A list of tasks you simply don't do: You delete them, delegate them, outsource them or simply say no when they try to find their way on your to-do list:
Things you want to say no
Distractions from being productive
Regular tasks you can delete, delegate, or outsource
Other people's responsibility
Small projects that get way on bigger projects
Emotionally draining tasks
Bad habits
Stuff that doesn't need to be done
Things that are out of control
Everything else that you can systematically eliminate and bring a bigger margin into your life.
I gave up on to-do lists; here's the super simple way I plan my days Last year, I shared my One Big Thing philosophy. The idea is simple: Focusing on one big thing each day is more productive and more satisfying than checking off as many tasks as possible.
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.
This is how the world felt before Crackberries. (LeoLuigi) "Not-to-do" lists are often more effective than to-do lists for upgrading performance. The reason is simple: what you don't do determines what you can do. Here are nine stressful and common habits that entrepreneurs and office workers should strive to eliminate.
Your brain is for thinking, not for storing a long list of random things you need to do. "When you're juggling a lot of tasks, things will fall through the cracks, and lists are amazing for keeping yourself on target and getting things done," says Paula Rizzo, author of Listful Thinking: Using Lists to Be More Productive, Highly Successful, and Less Stressed .
Look at everything on your to-do list and ask yourself, ‘Am I the only person who can do this?’
Anything that can be given to someone else should be put on an outsource list.
While outsourcing takes the extra time upfront to train someone else on the task, it saves you time later, which can be used to focus on the things you do have to do.