for the week. That’s okay.

My big three for today is:

Send a nice note to my wife
Complete article draft
Pack for trip

How To Track Your Big Three

The best way to track your big three is to have them in front of your face all day long. I use my iPhone to accomplish this. The best part is it’s free. I could pay a little, and it looks nicer, but since one of my goals is to pay off debt, I feel that would be counterintuitive to my goal.

Here is what you need to do:

Find a simple to-do list app. I use this one. Make sure that the app has a widget. This To-Do List app only allows you to create two lists, so I had to use this one to get my third list for my Monthly Outcomes without paying.
Add the widget to your home screen. It needs to be the first thing that you see when you open your phone. Here is an article on adding widgets to your iPhone, just in case you don’t know how. I didn’t.
Label one list as “Today’s Outcomes.”
Label a second list as “Week’s Outcomes.”
Label the third list as “Month’s Outcomes.”

Here is what my home screen looks like:

What are your big three?

Start with brainstorming who your future self is. Then decide what three outcomes would get you closer to that person. Then set up your phone with these apps and widgets and get to work.

If you have any questions or would like to know more, sign up for my weekly digest. I answer all emails.