Opinions expressed by entrepreneurs’ colleagues are their very own.
(*30*)
Let’s be truly about the list of things for a minute. Most of them don’t work for you. They check that you’re feeling worse, not higher. This notebook filled with unquestionable boxes? This application with 47 overdue tasks? They don’t organize your life – they stress you.
As an entrepreneurs, we were told that the lists of things to do were the magic of performance. But for many of us they became a dump for every random thought and a half -baked concept that our mind is coming. No wonder we avoid looking at them!
I’ll share why traditional lists of things to do fail in most entrepreneurs and give a practical way to transform your guilt into a real tool that goes your organization forward.
Big problems with the current list of things to do
Your list is not related to your goals
One of the explanation why most of the list of things to do is that they have zero connection with what actually matters in your organization. Random tasks accumulate without pondering about whether or not they comply with your quarterly goals or business vision.
When you write “update site” next to “Order office materials” and (*6*), you treat three completely different levels of work as equal. This prevents priorities, which really deserves your time.
You treat every thing as one size-all tasks
Not all tasks are created equal. Some items take five minutes, others may take five hours. Some require a deep focus, others may be done while waiting for coffee.
However, most of the lists connect every thing together! This guarantees that you simply select easy things, avoiding a complex job that may actually develop what you are promoting.
You use your list as a wish list, not a work plan
To be honest, how many items on the current list have been there for weeks or months? Probably too much.
Most entrepreneurs use lists of things to do as a place to store any idea, hope and “one day” of the project. Then they wonder why looking at your list seems overwhelming as a substitute of motivating.
A very good list needs to be a contract with each other about what you truly intend to do. It mustn’t be a wish list of what you may do in any perfect future in which you have unlimited time and energy.
You do not introduce the appropriate details
You once wrote something like “continue with the client” on your list, and then you definately look at it later, wondering what exactly which means? Which customer? Continue what? When?
A vague task is created by friction. Your brain must work to remember the context, which increases the likelihood that you simply completely skip the task.
How to fix a list of things to do
Now for a good part. Here’s how to transform a list of things to do from a source of stress into a tool that really drives the results.
Step 1: Start by scratching (but don’t stop at it)
Use every task, idea and project from your head. Save all of it in one place. It may be any random thought that occupies a mental space.
This is not your list of things to do yet! It’s just a raw material. A mistake that almost all people make here and call this mess with a list of things to do.
Step 2: Connect your tasks with goals
Look at your three best business goals for a quarter. Now go through the dump and select which elements directly support these goals.
Be brutally honest. This random correction of the site you were pondering about? Unless it directly supports the production of potential customers or conversion of sales (or any current goal), it does not deserve the first property on your daylight.
Sort your tasks for three categories:
- Directly supports current goals
- Important, but not adapted to current purposes
- Neither necessary nor in accordance with the goals
This last category? Remove or delegate as much as possible. The middle category is on the list of “future considerations”, which you browse every month, not every day.
Step 3: break the tasks by type and time
For other tasks, you must definitely add this two critical information:
- How long will it take realistically?
- What kind of energy does it require? (deep concentration, creative, administrative, etc.)
This step will allow you to match the tasks to the appropriate time intervals on the day. Do you have 30 minutes before the phone? Choose a 25-minute administrative task. Do you have a two -hour block of an uninterrupted morning? Then you deal with a deep work of focus.
Step 4: Create a “Today” list with only 1-3 priority tasks
This is crucial; Your day by day list of things to do mustn’t have greater than one to three priority tasks that have to Do. These are your needles, i.e. things that can really make a difference in what you are promoting.
Everything else goes to a separate list “if there is time”. This will force you to realistic and strategic about what you may achieve.
After the end of these up to three priorities, you’ll feel success (even if nothing else is done). This is due to the undeniable fact that at least it is going to build a rush and prevent the trap “I have 17 small things, but nothing important.”
Step 5: Use a system that matches the brain
Some entrepreneurs love digital tools. Others need a physical act of writing and crossing objects. Some also prefer Kanban boards, so there is never one universal.
Know that the best system is the one you’ll use consistently. Try different approaches until you discover a click, because this is the tool, but the rules behind it.
Step 6: Write the tasks as specific next activities
Unclear tasks create resistance, so as a substitute of “working on a new product”, write three key functions for a recent product “or” manufacturer of connections on the production schedule “.
Do it and you’ll remove the pondering barrier that makes you avoid starting. The task becomes clear and feasible as a substitute of unclear and discouraging.
The truth is that the lack of a task system is not perfect. But most entrepreneurs use systems that actively work against them and not for them. Sure 30 minutes today to implement these changes. What is one change that you’re going to make today on the list of things to do?