to do list

How effective are to-do lists at helping you get (the right) things done?

Right off the bat, your answer depends on how much weight you give to the words in parentheses.

What are “the right” things?

Let’s define the right things by first painting a picture of the opposite.

Not “the wrong things”, in this case.  But just “every other thing” that isn’t “the right things”.

Circular?

Yes.

Let’s elaborate.

Too often, to-do lists aren’t built starting with the desired end-goal in mind.

Instead, they are a brain dump.  All the random things you SHOULD be doing.

Often they are subsequently organized, by priority, or by urgency.  Or by category.

But at their root, they are a brain dump.

Don’t you add any old random thing to the to-do list, so you don’t forget to do it?

And how do you, at the moment you are adding it, accurately rank it compared to everything else already on the list?

Complicated.

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Three very well-respected entrepreneurs weighed in on why they don’t care for the to-do list.

Act One: Kill Your To-Do List:

Having struggled with procrastination over the years, my ears perked up when I heard Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.net ask people to kill their to-do lists.

Leo’s counter-intuitive argument is that to-do lists actually make you  much less productive.

According to Leo:

• The euphoria of crossing an item off the list as done, is more than negated by the huge number of items not crossed off.
• Also, the list tends to grows, and never gets done.
• Not to mention, the lists require constant management, shuffling, categorization, editing and organizing.
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Leo’s suggestion? Have a “One Thing” System.

1. Wake up in the morning, and decide what One Thing you’re excited about.
2. Then focus on doing that, pushing everything else aside, clearing distractions, and allowing yourself to get caught up in the moment.
3. If you happen to finish my One Thing early, you can slack off for the rest of the day (Leo’s favorite strategy), or pick your next One Thing.

Does that sound radical?

To me it did.

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Act Two: A Different Kind of List:

Coincidentally, I received an email from Pat Flynn of SmartPassiveIncome.com around the same time frame,in which Pat talked about never using to-do lists.

Pat has  had meteoric success in the Internet Marketing world, in a short three years.

He creates a huge amount of very high quality content – blog posts, videos, and podcasts.

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Pat doesn’t do to-do lists.  But instead favors project lists.

Pat works on only one project at a time.

And he works it to completion before moving to the next project.

Those project lists, as opposed to being loosely related tasks under a broad umbrella for this project, are the specific sequential steps needed to get from start to FINISH.

This is almost a variety of the “One Thing” system.

In Pat’s case, the one thing is a project.

But he focuses on it mercilessly, until it is complete.  And Pat sure has the results to back up whatever his approach!

(Note: Pat has an advanced architectural design background . I’m sure this has influenced his choice of technique.)

If we run with the architectural analogy, a typical to-do list is an individual collecting every random bit of information about things that ought to go into designing / building a house.

But without first starting from the desired end goal, and coming up with the tasks to be completed in order to meet that goal, we are randomly stitching tasks together as they occur.

Would you live in a house that had been built that way?

The choice is yours.

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To Do List by Tony Case (GreatBeyond on FlickR)

Act Three: Procrastinate Your To-Do List:

In this groundbreaking article on procrastination, Paul Graham, programmer of the first web-based application ever (in ’95), claims there’s such a thing as “GOOD PROCRASTINATION”.

That got my attention right away. LOL!

His distinction is that good procrastination is consciously putting off less important stuff, in favor of hyper-focusing on the most valuable item that you could possibly be focusing on, on any given day.

Any advice about procrastination that concentrates on crossing things off your to-do list is positively misleading, if it doesn’t consider that the to-do list is itself a form of type-B procrastination.  Unless you’re working on the biggest things you could be working on, you’re type-B procrastinating.  No matter how much you’re getting done.

You’re probably wondering what Type-B procrastination is.

That’s procrastination in which you’re keeping busy, doing things, maybe even crossing them off of a to-do list.

But you are avoiding doing the most important task on your list – whatever that item may be.

(Contrasted with Type A procrastination… doing nothing.  And Type C procrastination… doing the most important thing, and letting everything else wait.)

So what to do with the to-do list?

We’ve heard three viewpoints, from three very accomplished individuals, with great track records of getting things done.  Important things.

Now it’s your turn to weigh in.

What should be done with the to-do list?

Burn it?

Keep it?

Modify it?

Have your say.  And thanks for commenting!

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The Procrastinator’s Manifesto:

The Procrastinator’s Manifesto is a 31-page eBook that takes a no-nonsense look at why we procrastinate, and what to do about it.  Learn:

• The malevolent myth of multi-tasking.
• How your to-do list is a big contributor to procrastination.
• Good versus bad procrastination (what?)
• The alarming 40-Hour procrastination week.