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 to make a someday maybe list. You can
Speaker 1: keep track of things that could or should happen in
Speaker 1: the future without making a regular to do list unusable.
Speaker 1: So I know that lots of folks who listen to
Speaker 1: this podcast have also read David Allen's famous book Getting
Speaker 1: Things Done. One bit of productivity advice that Alan shares
Speaker 1: is the someday maybe list. The idea is that we
Speaker 1: all have stuff we could or should do at some point.
Speaker 1: Many people just add these items to their daily or
Speaker 1: weekly to do lists. The problem is that the presence
Speaker 1: of things like come up with idea for next year's
Speaker 1: Christmas vacation, or organize garage or host a progressive party
Speaker 1: in the neighborhood, or order replacement silverware on a daily
Speaker 1: to do list is that these all serve to make
Speaker 1: the daily to do list unusable. You are not going
Speaker 1: to do all those things today because you don't have
Speaker 1: to do all those things today. On the other hand,
Speaker 1: you don't want to forget that you'd like to order
Speaker 1: some replacement silverware and talk to the neighbors about your
Speaker 1: party idea. So enter the someday maybe list. You create
Speaker 1: an ongoing list somewhere of things that you need or
Speaker 1: want to do in the future, but you are not
Speaker 1: ready to commit to a certain date or commit to
Speaker 1: with one hundred percent certainty. Where you make this list
Speaker 1: doesn't really matter. Mine is in a little notebook that
Speaker 1: I keep on my home office desk. Some people like
Speaker 1: to use Apple Notes because they always have their phone
Speaker 1: with them, or people use a management software like Trello.
Speaker 1: Don't get caught up with that particular question. The location
Speaker 1: is much less important than the purpose, which is parking
Speaker 1: things that you would like future you to think about now.
Speaker 1: I know that sometimes a someday maybe list can start
Speaker 1: looking long and unwieldy, but unlike with a daily to
Speaker 1: do list, that is not a problem. You are not
Speaker 1: committing to any of this at a certain time. You
Speaker 1: are just getting items out of your head now. Of course,
Speaker 1: some of these things may become time sensitive eventually. I
Speaker 1: don't need to figure out next year's Christmas plans now,
Speaker 1: but I do need to do that before December. I
Speaker 1: do need to buy those plane tickets for a trip
Speaker 1: I know is happening three months from now, even if
Speaker 1: I don't need to buy those tickets write this minute.
Speaker 1: So it is a good idea to look at this
Speaker 1: list relatively frequently and see if there is anything that
Speaker 1: should migrate. I do this when I am planning my weeks.
Speaker 1: On Fridays, I will take a quick glance at the
Speaker 1: Someday maybe list and see if there's anything I want
Speaker 1: to put on next week's priority list. Sometimes I just
Speaker 1: go ahead and pull something off the list right then
Speaker 1: it isn't that hard to order more spoons if I
Speaker 1: know my pattern, and then it feels very exciting to
Speaker 1: cross that off the big list. Sometimes things are a
Speaker 1: bit more complicated, but it is time, so I will
Speaker 1: pull filling out camp healths over to the list for
Speaker 1: the next week. This Someday maybe list can also help
Speaker 1: you feel productive during times when you've got some open
Speaker 1: time or you aren't feeling like you can tackle anything else.
Speaker 1: If I have finished my work a bit early, I
Speaker 1: will go over there and see if there's anything easy.
Speaker 1: That is how a lot of my plane tickets get ordered.
Speaker 1: In any case, a daily to do list should be
Speaker 1: a contract with yourself. You should only put things on
Speaker 1: your daily to do list or your weekly priority list
Speaker 1: that you actually intend to do during this timeframe. There
Speaker 1: is no point in putting something on a to do
Speaker 1: list and then not doing it. It is just as
Speaker 1: not done as if you would never put it on
Speaker 1: the list in the first place, only now you feel
Speaker 1: bad about it. But we all have stuff that we
Speaker 1: have to do that we don't have to get done today.
Speaker 1: A Sunday Maybe list is a great way to think
Speaker 1: about this. If you try making one, you just might
Speaker 1: find yourself feeling more focused and getting more done in
Speaker 1: the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's
Speaker 1: to making the most of our time. Thanks for listening
Speaker 1: to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,
Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.
Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts
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Speaker 1: wherever you listen to your favorite shows.