WEBVTT - Second Cup: Keep your to-do list short

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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<v Speaker 1>Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's tip is to keep your to do list short.

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<v Speaker 1>Not only does a short to do list increase the

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<v Speaker 1>chances that you make progress toward your goals, you'll feel

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<v Speaker 1>a lot better about them too. It probably won't surprise

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<v Speaker 1>anyone listening to this that I love to make to

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<v Speaker 1>do lists. When I planned my weeks on Friday afternoons,

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<v Speaker 1>I set my major goals for the week professionally and personally.

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<v Speaker 1>Then each evening I make my to do list for

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<v Speaker 1>the next day of what needs to get done by

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<v Speaker 1>the time I go to bed. I write down anything

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<v Speaker 1>time specific that I've committed to, and then also assign

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<v Speaker 1>myself a handful of other tasks informed by my weekly priorities.

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<v Speaker 1>Note that word handful, we are talking three to five things.

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<v Speaker 1>We are not talking twenty things or fifty things, which

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<v Speaker 1>is what I used to do. Here's why I've learned

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<v Speaker 1>to keep the list as short as possible. So I

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<v Speaker 1>pride myself on being a trustworthy person. I imagine you

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<v Speaker 1>do too, and part of being trustworthy is keeping the

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<v Speaker 1>promises we make to ourselves. If I put something on

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<v Speaker 1>my to do list, I am committing to do it.

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<v Speaker 1>I am committing to do it before the day is through.

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<v Speaker 1>But wait, people say, what if things come up? Well,

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<v Speaker 1>guess what. This is not an if. This is an inevitability.

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<v Speaker 1>Because emergencies happen and things go wrong. Things can go

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<v Speaker 1>massively right as well, but sometimes that takes time to Consequently,

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<v Speaker 1>the only way to guarantee that I will keep my

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<v Speaker 1>promise to myself and do the things on my to

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<v Speaker 1>do list is to keep my to do list short.

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<v Speaker 1>This seems straightforward, but I've found over the years that

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of people really resist this idea. They'll say

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<v Speaker 1>things like, Laura, I have so much going on. I

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<v Speaker 1>can't just put three to five things on my to

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<v Speaker 1>do list. I have fifty things to do. But guess what,

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<v Speaker 1>you won't do fifty things tomorrow. You'll do some of

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<v Speaker 1>those things, but were they the things that truly needed

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<v Speaker 1>to get done, or maybe they were just the ones

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<v Speaker 1>you saw first, or that seemed easiest, or that someone

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<v Speaker 1>yelled the loudest about Making a short list forces you

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<v Speaker 1>to prioritize. If the day goes great and you get

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<v Speaker 1>through that list and have extra time. Awesome, go find

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<v Speaker 1>some other stuff. I'm sure you can come up with

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<v Speaker 1>plenty to do. But here's the thing. There is no

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<v Speaker 1>virtue in putting something on a to do list and

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<v Speaker 1>then not doing it. It's just as not done as

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<v Speaker 1>if you never put it on your list at all,

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<v Speaker 1>and in fact it's worse than that. If you put

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<v Speaker 1>it on your to do list and don't do it,

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<v Speaker 1>you feel bad, whereas if you didn't put it on

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<v Speaker 1>your list and you didn't do it. Expectations have met reality,

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<v Speaker 1>and this is really the secret to happiness. Now. Of course,

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<v Speaker 1>we all have more than three to five things that

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<v Speaker 1>were responsible for in the universe, so a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>people find it helpful to keep running lists of other

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<v Speaker 1>things they need to do at some point, but not

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<v Speaker 1>right now. Bullet journal fans might make these lists as collections.

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<v Speaker 1>Getting things done author David Allen's readers use his suggestion

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<v Speaker 1>of a some day maybe list. I make these speculative

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<v Speaker 1>lists from time to time. Two in my planner. These

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<v Speaker 1>are house projects I might want to tackle, things to

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<v Speaker 1>do with my kids, seasonal activities, future podcast ideas, people

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<v Speaker 1>to reach out to, book concepts, whatever. If there's something

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<v Speaker 1>I decided to commit to in the future, I'll put

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<v Speaker 1>it on my calendar for that day, and then it

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<v Speaker 1>will become part of that day's to do list or

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<v Speaker 1>list of time specific commitments. But there's no point thinking

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<v Speaker 1>about it tomorrow and cluttering up my mental landscape for

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<v Speaker 1>tomorrow when I plan to tackle it in two months,

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<v Speaker 1>three to five. Things might not seem like much, but

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<v Speaker 1>I promise it does add up. In one of my books,

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<v Speaker 1>Off the Clock, I tell the story about my friend

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<v Speaker 1>Damon Brown, who spent some time as the primary parent

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<v Speaker 1>for his young son a few years ago. Because he

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<v Speaker 1>was caring for an infant all day, his time was

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<v Speaker 1>obviously limited. However, he also had a few professional opportunities

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<v Speaker 1>he really wanted to tackle during this time, such as

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<v Speaker 1>co founding a company, so he started writing his to

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<v Speaker 1>do list for the day on an index card one

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<v Speaker 1>side of an index card. If it took up more

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<v Speaker 1>than one side of the card. He knew he had

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<v Speaker 1>too much on his plate and it wasn't going to

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<v Speaker 1>happen around his baby responsibilities. Better to push it into

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<v Speaker 1>the future. But after a few months of this, he

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<v Speaker 1>looked at his life and realized he was being shockingly

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<v Speaker 1>productive three to five well chosen activities per day is

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<v Speaker 1>a lot. I mean three per day is fifteen per

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<v Speaker 1>work week. That's seven fifty per year. And if they

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<v Speaker 1>all matter well, you could probably conquer the world. So today,

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<v Speaker 1>look at your to do list with this in mind,

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<v Speaker 1>what do you actually intend to do today and what

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<v Speaker 1>amounts to a less expectation that will just make you

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<v Speaker 1>feel bad. Choose three to five things you will truly

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<v Speaker 1>hold yourself to doing. Assign other things to other times.

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<v Speaker 1>Pretty soon you'll be feeling less busy and getting more done.

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<v Speaker 1>In the meantime, This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and

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<v Speaker 1>here's to making the most of our time. M Hey everybody,

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<v Speaker 1>I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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<v Speaker 1>your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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<v Speaker 1>me on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod

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<v Speaker 1>that's b E the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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<v Speaker 1>You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>podcast at i heeart media dot com. That Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much,

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<v Speaker 1>I look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is

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<v Speaker 1>a production of I Heart Radio. For more podcasts from

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