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The One Big Thing
Instead of checking off a list of tasks, concentrating on one big thing in a day turns out to be a lot more fruitful and gratifying.
MORE IDEAS FROM THE ARTICLE
- A To-Do list is composed of your routine activities that continue to come up daily.
- A Might-Do list is composed of the things you might do someday, things that are your goals and you will, in the course of time, schedule them in your calendar.
The important, big things can be 'baked-in' your calendar, while you keep track of meetings and appointments.
The Might-Do list acts as your goals list that you will incorporate in your coming days while doing your routine work.
RELATED IDEAS
- Take time to make a list.
- Analyze your tasks from the past and look for patterns.
- Evaluate recurring tasks. Identify their effects in the future. Know if you can delete, delegate, or outsource the task. Ask yourself what you would feel if you're going to do it.
- Be honest with yourself about what should be on your not-to-do list. Realize that you should let go, and commit to other things.
- Prepare your template for kind declines and start saying no to yourself and other people.
Ideally, create a ‘top three’ tasks at the beginning of your to-do list.
Long lists are a problem because most people aren’t aware that “we only have about three to six good hours of work in us each day.”
People also tend to underestimate how long a task takes.
Once you write down the tasks you need to perform, you then have to clear space in your day to put some of those tasks onto your calendar.
This calendar maintenance is itself a useful exercise for fighting the tide of interruptions you’re always facing. It pulls your brain out of a reactive mode and forces you to think about the long term.