The Not To Do List

I confess that I am an habitual “To Do Lister.” I usually start my day, trying to organize my thoughts and the list gets me focused and ready to tackle the coming challenges. That and a cup of coffee has me energized and optimistic. Fast forward to the end of the day, however, and my mood is often much different. Checking that list at day’s end frequently has me feeling ineffectual and annoyed with myself as I mark items to be transferred to tomorrow’s list.

Ironically, during the pandemic, my lists seem to have exploded and they are longer than ever as I transfer uncompleted items to the next day. I attribute this sad state of affairs to the pandemic induced lethargy that many of us have succumbed to. (It certainly cannot be due to laziness or procrastination on my part.😁) At any rate, my increasingly long lists and the accompanying stress forced me to finally take action…..thus the concept of a Not To Do List.

Initially, I thought I was being incredibly creative and even brilliant until I discovered that many others before me were actively using one. Apparently it is a well known business strategy to help one eliminate negative distractions. Warren Buffet is a pioneer in this area and Lord knows he is successful. So I decided that if it’s good enough for Warren, it’s good enough for me, and researching Not To Do Lists became the number one item on my To Do List.

As always Google had all the answers…in fact, more than I even thought possible. I found several sites with sophisticated and detailed links. This one in particular offered a printable pdf as a starting point to analyze and help you organize your To Do List issues https://smallstuffcounts.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/Not-To-Do-List-Printable.pdf and this site offers a somewhat different approach but also an excellent rationale for considering a Not To Do List https://lisamontanaro.com/2012/09/the-wisdom-of-creating-a-not-to-do-list/

My personal approach was somewhat more primitive. I could certainly see that both of the above websites would indeed be very helpful but I was in a hurry and couldn’t be bothered with “hard thinking.” I needed some immediate answers, so I simply sat down, looked at a series of past To Do Lists and did a random analysis.

Social media was an obvious concern. My obsession with news websites is well documented and Instagram and Pinterest can easily pull me down a deep dark hole. They were prime candidates for my NTDL. In my case, however, there were even more insidious factors at play. When I took a serious look at my To Do List problems, I discovered some additional depressing issues.

Procrastination is a time thief

My merciless examination revealed items that just never seemed to be crossed off my To Do List. They kept turning up time after time as an action item. I asked ask myself the reason(s) for this recurrence and wrote them beside the item. I found that often my excuse/reason was that I ran out of time….well, I ran out of time because I tend to procrastinate. That habit was now screaming at me and it made it onto my Not To Do List as priority number one. Do not procrastinate became my mantra and my mission statement.

Time is of the essence

And closely related to procrastination was spreading my attempts at list completion over the course of the day. Because I have an advanced degree in “time wasting,” there was no real plan or set time for tackling the list. As a result my efforts were random and scattered and tended to be linked to my energy level. Not surprisingly, the latter part of the day was more often than not very unproductive. Thus item number two is a dual item. Do not tackle the to do list randomly and do not waste time! (Refer back to social media and procrastination) 🙂

Tackle the tough stuff first

I also quickly realized that I tended to complete the tasks that could be dealt with quickly. Anything that required extensive effort on my part was often left unattended. It was hard to admit that there was a distinct possibility that I was lazy, but it was a gigantic high five when I acknowledged my short coming. Although items that ate up a large time frame were intimidating, they also delivered a huge dose of satisfaction. Hence item number three on my NTDL became do not avoid the tough stuff.

Delegate, delegate, delegate

It was glaringly obvious that I was listing several items that could be and should be done by someone else. And it emphasized for me the importance of saying “no” to those items. This was a no brainer. Item number four was easy…. do not address items that someone else can do.

Some things will never get done

This may have been the most useful realization of all. Once I saw that some items were continually being transferred from list to list, I admitted that they were highly unlikely to ever be completed. They were categorized as my “grand plans and illusions” and were accorded a separate not to do list ( note the lower case, signifying their lesser importance.) This included things like learn a new language, become a gourmet cook, and master the art of origami. It was a wonderful relief to acknowledge those items and dismiss them as priorities. May be I would address them at some point in the future but for now they were relegated to the back burner. Item number five became do not address unrealistic and impractical items.

I’m sure your NTDL would be much different than mine. We all have personal quirks and habits that inhibit our productivity. But even a basic approach such as mine can yield some worthwhile results. My advice?…..Start small and for goodness sake do not procrastinate!

Sadly, I cannot claim immediate success in my struggle. These things take time, miracles do not happen overnight etc., etc., and procrastination is still a major stumbling block for me. But I have managed to somewhat reduce my stress level and somewhat increase my satisfaction level when I look at my To Do List and in my books that’s a win. I also think Warren would be proud of me and of course