Stop Making To-Do Lists
“Daily planning often misses important things that can only be seen from a larger perspective. ”
I used to obsessively make to-do lists. In fact, I would spend so much time furiously writing down every little thing I needed to accomplish, that I’d often get pretty tired just from making the list and need a break before I’d even gotten started. Now, don’t get me wrong, you need to know what you’ve got to get done, and since most adults have approximately 7,928 things to remember, writing them down is more helpful than not. The problem is the way we’re going about it.
To-Do Lists Are Counter-Productive
To-Do Lists make us feel good in the moment. Each time we cross something off (or put a check in the little box we drew, if you’re like me) we get a sense of accomplishment. Like yaaassss, I did that! And if you cross of everything you had written down for the day? Well, that’s wine-worthy celebration right there!
But what did you really cross off? Fold Laundry? Call Mom? Cook Dinner? Dude…those are things you would’ve gotten to even if they weren’t written down. The items on the list are often not attached to anything meaningful. The list is just a way to stay focused throughout the day and take the “thinking” out of what to do next should you find yourself unoccupied.
Like I said in the beginning, we can spend so much time writing every little thing down and crossing it off that we’re likely to count that as a full day of work. In reality, all we did was lie to ourselves.
Ok, Laura, so if I can’t make a list then what can I do? How do I keep track of this thing called life?
So glad you asked…
Swap The To-Do List for a GOAL List
Every three months (ideally at the start of every new season) you should sit down and write what you’re going to work on for the next quarter. I recently wrote down my process and how I stay on track in another post, but here’s the gist:
Choose three goals that you’ll work on for three months
At the start of each week, plan out what you’ll do to move yourself towards those goals
Plan out WHEN you’ll do them, too.
At the end of the week, go back and review how you did and see where you need to make changes, if any.
Rinse and repeat every quarter.
If you’re like me and you just have to have a list, it should be written out beforehand, NOT in the morning when you first wake up. This way, you’ll not only stay focused, but you’ll be working on things that are relevant to the big-picture goals you’re trying to achieve.
The quote at the top of the post is from a book I’m reading called The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, by Stephen Covey. While the wording of the book is phenomenally boring, the content is actually really good. I recommend it if you have the patience to plow through some unnecessarily big words. The key thing I’ve gotten from it so far is that plans need to be made from the big-picture perspective. Planning your life out daily means that you’ll either miss the big picture entirely, or spend your life in survival-mode just trying to get from one day to the next and fighting for time to work towards the things that really matter to you.
Now, this method is meant for people who have big goals to achieve, in any aspect of their life - personal, financial, professional, etc. If you feel like this is unnecessary for you because you’re on the right track right now, then congratulations, this isn’t for you. I’m thinking of my hustlers, my entrepreneurs, the people with big dreams. If that’s you, give this a try. “Winging it” is no way to make it long term. We only have so many hours in the day, let’s be intentional about how we spend them.
