Are you a list maker?
I am. And I have a list for everything! Sometimes I worry that I’m turning into Rimmer from the Classic British TV series ‘Red Dwarf’who spent 7 weeks putting together his colour-coordinated revision timetable which meant he only had one night left to actually revise!
I also admit that I sometimes find my lists get so out of control and clogged with tasks that I never get to, that I end up abandoning the entire list. This year however will be different!
I’ve recently come across this suggestion in a ‘SmartStartUp’ blog – Give Yourself a To Do Deadline.
It suggests that if you have items on your list that just never seem to get ticked off & keep appearing on your list over & over again then you apply a three-day rule:
If the task isn’t done in 3 days, then cross it off the list, give it to someone else to do or forget about it.
If you’re not getting it done in 3 days then it musn’t be that important.
This seems harsh, I know, but it could actually work!
Share your ideas & comments with us below – we’d love to know if you think it could work for you?
I’m not much into lists. I always seem to have a couple of things on ground-hog day at the bottom of the list. I am also not very good at identifying who can put them at the top of their list and action them on my behalf. Sorry, no suggestions… but I am watching for others with interest 🙂
Thanks Carmel – I like your term ‘ground-hog day – that explains it so well 🙂 I have to admit to abandoning lists & just starting all over again when it got too hard. I’m also waiting with bated breath for some great tips from others!
Ahh – is this the solution? Don’t have a ‘to do’ list – instead try ‘living in your calendar’. Hmmmm – what do you think? http://blogs.hbr.org/cs/2012/01/to-do_lists_dont_work.html