Stop Creating Overly-Ambitious To-Do Lists

If you regularly create to-do lists that are less than half completed at the end of each day, you’re being too ambitious. Chances are you’re filling your lists with too many tasks. You’re in good company. A lot of people make this mistake. Like them, you’re making it for one of two reasons (or possibly both). First, you’re overestimating the amount of time you have during the day to get things done, or underestimating the time it will take you to do so. Both circumstances produce the same result. Second, you’re using a single list to capture every to-do item that comes to mind. Predictably, your list grows throughout the day. By the time you’re ready to call it quits, you have more items on your list than you had when you began working that morning. Talk about frustrating and demoralizing! The irony about to-do lists is that they’re supposed to make us more productive. Yet, many people sabotage their productivity by creating lists that work against them. The problem has become so prevalent that many time management experts now suggest getting rid of them altogether. (I disagree for reasons that will become clear in a moment.)

How This Bad Habit Hurts Your Productivity

 Overly-ambitious to-do lists erode your productivity in three ways. First, they set the stage for frustration and disappointment. If you’re like most people, you feel energized when you accomplish a goal and dejected when you fail. Consider that effect in light of the fact that every to-do list you create represents an implicit goal. Success is being able to cross the last item off the list. Failure is having uncompleted items on the list at the end of the day. That daily dose of frustration makes it difficult to focus and get things done. Second, having a long list of uncompleted tasks that you’re forced to carry over to the following day increases your stress. While a small amount of stress can serve as a powerful motivator, too much can quickly tip the scales, derailing your ability to work in a state of flow. Third, if you’re routinely carrying over unfinished items from day to day, you won’t be able to accurately track your daily time usage. Consequently, you won’t have a way to forecast how long tasks are likely to take in the days and weeks ahead. Fortunately, with a few simple guidelines, you can start creating to-do lists that work for you rather than against you. Following are seven action steps you can implement today.

Action Steps

 1. Get used to telling yourself (and others) “no.” To-do lists grow in length because it’s difficult to resist adding items to them. The act of writing them down takes only a moment, and we thus deceive ourselves about the time and effort required to complete them. Say “no” more often to keep your to-do under control.

2. Identify a compelling reason to work on every task that appears on your list. Otherwise, why would you want to devote your limited time and attention to it? Before you add a task to your list, ask yourself why you must complete it.

3. Assign a priority to every item on your to-do list. Use letters A through C. High-priority items receive an “A.” Low-priority items receive a “C.” Next, review the tasks you’ve assigned a “C” and ask yourself whether they’re essential to your goals. If not, cross them off your list.

4. Set a limit to the number of tasks you’ll allow on your list. For example, commit to never allowing your list to expand to more than five items. A short to-do list appears doable. That alone will give you the motivation you need to complete the tasks that appear on it.

5. Start with the “biggest rock” on your list. This is the task that has the highest priority. It’s one of the most important things you’ll do today and plays a critical role in accomplishing a specific goal. It might also be the task that’s going to take the most time, introduce the most problems, and thus be the one you’re looking forward to working on the least. Incidentally, I took the idea of “big rocks” from Leo Babauta of ZenHabits.net. I believe he took the idea from Stephen Covey. So credit where credit is due.

 6. Set a reasonable time limit for each task on your list. Don’t just work until it’s completed. Parkinson’s Law states that “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.” If you give yourself 2 hours to finish a task, you’ll take 2 hours to finish it. Give yourself 45 minutes and set a timer, and you’ll likely finish it in that amount of time.

7. Use 2 lists. Limit the first list to organize your to-do items for the day. Use the second list to capture everything else that comes to mind. Prioritize each item you add to the second list. Then, review them periodically to assess whether their priority levels need to be adjusted