A few years back I would do this. Task A, B, C (that needed to be done) and so forth, but ever since I began doing what I do today, as a consequence I seem to be getting more done and I feel a lot better about myself at the end of the day when I know that I have accomplished some of my daily hurdles. This is something I really needed to roll into as I began working for Hewlett-Packard. Never ending emails and that feeling of never accomplishing anything. That has changed despite the never-ending email situation still remaining the same.
Let me explain my point:
If you have a daily to-do list, you either spend the night before or the day of listing the things you want to accomplish so that you can check them off and know that you no longer need to worry about them. With this method we try to look at how long all these tasks will take us to complete, so as not to overfill the day and leave a cluster of unfilled tasks and that feeling of dissatisfaction due to not accomplishing our desired daily goals.
I believe that no matter how much of an expert you may be at estimating the length of time certain activities may take you to complete a specific job, I still find that a daily to-do list never gets fully checked off (and I mean more than just two stupid items, say eat pizza and have a beer. A real to-do list). At least this was the case for me.
When I use to make my daily “this is what I need to accomplish” lists I wouldn’t over do it, but I would not under do it either. I wanted to ensure I get things done. However what normally would happen was there unforeseen tasks or things came up during the course of the day which I would need to do and would be time-sensitive or more important than other things I still had to get done that were on my list, which in turn would throw me back on my “planned” schedule. Think of an urgent email that you need to respond too or an emergency meeting/conference call that you must attend.
Those things are the anti-to-do list. What I had originally set out to do would, as mentioned, get shoved back in line and often I would finish the day with a handful of unfinished tasks and a list that would simply frustrate me as to why I didn’t have enough time to finish all these things. It’s as if I didn’t accomplish anything at all because that’s the feeling you’ll end up having with these kind of lists.
Hence, motivation is down, frustration level rises and resignation kicks in.
My solution
A few years back I found what I believe to be the solution to my problem and it seems to work. I no longer create daily to-do lists, rather project to-do lists. How much simpler is that, no? (it’s kind of like “duh!”)
Rather than focusing on the meticulous task itself and noting hundred little things, I tackle everything in projects. Whether its something particular for my blog, company website, new projects, clients, Hewlett-Packard related and so forth. In the end, everything lands on its own to-do list.
Ill get to a few applications and methods in an individual post, but the overall thinking goes as such: start at the bottom with your end goal, ie: “work on project A,” than work your way backwards from there and bingo, you have a road-map all lined up with things you can easily check off as you complete them without having to worry that “project A” actually gets done. If that is on my to-do list, it will be there a decade later.
I look at my to-do list and simply allocate specific amounts of time to whatever I need to get done. And yes, there are tasks that still come up during the day. These I note in whatever project I see fit and allocate a time to it and how I perceive the sense of urgency for completion and off that task goes into my overall list. I then look at my list and see, “work on project A” or “work on project B”, depending on my mood or whatever I see to be more time sensitive is what I tackle. I look at project A and begin working on the next available task on the project to-do list, without trying to reach a specific point by the end of the day I just work on as much as I can and what I may have planned in that given time and check off parts of the list as I go.
Some tasks may require to be put on a schedule and be planned, fine. Example – writing a blog post and scheduling it. There will be things that require you to finish at a certain time or on a specific date. I try to keep those things to a minimum to ensure enough “float” should other things come up. I just need to get things done. That easy.
Having used this method now for a long time has helped me optimize my day and I find I get more done, even when the list seems never-ending. Believe me, my project list for Hewlett-Packard, my corporate day job has a very high two digit to-do list that just keeps growing. But I can only do so much in a day. The reason this seems to work is a bit of this and a bit of that. I work better – meaning I am more productive (I rarely take lunch) and am less stressed out about forgetting things or meeting “little deadlines” throughout the day, and am more motivated to tackle things at the time I best see fit because then I check them off and it now gives me a feeling of, though I still have 86 task on my HP project list, I can still go home and feel accomplished because I got through 27 things today (including excel sheets, number crunching, drafting presentations and writing out a whooping 113 emails, and reading/archive 243 (yes!)).
With that, I complete my backstage tour of how I get things done. If you are having trouble with productivity, or always feel like you are not getting things done. Give this method a try. In an upcoming post I will dispense the tools I use that support me in this and I might scratch together how I keep myself in sync as a whole at some point.
With that, wishing you all these and nothing less than a lot of success!
Let me know your thoughts in the comments below.
