With so much going on in each of our own work days, our lists of things to do seem to be created for us with little to no effort on our part at all. Just by opening your computer, answering your phone or sitting at your desk, work just multiplies around you. With so many forces seeming to work against you, how do you dig through the mound of what’s on your ‘To-Do’ list to be effective.

Continuing on the topic from my previous post, (Take charge of your growing ‘To-Do’ list: Write a ‘Can-Do’ list! ) let’s focus on the strategy of a ‘To-Don’t’ list.

two STRATEGIES

As the first strategy of a ‘Can-Do’ list focuses on sorting out the pile of tasks we have accumulated, the second helps avoid the pile in the first place. Trust me at different times in my career I have been better at dealing with both aspects, however both of these strategies have been helpful when I have needed them. To learn about the first strategy click here. Today’s focus will be a bit more negative: the ‘To-Don’t’ list.

know YOURSELF

For whatever reason, when asked what our strengths are, we tend to pause and reflect a bit before answering. Disagree? Ask five or six people what they excel at or what their best features are and typically they take a just a few seconds to gather their thoughts. Now on the flip side, go negative with me for a minute, if you ask the same group what they do not do well, they typically have little to no hesitation in pointing out their own flaws or weaknesses.

Why is this? Does this stem from a collective low self esteem as a society? Have we been so trained to be humble to the point that it is now a fault to see good in ourselves? Whatever the reason, it is easier for most of us to be negative than to think positive. Since I am not one to buck a trend, I say let’s go with it! Today you have the freedom to be as negative as you can be. The only thing I warn you about is that you do not beat yourself up in the end when it brings out a positive result.

just DON’T DO IT

This is what brought me to the point of writing my own ‘To-Don’t’ list. And creating yours will be much easier than you think. It is sticking with it that can be a bit more challenging. The basic idea behind your ‘To-Don’t’ list is that you want to stop doing anything that gets in the way of doing the items on your ‘Can-Do‘ list. If you notice any one habit gets in the way of your own productivity, then write it down as part of your list. I have found that i am most successful when I only ad an item or two per week. Trying to break all of your bad habits at once will only stress you out, set yourself up for failure and provide a lack of confidence in your abilities. However, you can identify as many as you like right away, just be sure to only focus on one or two until you have them down.

myLIST

To give you a start, I thought I would share of few of the basics from my own personal ‘To-Don’t’ list. These are practices I learned by tripping over the cause until I figured out it was time to stop, pick it up and get it out of the way. Here are just a few though the list continues to grow.

don’t CHECK VOICE MAIL

This used to get me in trouble all the time. I would be between sales calls or headed back from a meeting and figured: What better way to multitask than to listen to my messages? Well that would be a great idea if your goal is to just listen to what is said. However, if the person on the other end is expecting you to follow up and deal with their request, then this is not productive. The great part about checking messages was that I could quickly clear out the messages and get rid of the voice mail icon. On the flip side, I would rarely remember the full list of or all the details when I was able to follow up. Be sure to check your voice mail, but only when you have a pen and paper ready so that you can get all the details in writing. If you absolutely must check in, save any messages as unheard so that you have to come back to them as soon as you are settled.

don’t READ EMAIL

This is a hard one for me because I always like to know what is going on and what I could be walking into each day. However, looking through my email when I am on the run, such as on my phone or right before I head into a meeting, does not do me any good. It only adds more stress to my list of things to worry about. And unfortunately, because the email has been read, it leaves the false sense that it has been dealt with. For this reason I have added ‘don’t check email on the run’ to my list. The exception to this is if I know someone needs an immediate reply that I can answer right away.

don’t START

You may be compelled to get right to it and jump right into something. This is understandable as I tend to have the personality that would jump out of an airplane and then read the instructions for the parachute on the way down (by the way this is not a good plan). To save myself from my own instincts I have added the ‘don’t start’ program to my list. This is just my pledge to myself to not start looking into something or start gathering details until I truly have the time to follow up or finish the project. Curiosity often nudges at me to begin a project but I know that if I can’t dedicate the time to finish, then I am actually stealing time from what I could get done now as well as what I was trying to do. So in order to finish, I just don’t start.

don’t LOOK UP

Now it is time to get it done. Unfortunately, I don’t like to miss out on whats going on around me. While this can be a virtue in being attentive and getting new ideas, it can be a vice when productivity is at stake. To get on top of this, I added the ‘don’t look up’ rule to my list. Activating this rule means, heads down focus, headphones in and no looking up until a project is done. In this state I can get it done like a machine. When I get to this point, I can cross things off the list, blow through projects and work at maximum efficiency. But I have to stay focused on my main ‘don’t’ for it to work. Typically, I set either a time to break or a stopping point in the project and do not give myself permission to slow down until that time.

action TIME

Are you ready to create your ‘To-Don’t’ list? Feeling positively negative yet? Sometimes you have to be a bit negative to get to that positive outcome you so desire. I recommend starting out with simple observation. During the next week grab an index card and pen, and stick them in your pocket, or if you are a bit more modern, open a sticky note app on your phone. Now watch for little habits that tend to ‘bite’ you later. Did you forget something because you didn’t write it down? Were you overwhelmed by over promising? Whatever it is that seems to trip you up, write it down and get it added to your list as a ‘don’t do it’ statement. This is your way of picking up the clutter that you are tripping over. Get it all on one list, all in one basket. Now you can begin the process of dealing with it. Again, just pick one or two per week to focus on stopping. Better not to overwhelm yourself with restrictions only to crack later with a bad habit, over doing binge!

Your list should grow and change as will the obstacles in your life. Speaking for myself, I start to feel as if I have a system down only to find a bit more new clutter to pick up later. At this point I have to turn the mirror around and start to take my own advice.

Thank you for continuing to follow along on this journey with me. Do you have a similar list? What do you avoid doing in the hopes of being more productive? Please share them in the comments section below.

Andy Vargo is a motivational speaker, life coach and comedian who challenges you to ‘Own Your Awkward’. He is the author of the Awkward Journal series, host of the podcast, Own Your Awkward, and shares thoughts and ideas in his blog and video series available at awkwardcareer.com.

Originally published on LinkedIn 

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