To Do Management: Prune, Cultivate, Plant
In today’s dynamic, demanding modern world, we all have a never-ending to do list. Cal Newport talks about how individuals within a company find it challenging to manage and prioritize to-do’s and that it should fall on leaders to create strategic focus and narrow the list of projects and action items to what will truly drive results.
If we work within a company, getting that kind of direction can be elusive. Or, if we work for ourselves, it’s on us to do that prioritization. Then factor in all the to-do’s of our personal lives. In these scenarios, what can we do ourselves to make it all a bit more manageable?
Here are 5 tips to prune your to do list and cultivate more space to make progress on what matters:
Get it out of your head. David Allen and his Getting Things Done methodology starts here. His belief: if you keep your to do’s in your head, you’ll waste more time trying to remember them. Better to get them all out of your head so you know they’re captured somewhere and your mind can be freed to focus on what matters and actually get the work done.
Cull your list. As Oliver Burkeman wisely reminds us in his book Four Thousand Weeks, we can never get everything done on that list you just captured. Time is finite. You must choose how to apply your limited time. Cut your list at least in half, create a “never will get done list,” and feel the relief. We typically don’t get to at least 40% of our to do’s anyway. Part of the practice in pruning and deprioritizing is getting comfortable with the uncomfortableness of not doing. Make it okay to recognize what isn’t mission critical.
Eliminate distractions and optimize your environment. Our lives are full of distractions. So if we want to make the most of the limited time we have, we have to cultivate the space that will allow us to do our best work. Get focused so you can be your most productive. Put away your phone, ideally out of the room you are working in. Close notifications, emails, chat. Create a comfortable environment that inspires you to work.
Focus on what must get done today. Then when you sit down to work, further narrow the focus. Charles Duhigg, author of The Power of Habit, talks about the importance of focusing on just THE ONE thing you have to get done today. And here’s a helpful article to guide you to focus on that ONE thing. When cultivating and planting and choosing that one thing day after day, think about what truly has to get done now and by you.
Celebrate what you did get done. To keep from feeling the weight of that long list, shift your focus towards what you did accomplish. Your “got-done-list” will leave you feeling more positive, motivated, and at ease.
Managing our to do’s isn’t easy in our modern world of constant demands. It takes discipline, being realistic about what we can get done, and setting ourselves up to do our best work. And remember: to do management is just as much about not doing as the doing itself.
Want other productivity tips? Read our article on Get Done What You Want to Get Done.
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