So How’s YOUR To Do List Habit Going?

On February 8, 2024, the Technology + Collaboration Committee hosted a Lunch and Learn webinar on getting started with a task manager. (See the Past Presentations page.) If you have found it hard to build and stick with a task management habit, I came across this 7 minute video that might help.

From Tiago Forte, a productivity expert I follow, “7 Hacks to Crush Your To-Do List Every Day” Dec. 5, 2024 [6:27]:

1. Write tasks down immediately
   1. Step one of successful task management is capturing tasks – do this right away, usually on your phone
2. The 2-minute rule
   1. “If it takes less than 2 minutes, do it now” (David Allen, another productivity guru) – Just do it!
3. Focus on the next “physical action”
   1. Keep tasks concise, clear and complete – and start them with an action verb
   2. Adding a “next step” to a task helps to remember where you left off and to quickly get back into a task when you return to it
4. Add all relevant information to the task
   1. Prep your future self for completing a task faster, easier and with less friction
5. No “read”, “watch” or “listen to” tasks
   1. Consumable content reminders are not actionable tasks and should not clutter your actionable to do lists
   2. Use a notetaking app or a read-later app or, at least, collect them in a reference list within your task manager
6. Pick 3 important tasks per day
   1. Adding too many tasks in My Day is a buzzkill and actually leads to fewer tasks being completed
   2. I try to keep the number of “might do” tasks in My Day to 5 +/- 2
   3. I tag 1 to 3 of these as Important – my “must do” tasks for the day
7. Go with your energy
   1. This is an interesting and, perhaps, more advanced tip that requires you to pay attention to your daily energy rhythm and schedule tasks accordingly
8. Bonus hack: There’s no guilt or shame about not doing all your tasks
   1. Tasks are meant to be fluid and transient
   2. Capturing a task is NOT an obligation to complete it
   3. Commitment to a task occurs when you tag it as a “must do” task in your My Day list.

Don’t be frustrated if you find that you experience a start / stop relationship with task management. Just pick up from where you left off and try again.

When you’re ready, unlock effective time management by combining your task manager with your calendar:

• The calendar and task manager workflow follow the same 3 steps: Capture > Organize + Review
• The keys to effective time management involve: Task manager + Calendar > Weekly Reviews + Daily Planning