Making To Do Lists Work
For those who have unchecked items every evening
Scroll to bottom for TL;DR
So the thing is, To Do Lists are cool. To Do Apps are also cool, some would say cooler, but not me - you know why? Cause I don’t like To Do Lists.
What? Ishan?? but you’re a productivity geek, how can you not like To Do Lists?
Cause I read an article about why To Do Lists (the way you usually use them) make you more anxious than anything else.
Whenever you want to be productive, you probably start by making a To Do List. You can make this list on a piece of paper or in an elaborate Notion database, but I bet that finishing every single thing on your to do list by the end of the day is something that you haven’t experienced a lot and there’s a simple reason behind this. To Do Lists aren’t plans, but we treat them like they are.
In a perfect world, you could look at a project or task and instantly know every step which is needed to be done to complete it, but we’re not in a perfect world, and we’re all too dumb to actually do that. In the real world, your quick judgements are probably wrong, and can have bad results. For example, you might be working on Task A, and then realize (or as I like to say, 'discover') a Task B that needs to be done to fulfill the plan; or worse - you might start with B and discover A later.
These 'discoveries' become huge distractions and cause anxiety. Errors or missed steps can also lead to failing the project as a whole.
No matter what projects you work on - starting with and stopping at a To Do List is guaranteed to yield low quality results compared to what you could have achieved with some thoughtful planning.
To make effective Plans, ask the following questions:
What is the Intended Outcome?
What does ‘Project Completed’ look like. Make this as specific as possible
How much time did this take me the last time?
So when should I start and end with it?
What will I need to reach the outcome?
Tools, resources, ingredients, etc.
What are the steps that lead to completion?
Set a deadline for each smaller step too
Do this for all your projects and keep the answers in an easily accessible location - Now, whenever you sit down to work, look at them, and make a To Do List accordingly. This is a good to do list that is based on plans.
If you plan properly, you'll have a clear idea of:
What you want to do,
What needs to be done, and,
Why you're doing the thing you’re doing right now.
Plus, you won’t discover a new task later on.
Here’s an example of the plan that I used to write this newsletter:
Hundreds of Ways to Get S#!+ Done—and We Still Don’t
By Clive Thompson | Read Here
There is a huge market for 'Productivity Merch' ranging from applications and furniture to music and medicine. However what most people don't realize is that Productive Merch does not do the productivity for you. A lot of people use productive merch to be better versions of themselves but they often think that the app will make them more productive, instead of helping them work.
You can make To-Do Lists and Databases all you want - but you need to actually work on the the tasks to be Productive
Eventually, when people find that their apps aren’t making them more productive, they take the frustration out on the apps by deleting and switching to something else instead of analyzing their own workflows and styles. The worst part is that switching apps makes you feel productive. It makes you feel like you’re taking control of your life - by setting up new ‘systems’ and ‘adding tools’, but in reality you’re not making any progress on the work that actually needs to be done.
A good productivity tool would be one which takes care of certain responsibilities in order to help you focus on your work - that is, it eases the Zeigarnik Effect. This is a psychological effect which says the brain keeps processing information until it’s convinced that it has been, or will be dealt with later.
An example used in the article is of putting something next to the door at night so you’ll remember to take it with you in the morning - if you don’t leave it by the door, you’ll keep thinking about your need to remember to do it, causing stress and anxiety.
This means that a good tool will:
Prevent unfinished tasks from lingering inside your head
Allow you to jump back into tasks immediately
These effects are best met when you have a clear plan - that’s because when you just add a task to a list (that has a bunch of other stuff you haven’t done yet) - your brain isn’t convinced it’ll be dealt with - it doesn’t know when, where, and how it will be completed - all it knows is that there is something that needs to be completed. This causes anxiety and eats up focus.
It’s like you’ve tried to convince yourself that the thing is by the door, but it’s actually in the cupboard with a bunch of other junk.
On the other hand, having a clear plan is like sticking a list of ‘things to take’ next to the door - its reliable and convinces your brain easily.
This is the second newsletter - and I’ll be sending at least one each week. If you subscribe to this newsletter and realize it has been a week since I haven’t sent you something:
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Got any questions, answers, suggestions or corrections? feel free to write to thepuranik.blog@gmail.com
TL;DR
To Do Lists without plans cause anxiety and eat up focus
If you focused on making plans instead of to do lists then you can be more productive
To make effective Plans, ask the following questions:
What is the Intended Outcome?
What does ‘Project Completed’ look like, make this as specific as possible
How much time did this take me last time?
So when should I start and end with it?
What will I need to reach the outcome?
Tools, resources, ingredients, etc.
What are the steps that lead to completion?
Set a deadline for each smaller step too
Now, whenever you sit down to work, look at your answers to these questions, and make a To Do List accordingly. This is a good to do list that is based on a plan.
Valuable insights!