I hear you, I hear you – “How would Rich know whether or not something should be on my list”. And your right. I am just speculating, but I bet I’m not far off the mark…
You see, we all have good intentions. In fact, some of us have GREAT intentions. And it turns out your to-do list/GTD System as a microcosm for what and who you THINK you are. Hidden amongst the routine and the important, are tasks that should be anywhere near our radar:
1) Learn French. What, all of it? That’s one task? Your going to need to block a big chunk of time out… Maybe if you had “Book on a French course at local college” then you are more likely to take that next step;
2) Save More Money. At least “Learn French” was an action. “Save More Money” is what happens when you complete a bunch of acions. Try “Research money saving techniques”;
3) Tidy the Loft. Really? Are you actually ever going to do this? In my experience Time-consuming + Not-urgent + Out-of-sight = Keep-putting-off. If you are unlikely to do something, then put it on a ‘Someday/Maybe’ list and keep you main list for things you need or want to do;
4) Phone/e-mail/SMS John. How long has this been on your list? Since last night when you decided to call him today, then fine. If it has been on there for 6 months and you still haven’t done it then maybe start to acknowledge that contract drift in and out of your life, and we haven’t got time for them all at once.
5) Stop Smoking. You can’t change a habit with a list. Habits are built into us and need slowly unravelling – lists are black and white. You may have dropped from 30-a-day to just 5, but the list still has ‘stop smoking’ on it. This goes for ‘be more tidy’, ‘watch less tele’, or ‘read more Half-a-dozen Monkeys blogs’. By all means have a ‘habits’ list, but keep these off your day-to-day.
So how did you do? Any, some or all? Challenge any task you set yourself – “is this something I can and will do?”. There is nothing more depressing and ‘productivity-killing’ than long list of unacheieveable tasks, so take them off!
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For many years of my life, I have been collecting many goals that I haven’t achieved. But now I understood the waste I have made in my life. We can achieve anything we want as long as we put our bodies on it, I did not thought I can do a task I once held impossible, like being a writer.
Hi Walter,
You make a very good point – like every thing in life it is never black and white and we must use our judgement on the shades of gray. I agree that saying ‘i’m never going to be a writer so take that off the list” is actually counter productive – it is working toward such dreams that ultimately drives us forward and makes our lives better. But they should be on a DIFFERENT list – if it sits there day to day, not only will it’s nagging presence put you off other tasks, but you will also become less inclinded to follow that dream as it becomes a chore.
Glad you have had success in your life Walter!
Rich
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