Do you have a tasks management program or paper list with projects and tasks for work and home?
Or maybe you are someone that doesn’t keep a to-do list, but feel you should because you are feeling swamped and overwhelmed.
Stop worrying about all the tasks… kill your to-do list.
Why You Should Kill Your To Do List
To do lists suck up your time and drain your motivation.
If you have a to-do list, then you usually manage it constantly. Or you go to the other extreme, forgetting about it completely and feeling constantly guilty. Basically, you focus on (or worry about) your list all the time. That is the time you could be spending doing something more important.
And what of these lists? They are long, you never get to the end of them, and half the time the tasks on the list never get done. While it feels good to check items off the list, it feels horrible having items that never get checked off. This is all a useless expense of mental energy, because none of it gets you anywhere.
The only thing that matters is the actual doing. So what’s a better system?
The One Thing System
To break free of the to-do list shackles, you should use the One Thing Method. When you wake up in the morning, you decide the One Thing that you are most excited about doing.
Focus on doing that One Thing, pushing everything else aside, clearing distractions, and allow yourself to get caught up in the moment.
You don’t need to worry about what else is on your list because there is only One Thing on the list. You don’t even have to check anything off, because you don’t have a list. You don’t have to worry about things not getting done, because you do the only thing you want to do. After all, if you didn’t want to do it, it wouldn’t be your One Thing.
When you finish your One Thing, you simply pick your next One Thing.
Other Tasks
What about the other things you need to do? What if you forget them?
If you are worried about forgetting all the things you need to do, the make a reminder list. Be very strict with yourself that it is not a list of tasks to complete now. It is simply a list of things you don’t want to forget. Don’t dedicate huge blocks of time to this list, simply add things and jog your memory with the content once a day.
Try not to include the routine things that you do on autopilot on your reminder list. They tend to clog up your brain and prevent you from completing your One Thing.
This reminder list isn’t necessary. If you feel you can remember everything without a list, then that’s great. If you don’t want to forget something crucial, you can put a reminder on your calendar.
For all those routine things, you know what you need to get done. Just forget about the list, and get working.
So there you have it, instant productivity. All you need to do is kill your to-do list, put all the things you need to do out of your mind… except for the One Thing you are passionate about completing right now.