killing.my.todo.list
I was reading this article over at unwrapyourmind, Normally I’m really for and into this self-help stuff, but this article just rubbed me the wrong way.
Like many people, I’ve had a history of procrastination. I’ve gone through the guilt and self-destructive feelings that come with being a lazy sloth. I’ve sat and wallowed in my own self-pity and made tons of excuses for why I wasn’t getting anything done. My mother used to tell me that it was when I was bullshitting and procrastinating that I got the most philosophical. I feel this article, like many other self-help guides and such, romanticize the subject of productivity.
Most people want some feel-good formula to distract them from the fact that they just need to get it done. Just do it. That’s my formula. Now I definitely agree that a mother managing 9 kids at home, or a high powered CEO might need a system a little bit more complex than a calendar and a to-do list, but most people don’t.
I remember seeing this skit on Mad TV about this woman on an infomercial who was trying to lose weight. The announcer built her up about this new revolutionary 2-step system to lose weight. He goes on and on about how it’s changed the lives of countless people etc. So finally he tells her the secret 2-step system. 1. Eat less 2. Move more. After he tells her, he’s unable to convince her that it works. She is suspicious because there are no books, she doesn’t have to pay anything, and that there are no pills or anything like that involved.
I thought the skit was genius and showed how here we are obsessed with creating systems around getting things done. So my system is get a to-do list and a calendar, write your tasks down, and just do them.
What do you think?
Hi,
thanks for checking out my article and giving your 2 cents to it.
I guess although it doesn’t look like, that we are on the same track. Write the tasks down and work on them. That is the only way to achieve something – period.
And I agree that there is no system fitting them all. I came up with this system when I was working as one of the top consultants in my niche for about 115 hours per week (yes, I was sleeping in the office). That was my turning point. When I decided I was a slave to a massive and impressive to-do list and following only, what others want from me (what today would be my O-List).
Today, I’ve gone back to having a smaller task list (which I call D&C List) & some other lists where I collect things I might do later and of things others want from me). For anything related to specific dates I also use a simple calendar. But the massive change for me was not in changing tools or systems. It was in changing my mindset and focusing on what I want and what I decided to do that day. It was about regaining my own power (and making lots of decisions including cutting back on work load).
So my basic premise at unwrapyourmind.com is not to establish myself as a guru who knows it all, but someone who has tried lots of things, failed at even more – and created his own philosophy and way of doing things in the making. And that is what everyone should do.
Find a way that feels good for you, make up and unwrap your own mind – and if your to do list and a calendar is it for you and you have no problem with the “I have to do – but don’t want to” syndrome, then more power to you.
Thanks for being open and stating your opinion.
I am always looking for other peoples experiences.
Patrick