Create 3 different to-do lists:<ul><li>Important but non-time sensitive projects list</li><li>Items that need to be completed today list</li><li>Not-to-do list</li></ul>

Get Your System Under Control

Time Management

The purpose of this list is to know the tasks the are not important and are not worthwhile. There are a lot of things worthy of your time and getting rid of those unnecessary tasks will give you more time to complete more important tasks.

The Not-to-do List

<ul><li>Reevaluate your to-do list: Identify the goals and determine how the items in your list impact your aims.</li><li>Create your not to-do list: Cut those unimportant tasks in your to-do list and paste it on your no to-do list. By doing this, you must accept that your time is limited and commit on letting them go.</li><li>Evaluate new tasks: From then on, once a new assignment arrives, evaluate its importance and the effects of it with your goals.</li></ul>

How to Make Your Don't Do List

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If you're anything like me, your to-do list is filled with pressing tasks like "pick up prescription" right next to less time-sensitive undertakings, like "run consistently." Work to-dos mix with life to-dos; short term projects get listed under ambiguous goals that I don't want to forget about-it can get a bit unruly. 
Allison Rimm, a management consultant, writes in the <a href="https://hbr.org/2018/03/taming-the-epic-to-do-list">Harvard Business Review </a>that one way to get this system under control is to create three different to-do lists. The first is for "important but non-time-sensitive projects," the second list is for "items that need to be completed today," and the third Rimm has dubbed the "not-to-do" list.
Perhaps the most important of the three, the not-to-do list is used to "remind me of things I've consciously decided aren't worth my time," writes Rimm. "Writing these down keeps them from sneaking back onto my to-do list."
We've all heard it said that the way we spend our days is how we spend our lives. One way to think of productivity, then, is that it's more about what you don't do, as <a href="http://jkglei.com/getting-things-done/">this post</a> from author and podcater Jocelyn K. Glei outlines. There are a million things vying for our time and attention. The not-to-do list helps us prioritize what we actually want to spend our time and attention doing.
<a href="https://lifehacker.com/how-to-counteract-the-what-else-mindset-1823772012"><figure><img src="https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--5ho8130M--/c_fill,f_auto,fl_progressive,g_center,h_77,pg_1,q_80,w_137/gohyt7vjzddbgq1vecf6.jpg"> </figure></a><div>
For many of us, checking boxes on a to-do list is a never ending cycle, the key way we measure our...
<a href="https://lifehacker.com/how-to-counteract-the-what-else-mindset-1823772012">Read more Read </a> </div> 

"Taking the time to develop a clear mission-your personal purpose-and a vision of what success looks like is essential if you are to be judicious about determining what is important enough to get on your list in the first place," writes Rimm. Here's what she suggests.
<h3>Reevaluate Your To-Do List</h3>
Determine what your goals are, or at least the day's goal, and look over your current to-do list. How does each task impact your goal? Does it need to be done today, by you? If not, you can ditch it. 
Then, create your not to-do list. "Once you accept that you have more to do than time to do it all, that is actually a liberating concept. This realization forces you to acknowledge there are lower priority items that you will likely never complete," writes Rimm. "Delete those non-essentials, put them on your not-to-do list, and commit to letting them go." No more wasting time. 
Obviously, an important caveat here is for tasks you need to complete to live/keep your job. Sorry-you still have to do your taxes (or laundry, in my case). But tasks that are continually on my to-do list, like meal planning or finally <a href="https://lifehacker.com/clean-out-your-instapaper-reading-list-today-1821703712">reading all the old articles</a> in my Pocket app, can probably come off. They're just not priorities.
From here on, every time you add a task to your list, ask yourself how it contributes to accomplishing your goals. If it doesn't, or it's not important or urgent, throw it on your not-to-do list.
"This exercise should be energizing and inspiring, releasing you from feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or resentful," writes Rimm. "Clear the decks to make the time and space you need to get to what you really want to accomplish."
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If you're anything like me, your to-do list is filled with pressing tasks like "pick up prescription" right next to less time-sensitive undertakings, like "run consistently." Work to-dos mix with life to-dos; short term projects get listed under ambiguous goals that I don't want to forget about-it can get a bit unruly.

Bite‑sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

Create a Not-to-Do List

Get Your System Under Control

The Not-to-do List

How to Make Your Don't Do List

5 Ways to Track Your Progress (And Why it's so Important) - RescueTime

How to fight the "urgency bias" (and work towards long-term goals)

5 Hacks to Finally Finish Your Most Dreaded To-Do List Item

Bite‑sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

Create a Not-to-Do List

Get Your System Under Control

The Not-to-do List

How to Make Your Don't Do List

5 Ways to Track Your Progress (And Why it's so Important) - RescueTime

How to fight the "urgency bias" (and work towards long-term goals)

5 Hacks to Finally Finish Your Most Dreaded To-Do List Item

Bite‑sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career