15 Tips for the week.
You’ve seen it before. Every checkmark only leaves
two more unfinished tasks. Your to-do list has
become an living organism, spawning more and
more work while leaving you less and less time to
finish. Is it possible to stop your to-do list, or will it
just become an unstoppable blob of extra work?
Your best weapon against the rising tide of to-do is
dedicating a day to destroying that list. Instead of
wandering around, attacking various projects before
putting them down, you go for the kill. Set up a
massive to-do list and wipe it clean.
Few things are more satisfying than after a day of
ending your to-do list. Here are a few tips to get you
started:
Clear your schedule. It’s amazing how much
you can accomplish if you give yourself a large
chunk of time. A to-do ending day can’t be filled
with all the regular errands of your life. The entire
day needs to be focused on killing that list, so pick
a day where you can have complete control over
your time.
Wake up early. Building momentum is critical.
Even if waking up at 5 am isn’t a usual event for
you, it can be helpful here. Which do you think will
give you the right start: dragging yourself out of
bed at ten o’clock, or forcing yourself to start
moving at six?
Collect your to-do list. If you have tasks and
projects scattered over different parts of your life,
you need to collect them into one list. One list
detailing everything you want to have
accomplished, on one piece of paper you can hold
in front of you.
Know the end. What does being finished look
like? Every task should have a clear goal and
purpose beyond just getting done. You can spend
an entire day attacking your to-do list and
accomplishing nothing if you aren’t clear on the
final picture.
Put hard tasks first. Pick your biggest and most
difficult tasks and start on them first. Putting off
the hard work is a sure sign it won’t get done. By
putting the difficult tasks first, you also build a
momentum that allows you to focus easily.
Isolate yourself. Lock yourself in a room, unplug
your phone and internet if you have to. Anything
to ensure that interruptions won’t break your
focus. A few hours of complete focus can
accomplish what would take several days of
multitasking.
Set your rest breaks. Working continuously for
several hours can be difficult to do with mentally
straining work, especially if you aren’t used to it.
My suggestion is to set short, but meaningful
breaks in advance so you won’t be tempted to
procrastinate.
Match breaks with tasks, not time. Your
breaks should match up with the large to-do
chunks on your list, not at a specific time. If you
plan to finish a report you expect to take ninety
minutes, finish it in one chunk. Taking a break
while working on a major task will only break your
flow.
Be patient when accelerating. It can take time
to build up speed. When I write an article, it can
take me up to fifteen minutes to get a clear idea
on what I want to write. During this build-up time,
the temptation is to quit or move on to something
easier. Avoid that temptation and be patient.
Give yourself meaningful rewards. If you
finish your to-do list, take a break. Go out and
have fun, watch a television show, meet up with
friends or just stare blankly at a wall. Feeling the
urge to be completely productive 24/7 is an easy
way to ensure you never do.
Does it need to be done? Cross off any items
that lack long-term importance. Purify your to-do
list so it only contains tasks that will be significant
months and years from now. If your to-do list
doesn’t seem important, it probably isn’t.
Energize your diet. Engineer your food and
exercise routine to give you the energy you need
throughout the day. Eat lighter foods and avoid
simple carbohydrates (which spike your blood
glucose and then drop it). Drink plenty of water
and eat smaller meals more frequently. Your goal
is to create a diet that will keep your fuel levels
even throughout the day.
To exercise or not to exercise? Exercise is
definitely a good idea. But whether you should
bother heading to the gym on an intense project
attacking day depends. I would say that a quick
run can give you enough added energy to make up
for the time loss. But if your exercise is long and
prescheduled, you might want to leave it out to
focus completely on your to-do list.
Collect resources ahead of time. The night
before you plan your epic battle against your to-
do, prepare. Make sure you have all the right tools,
information and resources to get the job done.
Nothing feels worse than a half-finished list
because you needed to wait on information from a
third party.
Chunk, don’t spread. Don’t spread tasks over
all your waking hours like butter on toast.
Intensity trumps time-management. Get as much
done as possible and give yourself large chunks
for both work and play. Spreading yourself too thin
results in only a half-effort.
A half-day is often enough. The surprising thing
about creating a to-do list day is, that if you do it
right, it takes far less time than you expected. I’m
usually impressed that I can accomplish my entire
list by the late afternoon when I follow these
suggestions.
two more unfinished tasks. Your to-do list has
become an living organism, spawning more and
more work while leaving you less and less time to
finish. Is it possible to stop your to-do list, or will it
just become an unstoppable blob of extra work?
Your best weapon against the rising tide of to-do is
dedicating a day to destroying that list. Instead of
wandering around, attacking various projects before
putting them down, you go for the kill. Set up a
massive to-do list and wipe it clean.
Few things are more satisfying than after a day of
ending your to-do list. Here are a few tips to get you
started:
Clear your schedule. It’s amazing how much
you can accomplish if you give yourself a large
chunk of time. A to-do ending day can’t be filled
with all the regular errands of your life. The entire
day needs to be focused on killing that list, so pick
a day where you can have complete control over
your time.
Wake up early. Building momentum is critical.
Even if waking up at 5 am isn’t a usual event for
you, it can be helpful here. Which do you think will
give you the right start: dragging yourself out of
bed at ten o’clock, or forcing yourself to start
moving at six?
Collect your to-do list. If you have tasks and
projects scattered over different parts of your life,
you need to collect them into one list. One list
detailing everything you want to have
accomplished, on one piece of paper you can hold
in front of you.
Know the end. What does being finished look
like? Every task should have a clear goal and
purpose beyond just getting done. You can spend
an entire day attacking your to-do list and
accomplishing nothing if you aren’t clear on the
final picture.
Put hard tasks first. Pick your biggest and most
difficult tasks and start on them first. Putting off
the hard work is a sure sign it won’t get done. By
putting the difficult tasks first, you also build a
momentum that allows you to focus easily.
Isolate yourself. Lock yourself in a room, unplug
your phone and internet if you have to. Anything
to ensure that interruptions won’t break your
focus. A few hours of complete focus can
accomplish what would take several days of
multitasking.
Set your rest breaks. Working continuously for
several hours can be difficult to do with mentally
straining work, especially if you aren’t used to it.
My suggestion is to set short, but meaningful
breaks in advance so you won’t be tempted to
procrastinate.
Match breaks with tasks, not time. Your
breaks should match up with the large to-do
chunks on your list, not at a specific time. If you
plan to finish a report you expect to take ninety
minutes, finish it in one chunk. Taking a break
while working on a major task will only break your
flow.
Be patient when accelerating. It can take time
to build up speed. When I write an article, it can
take me up to fifteen minutes to get a clear idea
on what I want to write. During this build-up time,
the temptation is to quit or move on to something
easier. Avoid that temptation and be patient.
Give yourself meaningful rewards. If you
finish your to-do list, take a break. Go out and
have fun, watch a television show, meet up with
friends or just stare blankly at a wall. Feeling the
urge to be completely productive 24/7 is an easy
way to ensure you never do.
Does it need to be done? Cross off any items
that lack long-term importance. Purify your to-do
list so it only contains tasks that will be significant
months and years from now. If your to-do list
doesn’t seem important, it probably isn’t.
Energize your diet. Engineer your food and
exercise routine to give you the energy you need
throughout the day. Eat lighter foods and avoid
simple carbohydrates (which spike your blood
glucose and then drop it). Drink plenty of water
and eat smaller meals more frequently. Your goal
is to create a diet that will keep your fuel levels
even throughout the day.
To exercise or not to exercise? Exercise is
definitely a good idea. But whether you should
bother heading to the gym on an intense project
attacking day depends. I would say that a quick
run can give you enough added energy to make up
for the time loss. But if your exercise is long and
prescheduled, you might want to leave it out to
focus completely on your to-do list.
Collect resources ahead of time. The night
before you plan your epic battle against your to-
do, prepare. Make sure you have all the right tools,
information and resources to get the job done.
Nothing feels worse than a half-finished list
because you needed to wait on information from a
third party.
Chunk, don’t spread. Don’t spread tasks over
all your waking hours like butter on toast.
Intensity trumps time-management. Get as much
done as possible and give yourself large chunks
for both work and play. Spreading yourself too thin
results in only a half-effort.
A half-day is often enough. The surprising thing
about creating a to-do list day is, that if you do it
right, it takes far less time than you expected. I’m
usually impressed that I can accomplish my entire
list by the late afternoon when I follow these
suggestions.
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