The “How to Do” List
This article details how to turn in ordinary “To Do” list into a much better tool that will increase your productivity, improve your mood and reduce your procrastination. This article is 1200 words long and will take about 8 to 10-minutes to read.
The “How to Do” List
Probably the most common time and organisation tool is the “To Do” list, which is little more than a mnemonic device to remind us of what tasks we set ourselves to do with perhaps some level of prioritisation included as well. We get a nice fillip out of crossing something off of the list but how often do you have a list with things that remain on there for weeks, or that get transferred over from one list to the next?
The basic problem with the “To Do” list is that it doesn’t go far enough. Anything thing on the list becomes an objective desire and hence becomes a set point for our emotional guidance system. That means that our emotional well-being will depend upon whether we fulfil those desires or not. Consequently, when we look at something on the list we immediately make an assessment as to whether we can do that task immediately or not. That doesn’t just depend upon whether we have the time to do it immediately, it also depends upon whether we have the resources and personal capability to do it.
When we see things on the list and skip over them and turn away from them that usually occurs because we perceive that we cannot do them in the moment. We will remain in that state of ignoring those tasks, or procrastinating on them, until other factors force us to fathom out a way to fulfilment or until we consciously sit down and work out what we have to do. In other words, we must carry out a process of preparation where we think through what we have to, what we need to get that done and then organise the provision of those resources until we can do the essential things that get the task done and dusted.
The idea of “Don’t sweat the small stuff and remember: it’s all small stuff” relates to the need for the preparation that breaks everything down into small things, easily done in the moment. We can factor in these small steps by changing the “To Do” list into a “How To Do” list and in doing so we map out the process and resources needed to get to the end result – a finished task.
Method for Creating a “How To Do” List
- Objectives (the things to do)
- Secondary Objectives (the process steps that fulfil the greater objective)
- Difficulties (the perceived and real impossibilities that we must overcome)
- Worth (the personal benefit of doing these things)
- Loss (the personal loss from not getting on with these things now)
Objectives and Secondary Objectives
We start off with our normal “To Do” list items only now, when we list them, we quickly mentally run through the steps that we need to take in order to finish of the final task. For example, Tidy the House would break down to Tidy the Lounge, Tidy the Kitchen, Tidy the Hall etc and if those tasks still proved too big to bite off in one chunk then break them down further: Tidy the magazine rack, tidy the DVD shelves, put the CDs away etc. All of these extra “To Do” items build up a process of tasks that get the final overall objective. At the same time we get more things that we can easily cross off of our list, which recognises true progress and productivity even if for some reason we can’t finish off the whole job at that time.
Difficulties
For more difficult tasks, and especially for tasks that we have never done before or else that involve large elements of things that we have never done before, we need to think in much greater detail about those difficulties. For example, if you have a study assignment to do then that involves lots of things that you have done many times before, however, since it requires some creativity, some problem solving and some level of learning, it provides challenges that are often perceived of as “impossible to do in the moment” that we will readily turn away from unless we stop to ponder them closely.
Again, by running through the process in the mind first we identify the easy stuff and the real sticking points. Within the sticking points we must identify what aspects we have the capability to do and what we don’t. Through precise focus we get to the root cause of the real or perceived impossibility and that makes it so much easier to deal with rather than the normal fog of obscurity that we have to somehow fathom our way through.
The sticking point of impossibility will often relate to one of the following things: lack of time (for that specific occasion), lack of physical resources, lack of knowledge, lack of skill, inability or unwillingness to make a decision or to take a risk. Knowing the sticking point can allow us to either provide the necessary resource or capability or else to accept that we cannot do this thing and either find another way to fulfil the end desire or else to give up on it.
Worth and Loss
Sometimes, when we identify the sticking points, we know that we face difficulty and probable frustration and feelings of inadequacy until we finally conquer the problem. This can prove demotivating and so, when necessary, an addition to the list is merited that focuses on the purpose of carrying out the task and all necessary processes. By thinking about the benefits that we will receive from carrying out the task, we can more cheerfully resign ourselves to getting on with things by generating a little anticipation of a satisfying result. By thinking about what we will lose by not taking action we can get a clearer perspective on the long term effects of inaction which can more readily counteract the advantage of avoiding issues in the short term. We then bring into play our very powerful survival instincts, which when triggered can cause us to act decisively and energetically with great focus (effectively the same kind of response that gets triggered at the tail end of lengthy procrastination when desperation in the face of external threats demands action).
This addition to the list is not always needed but proves very beneficial when undertaking difficult tasks.
A Simply Better Tool
A “How To Do” list takes us consciously through a process that we must go through in order to get something done. Normally we go through this process unconsciously, which generally leads to time wasting and procrastination as we stumble over attempting to do things that we find impossible to achieve in the moment. It saves time by going through processes in the mind and seeking out the difficulties before they occur, rather than having to enact trial-and-error experimentation on the spot. This also improves our overall mood because we don’t end up so frustrated or wasteful of time and effort. It also gives a clear picture of just what is entailed when we set ourselves a list of things to do. Thinking about the process and what’s involved shows us whether we are likely to get that task done when we set it. This knowledge prepares our mind and attitude so that we don’t feel disappointed, done-in or inadequate, which can otherwise happen when we continually attempt to overreach ourselves.
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#1 - Permalink antonio marquez January 6th, 2008 at 8:21 pmIlike your opinions about productivity. I am actually doing research on topics related with overcoming information overload. I wonder if you would allow me to copy a refer your articles? If so, how could I have copies of your writings?
Many thanks,
Antonio Marquez
#2 - Permalink admin January 7th, 2008 at 3:51 amHello Antonio,
Can you please tell me more about your research and what you want to use the writings on my blog for? This will give a clearer idea on how to release information to you and I am also interested in the nature of your research, the purpose of it and who will use it.
Thanks,
Nick Pagan
#3 - Permalink Getting things done - Personal Development for Smart People Forums January 7th, 2008 at 4:14 am[…] to get things done and the difficulties that will be encountered. You can read about it here: How To Do List and if you still struggle to get things done even though you get highly organized then this article […]
#4 - Permalink Here’s A Quick Way to Boost Your Productivity - Batch Processing January 31st, 2008 at 7:04 am[…] to do this would require a lot of organization. One of the first things that I did was create a “How To Do List” and I simultaneously looked at the common processes between each article. I paid particular […]
#5 - Permalink How the “How To Do List” Boosts Productivity February 15th, 2008 at 7:03 am[…] that I would not get everything done so I spend the first part of the day carefully constructing a “How To Do List.” This tool focuses not just on what to do but on the process required to complete activities. It […]
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#8 - Permalink Bob March 22nd, 2008 at 2:48 pmLook, I agree with your point about breaking down a list into smaller parts… thats a common suggestion (secondary objectives)…..I think one important thing you failed to mention is timeframes. I actually hate timeframes that specify time… but I like timeframes that specifiy day. In other words, I think if you’re trying to pick a tool, a daily to do list is best. This is one reason I really dislike some of the popular to do lists tools (I’m referring to the online ones). I found this siteZoToDo.com Daily To Do and It’s sort of lacking when it comes to “sub-tasks” (ie/ it doesn’t allow sub-tasks)… but it’s simple and stuff which is good. I guess you just have to make do, and make all your tasks those secondary objectives, which is what I try to do. Wish they’d add that feature though.
#9 - Permalink admin March 24th, 2008 at 6:18 pmBob,
I usually create my How-To-Do-List on a daily basis. Each week I create a standard To-Do-List for the week with an indication of which day I reckon on getting things done. On that day (or even better the night before) I’ll start off by creating the How-To-Do-List. It’s a flexible tool and sometimes as I progress during the day I come up against particularly tricky problems and I have to break that problem down further in terms of how to do it in order to keep up with progress rather than giving up in frustration at that point.
I generally don’t like to specify timeframes as they often just become another expectation or judgment of whether I have succeeded or failed and take a lot of care not to load up those kind of arbitrary measures as it’s just another thing to create extra angst.
For some activities I do specify time limits. For example, I might set an objective to learn something specific on the guitar but since that is not always certain of achievement I also say that I’ll practice for an hour maximum. If I achieve the objective within the timescale then I can stop playing (if I want) if I don’t achieve the objective then I call it quits after a good hour and keep going the next day.
#10 - Permalink The Common Mistake with Getting Things Done: Lack of Preparation April 7th, 2008 at 6:50 am[…] Related Posts: How To Do List […]
#11 - Permalink DanGTD April 26th, 2008 at 2:05 amBob,
For subtasks you can use http://www.gtdagenda.com
There you have Goals, Projects and Tasks. Each task maps to a project, and each project maps to a goal. But you can look at it as tasks and subtasks.
Dan.
#12 - Permalink The Planning Trap May 5th, 2008 at 1:07 am[…] The ‘How To Do’ List […]
#13 - Permalink Lise June 5th, 2008 at 8:14 pmHi Nick - I followed your recent link on the ZenHabits forum to this article. It’s definitely given me some food for thought as far as my own to-do lists go.
I see this idea working for me especially at my job, where I often find myself avoiding important but difficult tasks on my to-do list for easier, more pleasant tasks. Breaking it up into “baby steps” (your secondary objectives) will, I think, help forward momentum.
#14 - Permalink admin June 6th, 2008 at 1:34 amHi Lise - Glad to know that you will try this idea out. I think that it works so well because it so readily breaks down those huge monolithic objectives on a ‘To Do’ list into a process for getting it done. Focusing on the process for getting things done, rather than the outcome desire, makes a huge difference in attitude to work. Doing difficult things then becomes a lot more matter-of-fact instead of baffling and a challenge to ones personal self-esteem.
The ‘How To Do’ list also encourages you to focus intently on those most difficult things that will bring you to a juddering halt because they seem impossible to get past at the moment that you arrive at them. Thinking of, and preparing for, such things in advance leads to huge productivity gains and it eliminates the procrastination and bad feelings that otherwise normally result.
I hope that it works out for you too.