Tweet

The power of using a daily 'Action List'

Guest post by: Paul Puckridge

Article Overview: Write up your list after you arrive at work in the morning and use the power of Triage to prioritise your work. If you’re not familiar with Triage, it’s a battlefield term, referring to the sorting and allocating of medical treatment, food and aid on a needs basis.

The power of using a daily 'Action List'

"I know there was something I had to do today... What was it?" Why not save yourself the time and effort of constantly asking that question and get into the habit of writing a Daily Action List. Start off by purchasing a spiral notepad. Spiral notebooks are great because they keep your information all together. There's no loose bits of paper flying around and you can always refer back to your previous lists if you need to.

Write up your list after you arrive at work in the morning and use the power of Triage to prioritise your work. If you're not familiar with Triage, it's a battlefield term, referring to the sorting and allocating of medical treatment, food and aid on a needs basis.

How do you decide? Use the A, B, C, D, E framework

A=Action it now

Place an ‘A' next to any tasks that need to be done today. These are the keepers - the things you'll do first. Considering the Pareto Principle they are most likely the 20% of your tasks that will produce 80% of your results.

B= Better do It

These are the tasks you need to look at more closely. If you're not sure you need to do them there's a very good chance that these tasks are not urgent. You better do these tasks, but only after you have completed your ‘A' tasks. Your ‘B' items may become tomorrow's ‘A' items - so you'll need to spend sometime looking at them before you can decide if that's the case.

C= Could do it

Mark with a ‘C' anything you could do if you get time. These are the tasks that may become ‘A's later down the track, but for today and tomorrow they are low priority.

In the short term, these are the 80% of things that will give you just 20% of your results. The ‘C's will probably make up on the most tasks on your list - and will be the things you are tempted to get started on straight away. Don't! These tasks are easy and quick, but remember that they are not urgent and are low-value work.

D= Delegate it

‘D' is for delegate. If you are a manager or supervisor ‘D' should become your favourite letter of the alphabet! As much as possible try and delegate all low-value work. Yes, in the short term it's probably quicker to do it by yourself, but training other people is a much better idea in the long run.

E= Eliminate it

Any tasks that are taken care of by someone else or are just no longer necessary should be labelled ‘E' and crossed off your list immediately.

You get all the satisfaction of drawing a big red line through it and without having to do it yourself. Watching your list get shorter as your day goes on will give you a great sense of accomplishment.

Related Articles
  GIAP: Goal Identication And Achievement Process
  Women And Power
  The Power of the People
  Article # 32 Sick And Tired Of Being Sick And Tired And Broke?
  Daily Method of Operation of Internet Marketers
  What Power Tool Online do you need for a business?
  Small Business and Home Based Business Owners - Why Should You Plan Daily and That Too on Paper?
  Achieve more Through Time Management
  The Power Of Daily Visualization Meditation In Your Home Based Business
  Motivation- Get the Daily Dose that Keeps You on Fire
  What Simple Easy To Do Daily Activity Can You Do To Improve Your Life
  Action For The Sake of What?
  8 Keys To Right Thoughts And Right Results
  The Power of 3: Invoking This Universal Law Into Your Highly-Conscious Business
  Goals Lead to Success
  A 365 Day Goal
  Article #46 What Do Leaders Strive Everyday For?
  Create 10 Delightful Daily Habits
  4 Steps to Increase The Power of Your Focus
  Dont Just Read Write

Article Tags: Daily Planning, Get Organized, Gtd, Paul Puckridge, Planning Your Day, The First Hour Of The Day, Work Smarts, Worksmarts



Related Forum Posts
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.
Re: Best Internet Marketing Strategies - I think the number 1 strategy to succeed is to "Take Action". Too many start and never follow through. Get caught up in the stomach moment (having a feeling of making 1,000's and seeing others do it, but you not doing anything to achieve). To make it easier on others, you need to have a game plan as well. How much work you will put in daily, how much it will cost, what the average conversions are, how much traffic you will need, your advertising sources, and others, but just a plan.
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.
Women Entrepreneur Tips - Thank you LeoOliveros, I found #4 particularly true in my case: 4. The Enterprise Must Include the Power of Power Networks. As a conductor of your own enterprise, you can not see yourself as a one-woman-show. You must choose to utilize the power people in your life, by asking for help when you need it, and effectively delegating in order to capitalize on your strengths and that of your power network. When certain experts are not represented in your power network, you must actively seek advisors or mentors and develop a team of specialists, so the benefits are received by everyone involved in the power network - the true Power of Power Networks.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Local Marketing: 3 Simple Low-Cost Strategies

Soda Vending Machine = Energy Hog

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.