The not to do list

We are all familiar with the to do list.  I hate these and do not have them.  I have themes (such as health, career etc) in my life and goals around these themes.  Each day I decide three things that I am going to do today.  That’s it.  Just three things.  These three things must be important or they do not make it on my short list.  If you make an open ended to-do list then all kinds of things can be there.  Even the unimportant.  The danger is then that you will focus on just getting things done on the list rather than focusing on getting important things done.  We will be very busy but not achieve much.

Another concept that I think is a great idea is the not to do list.  There are things that we do that we shouldn’t do.  For example I used to start my day with email.  I put that on my not to do list and now I get 2 hours work done related to important goals before opening my email.  This makes me much more productive.  I found that even if I just scanned my email before working on something important that my mind would continue to be distracted by the email.  Another thing on my not to do list is not work after 9pm.  No matter what I am doing its time to switch off the computer and stop.  Rest, relaxation, family time and sleep are more important and by that stage I have done enough for the day.

At the moment I am reading the book ‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins as to why good companies become great companies.  Interestingly great companies focus on what to do but also focus equally on what not to do and what to stop doing.  We can also apply this learning to our own lives.

How about you:  What do you need to stop doing?

PS I will be discussing other lessons from Good to Great that we can learn and apply in our personal lives over the coming weeks.

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