Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: Today's tip is that to do means today. When you
Speaker 1: put something on today's to do list, this should mean
Speaker 1: you truly intend to do it today. Being disciplined about
Speaker 1: this rule is one of the best ways to get
Speaker 1: big things done. Lots of people make to do lists,
Speaker 1: but we don't all make such lists for the right
Speaker 1: reasons or allow them to be as useful as they
Speaker 1: can be. As Christina Shenvy put it on her blog
Speaker 1: Time for Your Life, the goal of a to do
Speaker 1: list is not to catalog all the things you would
Speaker 1: like to do with your life, but to facilitate doing them.
Speaker 1: The only way to do that is to keep your
Speaker 1: to do list short and focused. For today's to do list,
Speaker 1: you should include only the tasks you intend to do
Speaker 1: and have the capacity to do. Then you should do
Speaker 1: them today. They reliably cross over to being done. Unfortunately,
Speaker 1: I have seen over the years that many people do
Speaker 1: not approach to do lists this way. They will list
Speaker 1: scores of things that they will never actually get to.
Speaker 1: They simply would like to have them done at some point.
Speaker 1: Clean out the attic, start a book club, revamp my
Speaker 1: fall wardrobe, update my resume. I think some people even
Speaker 1: feel a sort of pride in having a long to
Speaker 1: do list. Maybe they think it means they are full
Speaker 1: of hopes and ideas. I'm not really sure, but writing
Speaker 1: lots of tasks on your to do list doesn't get
Speaker 1: anything done. Instead, it most likely creates guilt and disappointment
Speaker 1: because it means the things you could do someday and
Speaker 1: the things you once thought you should do, and all
Speaker 1: the things you actually have to do are intermingled on
Speaker 1: your to do list. Since you can't possibly get through
Speaker 1: everything today, you keep bumping things forward. The act of
Speaker 1: writing something on the to do list is no longer
Speaker 1: a choice about priorities. It's really a meaningless action. What's worse,
Speaker 1: when you have a mile long to do list, what
Speaker 1: you actually need to do make get lost amid all
Speaker 1: the other items. You miss what you need to do today,
Speaker 1: and so you fall further behind. So, instead of having
Speaker 1: a catch all to do list that is not useful
Speaker 1: for getting things done, use your to do list to
Speaker 1: enumerate the things you're committing to do during a specific
Speaker 1: period of time. So if it's to day's to do list.
Speaker 1: This is items you will do today. You could also
Speaker 1: have a weekly or monthly to do list, or assign
Speaker 1: a few tasks to each day in the coming week.
Speaker 1: But one way or another, assign a short list of
Speaker 1: tasks to a specific time. Then, as I've said on
Speaker 1: this podcast before, think of your to do list as
Speaker 1: a contract with yourself. When the day comes, you complete
Speaker 1: the tasks assigned to that day. You end the day
Speaker 1: with all the tasks crossed off. You can do this
Speaker 1: because the list is short and reflects your capacity for
Speaker 1: the day in question. It is not a wish list.
Speaker 1: It is a to do list telling you what to do,
Speaker 1: and then you do those things. As for all those
Speaker 1: other things in life which might be nice to do
Speaker 1: or you'd like to remember but you don't and to
Speaker 1: do today, those can be captured on a David Allen
Speaker 1: style someday maybe list. Just keep a running list somewhere
Speaker 1: of all the things that sound vaguely appealing. That's where
Speaker 1: clean the attic, start the book club, and run that
Speaker 1: marathon can all go. When you write these things down,
Speaker 1: and particularly if you look at this catch all list frequently,
Speaker 1: you won't forget about them. But they also won't be
Speaker 1: hanging over your head when you're trying to keep track
Speaker 1: of what you actually need to do right away, like
Speaker 1: rescheduling that dentist appointment or sending your nephew a birthday present.
Speaker 1: When you know that you're to do list contains only
Speaker 1: those tasks you truly intend to do in a given
Speaker 1: time frame, you feel more motivated to move through it.
Speaker 1: You won't be overwhelmed by the volume of tasks or
Speaker 1: distracted by two dues that are actually could dues. Instead,
Speaker 1: the to do list feels doable. This is incredibly satisfying.
Speaker 1: When you trust yourself to complete all the assigned tasks
Speaker 1: for a day, you feel confident making lists for the future.
Speaker 1: You know you'll get big things done. That's better than
Speaker 1: the vague hopes of a mile long wish list. In
Speaker 1: the meantime, this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: making the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love
Speaker 1: to hear from you. You can send me your tips,
Speaker 1: your questions, or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: and Instagram at before Breakfast pod that's b the number
Speaker 1: four then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot
Speaker 1: me an email at before Breakfast podcast at iHeart media
Speaker 1: dot com that Before Breakfast is spelled out with all
Speaker 1: the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to staying
Speaker 1: in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I heart Radio.
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