What is a to-do list? Why I don’t believe in to-do lists? What to do instead.
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Mentioned on Ep 110: What is a to-do list? Why I don’t believe in to-do lists? What to do instead of a to-do list.
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Welcome back to The Burnout Doctor Podcast, I’m your host Dr. Jessica Louie. We are talking about why to-do lists are not serving us. Thank you for your feedback last week about how to deal with stress during the pandemic. Many of you are taking action by using our complimentary Burnout Starter Kit and Mental Health Comfort Kit – don’t forget to download yours today! We all write our own stories in our lives and homes. Let’s all bring joy into home and joy into work.
You may be puzzled why I don’t believe in to-do lists. Let’s talk about them today and how to shift to something better.
What is a to-do list?
Simply, it is a list of tasks that need to be completed with the most important tasks at the top of the list.
The to-do list is one of the most widely used “productivity” tools. I use quotes around productivity intentionally. We often find that if “everyone uses them” then they must be working and great tools…wrong!
I will tell you that I used to-do lists for years. But, eventually my to-do list got out of hand. I never completed everything on my to-do list by the end of the day or the end of the week.
Why I don’t believe in to-do lists
First, I will tell you that writing things down is not the same as a to-do list. I use a grocery list – that is not a to-do list. I encourage you, my community, and my clients to write things down and brain dump out mental clutter. That is not the same as a to-do list.
I stopped using to-do lists about 3 years ago. The reason – if I need a to-do list to function, that means I’m being passive with my time and energy. I chose to shift from passive living to proactive, intentional living where I control my time, energy and focus.
Another reason I do not believe in to-do lists? A to-do list makes it easy to keep ADDING things to your life without intention.
Peter Drucker, the author of The Effective Executive, put is nicely “There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”
What to do instead of a to-do list
- Set up your Week and Day for Success with 3 BIG GOALS or less than 3 goals per day. This is how you reverse engineer your goals from yearly to quarterly to monthly to weekly to daily as part of my CURATE method. This is a great time to go back to episode 7 on the CURATE method and episode 51 on How to Set up my Week and Day for Success.
When you have manageable goals for the week and for the day, you will be able to accomplish them with ease. When you sit down to work for the day, you work on your first goal before doing anything else – before checking email or social media. This ensures you are working on the most important projects in your life without the need for a to-do list.
- Close the Files: If a task takes 2 minutes or less, do it right away. No need to write it down to do later. That means if the email can be responded to right away, do it. If the bed needs to be made or dishes cleared from the sink, do it right now. You may be surprised that many of these common tasks can be done in less than 2 minutes (set a timer if you don’t believe me)! If a task will take more than 2 minutes, schedule a time on your calendar to get it done and then let it go from your mental clutter and mental overload. Episode 65 addresses what is mental load!
- Create Habits and Routines: Habits and routines allow us to complete tasks in near unconscious ways because they are built into our lives and schedules daily or weekly. If you always do the grocery shopping on the same day and at the same location, no need for a to-do list for it, right? If you always do the laundry on the same day of the week or on a daily schedule if you have a larger family, no need to add it to a to-do list, right?
- Schedule it on the calendar: We do not need a to-list when the items and projects are on our calendars. I say that if something is not the calendar, it is not going to get done. This is a great time to go back to setting up your ideal lifestyle and time blocking – episode 23 talks a little about time ownership.
Tl;dr: what is a do-to list, why I don’t believe in to-do lists and what to do instead of a to-do list.
Until next time, spark joy my friends!
Note, my views are my own and are not associated or representative of my employer(s).
This podcast is for educational purposes only and not medical advice.