Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning.
Speaker 1: This is Laura, Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's
Speaker 1: tip is that a task is a verb plus a noun.
Speaker 1: Your to do list doesn't actually tell you what to
Speaker 1: do unless it states the actions that you need to take.
Speaker 1: Today's tip comes from my Before Breakfast interview with productivity
Speaker 1: expert Charlie Gilkey. When we talked a few months ago,
Speaker 1: he noted that a to do list should contain verb
Speaker 1: noun constructs. As he put it, he illustrated this by
Speaker 1: pointing out that common to do list items like podcast
Speaker 1: and Jane aren't actually tasks. Record podcast and call Jane
Speaker 1: would be tasks, So would recommend the daily podcast to
Speaker 1: carl and get birthday gift for Jane. Now, clearly those
Speaker 1: are very different to dos. A noun alone like podcasts
Speaker 1: or Jane, does not tell you what you need to do.
Speaker 1: You need more information. And while it is quite possible
Speaker 1: that you would remember what podcast or Jane mean in
Speaker 1: your contexts, this does require a little bit more mental effort.
Speaker 1: When people feel overwhelmed or fatigued looking at their to
Speaker 1: do lists, I think it is often because these to
Speaker 1: do lists aren't clear, and the extra effort to figure
Speaker 1: out what exactly you need to do can make it
Speaker 1: difficult to get started. One way around this, which Charlie recommends,
Speaker 1: is writing your to do list as though it is
Speaker 1: intended for someone else. That way, when you get to
Speaker 1: the task, you'll know what you meant by the phrase
Speaker 1: on your list. Writing or typing just a few more
Speaker 1: words to clarify the task can save your future self
Speaker 1: confusion and headaches. The to do list will look a
Speaker 1: lot more doable or and this sometimes happens. Writing the
Speaker 1: list as though it's intended for someone else can come
Speaker 1: in handy if you do need to delegate items. If
Speaker 1: you are out sick for a few days, you could
Speaker 1: potentially send along a well constructed to do list to
Speaker 1: the people filling in for you, and they could actually
Speaker 1: fill in for you. If you need help from a
Speaker 1: family member with personal tasks, they will have a much
Speaker 1: easier time doing this if they know they need to
Speaker 1: buy gifts for Melissa and Ruth, rather than trying to
Speaker 1: figure out what you meant by Melissa and Ruth. As
Speaker 1: it is. I suspect one reason people have trouble getting
Speaker 1: through their lists is that their list are vague, and
Speaker 1: this is because people don't know what they need to do.
Speaker 1: So there is an item like research when you are
Speaker 1: stuck or figure out how to deal with John. Now,
Speaker 1: I will acknowledge that this last phrase contains a noun
Speaker 1: and a verb, but you still don't know exactly what
Speaker 1: you need to do. Ideally, making a to do list
Speaker 1: is itself an act of making a choice of what
Speaker 1: does need to be done. You think about it, and
Speaker 1: then you figure out your course of action, so you
Speaker 1: don't need to kick this can down the road. A
Speaker 1: better item would be list three ideas I could try
Speaker 1: with John, and then ask for advice from Kate about
Speaker 1: which ideal would be best with John. If you are
Speaker 1: struggling with to do lists that are perpetually hanging over
Speaker 1: your head but don't give you clear instructions about what
Speaker 1: actions to take, try out Charlie's tip. Make sure every
Speaker 1: item on your to do list contains a noun and
Speaker 1: a verb. Write it like you're writing for someone else,
Speaker 1: and make sure the verb itself is doable. You just
Speaker 1: might find yourself getting more done in the meantime. This
Speaker 1: is Laura, Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
Speaker 1: most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.
Speaker 1: If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach
Speaker 1: me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast
Speaker 1: is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,
Speaker 1: please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you
Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.