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To-Don't List

Written by: Victoria Cook

Article Overview: Somehow in our culture, “being busy” has been elevated to a status symbol. However, busy does not equal productive! It’s easy to be unceasingly busy with the never ending to-do list. As one thing is checked off, three more are added on. But too often clients complain they just aren’t getting what they want accomplished or they aren’t hitting their goals. They are “busy” going nowhere.

To-Don't List

Get More Done with a "To-Don't" List A colleague of mine recently sent me a link to an article written by Liz Massey of Creative Liberty on 7 Ways to Reduce Stress With a To-Don't List. As a chronic To-DO list maker from waaaaayyyyy back, I was really intrigued by the title! As a coach who helps her clients focus on what's most important and get it done, I thought I'd share some additional insights with you that I've learned.

I'm just soooo busy!

Somehow in our culture, "being busy" has been elevated to a status symbol. However, busy does not equal productive! It's easy to be unceasingly busy with the never ending to-do list. As one thing is checked off, three more are added on. But too often clients complain they just aren't getting what they want accomplished or they aren't hitting their goals. They are "busy" going nowhere.

While the to-do list seems forever ongoing, in contrast, Massey describes the "to-don't" list as "contractive, narrow, and boundary-defining." She also shares that, "At the heart of the 'to-don't' list is the Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule." The 80/20 rule states that 20% of our efforts produce 80% of our results. This means that 80% of our efforts aren't even important! Enter the "to-don't" list.

Creating Yours

While Liz Massey's article focuses on the seven benefits you'll get from implementing your own "to-don't" list, I'd like to share three tactics you can use to create your own "to-don't" list so you can attain those benefits!

1. Assess what you are currently doing and rank the importance using the traditional A, B and C ranking where A is urgent, B is for items you'd like to get done today but aren't critical and C is for the optional or back burner items. Review your B and C tasks and assess if any can be added to the "to-don't" list (permanently or temporarily).

2. Identify what you can outsource! While some tasks need to be completed, they may not need to be completed by YOU! Much of the business administration work you do can be given to an assistant (or virtual assistant for all you small business owners) to free you up for focusing on the 20%! Those items outsourced can be added to your "to-don't" list.

3. Detect your key time stealers. Cell phones, blackberries, pagers, a disorganized boss, e-mail, junk mail, or a chatty co-worker are just a few possibilities. Once you know the time stealers you can decide how to handle them. Perhaps some things can go on your "to-don't" list like checking e-mail first thing in the morning. This is often a major time stealer and can be relegated to a little later in the day. Save your "prime time" work hours for the more important and strategic activities.

Use your "to-don't" list to clear away some of the 80% of unimportant work. Your "to-don't" list will also help you create a to-DO list that is more strategic AND realistic!

© 2009 Victoria Cook. All Rights Reserved.

Want to use this article on your website or your own ezine? No problem! But you MUST include my bio and a link to my website.

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Article Tags: coach, colleague, creative liberty, heart, insights, massey, nbsp, pareto principle, rule states, status symbol, ways to reduce stress



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Re: How do you make the most of your day? - Here are a couple things I do to get lots done. First, I work from a weekly To Do List (although I should call it an Action List) rather than a daily list. Each item on the list must be one specific action required to move one step closer to accomplishing or finishing something. It's similar to what Robert Alan talks about. Each day I prioritize 3 actions that must be completed before the end of the day. I fully commit to those actions. Second, when I really need to focus on something to get the most done possible I work in timed 50 minute increments. That may sound a little loopy but it really works for me plus I feel refreshed working that way. So I literally have a little timer on my desktop that I set to count down from 50 minutes to zero. During that 50 minutes I work without interruption. When the timer goes off I stop whatever I'm doing and take a 10 minute break. You can get an incredible amount of work done working that way without feeling like you're working hard. I don't schedule 8 of those 50 minute time periods because there isn't a need to plus I'm sure you would wear out if you did. If you haven't tried this you might want to give it a try setting just two 50 minute time periods for a couple days and fiercely keeping them without interruptions to see what I mean. I'd love to hear about your experience and any other kind of quirky things that work.
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Re: History of Women in Business in the United States - Yes. Women have increasingly made positive economic contributions to society and their position is being recognized more and more as seen on the Forbes List of Executive Women. In general, women can be a bit more practical in their approach as entrepreneurs too.
Re: An 18 minute plan of managing your day - Hi Yinka, Thanks for the article. I write out a daily To Do List (I've never successfully managed a Stephen Covey-style weekly plan), and cross off the tasks as I go. However, I can definitely see the value of adding the specific time and place that tasks will be done, writing an IGNORE list and also stopping and checking throughout the day plus reviewing at the end. Very useful article. Cheers! DH
Re: Cash up front ... or Royalties? - [quote="TannyL":m0ab6gqi]The best deal will be get a one time payment PLUS royalties, this is how you do business.[/quote:m0ab6gqi] Well if you're in a position of power/high demand like an A-List actor (e.g. Will Smith or Tom Cruise), you can ask for cash up front and back end money from overall ticket sales. But if you're just a startup, it'll be a lot tougher to negotiate a better deal.


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