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Create a Not-to-Do List
How to Make Your Don't Do List
- Reevaluate your to-do list: Identify the goals and determine how the items in your list impact your aims.
- 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.
- Evaluate new tasks: From then on, once a new assignment arrives, evaluate its importance and the effects of it with your goals.
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Get Your System Under Control
Create 3 different to-do lists:
- Important but non-time sensitive projects list
- Items that need to be completed today list
- Not-to-do list
The Not-to-do List
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.
How to Make Your Don't Do List
- Reevaluate your to-do list: Identify the goals and determine how the items in your list impact your aims.
- 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.
- Evaluate new tasks: From then on, once a new assignment arrives, evaluate its importance and the effects of it with your goals.
SIMILAR ARTICLES & IDEAS:
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Key Ideas
The urgency bias
We usually give priority to unimportant tasks when there is a sense of urgency around them.
We’re actually psychologically wired to put aside important tasks in favor of ta...
Why it’s hard to ignore urgent tasks
A few explanations as to why it’s so hard to reject urgent tasks:
- The completion bias. Our brains crave the reward we get from checking off small to-dos from our list.
- Tunnel vision: When we get overwhelmed by the things we have to do, we choose to act on those most available to us; these are usually emails, calls, meetings, and other low-friction tasks.
Urgency puts us into reactive mode
The problem is that we’re continually bombarded with urgent work: emails, meetings, calls, and instead of being in control of our time and attention, we respond and act on someone else’s priorities.
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Not using our time well
Instead of immediately focusing on email, meetings, and other activities, we would be better off spending the morning doing productive work that requires a higher cognitive capacity (thinkin...
We seek immediate rewards
Unlike small, unimportant tasks, the challenge with our most important tasks is that our efforts aren’t immediately rewarded with visible progress.
The key to success here is to break down the big rocks into smaller milestones so that you can feel a sense of progress.
Waiting for inspiration
... is a common excuse we tell ourselves to avoid difficult tasks.
Set aside time, jump in and get done what you can. The best step we can take is to simply make a plan and start.
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In need of a makeover
A to-do list can be helpful but is often not used successfully. If you end the day with things undone or if you regularly carry tasks forward, you need a to-do list makeover.
Get clear on what's important
Most people are unaware of their priorities. Our priorities are the things that are most important to us right now. Not serving them is non-negotiable.
People are capable of having two or three priorities. More priorities leave them scattered and unfulfilled, filling their time with stuff that doesn't matter.
Once you know your priorities, everything on your to-do list should serve them. Look out for the 'shoulds' - they are not serving your priorities.
Give tasks a value
Look over your to-do list and assign every task a value, such as a dollar-per-hour amount that you might have to pay someone else to do it. Score tasks from $10 per hour for administrative tasks up to $10,000 per hour for high-level strategy and sales-related tasks.
By giving dollar-per-hour values to specific tasks, you ensure you use your resources correctly.
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