Productivity
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When capturing an next action, it’s vague and not fully actionable (e.g. “Goat” instead of “Milk the goat”)
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I’m not breaking down larger tasks into smaller, actionable steps. (This leaves gigantic, utterly untenable icebergs floating around within my todo list.)
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I don’t always determine the context for working a given action item. Instead, I try again and again to combine contexts and projects into a single list, thinking that this reduces complexity and friction. (It does not.)
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When I capture a next action, I sometimes fail to set a deadline. Tasks linger longer than necessary on the list (e.g. “Water the geranium” instead of “Water the geranium by 8:30am every other day”)
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When I capture a next action, I sometimes set an entirely arbitrary deadline for it. I think that this will help prioritize my work or motivate me. (It fails to do so.)
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I’m not capturing everything - all the things - into a single, trusted system. One telltale sign: piles of yellow sticky notes begin to stack up around the edges of my workspace.
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I’m not routinely scanning through all my disconnected notes for outstanding next actions / dangling tasks at the end of the work day.
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I’m not consistently making time for a comprehensive weekly review of everything. (And then I lose trust in what I’ve captured.)
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I don’t spend enough time ruminating within the Someday/Maybe list.
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I don’t always start each day by scanning through my lists of next actions and prioritizing. (Which means sometimes I spend time on less important things for entirely arbitrary reasons.)
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I don’t keep a standalone list of all my personal and professional projects updated. Where is all my energy going? (I’m doing work - but am I working on the the most meaningful, impactful things?)
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I don’t fully articulate what success / completion looks like for all of my projects. (How does my brain know it can stop thinking about this stuff?)
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I rarely celebrate - or even acknowledge - my progress, the series of smaller wins throughout the day, the week, the year.
No. It’s really not your To Do app’s fault.
Let’s talk about anti-patterns in productivity, shall we?
I’m a semi-reformed addict of trying out new productivity apps.
Do I still hear that sweet, sweet siren call of the perfect To Do app - the one that will FINALLY make me perfectly productive and organized?
I confess that I do… but these days I manage to resist it just a bit better.
Whenever I feel that familiar tug, that my current To Do app is utterly and completely failing me and I need to try something new, it’s normally because one (or more) of these anti-patterns has crept into my life:
To summarize:
When it seems like my software is at fault, sometimes it ’s because I’m being inconsistent. I’m not reviewing things as often as needed. I’m generally not thinking enough about the work to be done, the value I expect it to generate, or the opportunities I need to explore.
And sadly, no software tooling can compensate for this.
“Be careful not to overcomplicate your systems to the point where you can only maintain them when you are at your peak of mental clarity.”
-the David Allen Company
#Quotes