How to Actually Execute Your To-Do List: or, Why Writing It Down Doesn’t Actually Get It Done | zen habits

28 Sep 11

dcarris

GTD

14 Mar 10

Ken Greco

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- They are too intimidating in size or scope. To combat this, break it down into tinier chunks — actually, just the first tiny chunk (as David Allen tells us to do in GTD). It’s intimidating to do a task like “Create report on X” or “Make a yearly plan for Z”. But if you just need to do the first physical action, which might be, “Call Frank for figures on X” or “Make a list of 10 things we should accomplish this year”, it’s much easier to tackle and less intimidating.
- You don’t really know how to do it. If you haven’t done something a million times before, it is unfamiliar and unknown to you. And we are all terrified of that. The solution? First, get more information — learn as much as you can about it. That might require some research on the Internet, or talking to someone who’s done it before, or reading a book, or taking a class. Whatever you need to do, make the unknown become the known. Second, practice it as much as possible. Once you’ve learned how to do something, you need to practice it to become good at it. Don’t practice the whole thing — practice individual skills required to do a task or project, one at a time, until you’re good at those skills. Once you’ve mastered them, it will no longer be terrifying.
- You are focusing on negative aspects. You might be focusing on how hard something is, or on all the obstacles. Try looking at the positive aspects instead. Focus on what a great opportunity this project represents … an opportunity to learn, to get better at something, to make more money, to work on a relationship, to gain some long-term recognition, to improve your advancement opportunities. This is similar to the “get excited about it” item in the previous section. If you look at the opportunities, not the problems, you will be less terrified and more likely to want to do it.
Single-task
Unplug
Unplug
Clear your desk.
Groom yourself.
Take a walk.
Just think of doing one thing
Rewards
Overload
You’ll probably have some smaller things to do later, but write those down under a “batch process” heading, and do those small things all at once near the end of the day.
The second thing is that you’re loading yourself up with unpleasant tasks. Who wants to face a day of that? Instead, put down tasks that you’ll look forward to doing

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31 Oct 07

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But what if the problem isn’t making lists, but executing your plan? What if you write “Get X, Y and Z done” and then you can’t make yourself do any of these things?
I think that many people have a problem not with making to-do lists - but with executing what is written on these lists.
“I feel resistance when starting work on something.”
Tiny chunk. Tell yourself you only have to do 5 minutes of work on it. That small amount of work is less intimidating.
Just start. Once you get going, it’s much easier to keep going.
Reward yourself. Don’t let yourself check email (or whatever reward works for you — something that you need to do every day) until you do at least 10 minutes (or 15 or 20, it doesn’t matter) on the task.
Set a timer. Once your 10 minutes is up, set another timer for 5 minutes and do email. Then repeat.
Get excited about it. This is actually a tip that helps with any of these points. If you are excited about doing something, you will not hesitate to do it.
Try to find something exciting about it. Will it bring you revenue? What can you do with that revenue? Will it bring you new clients, new opportunities, new recognition?
“I am terrified of certain tasks, or of working on certain projects.”
First, get more information — learn as much as you can about it.
Second, practice it as much as possible.
“I start, but I get distracted and never finish.”
“I often don’t feel like doing any work at all. The idea of work seems horrible and I never start doing anything.”