3 Simple Ways To Turn Your To-Do List Into a Done List

Capture Your Tasks Effectively

TURN YOUR TO-DO LIST INTO A DONE LIST

‘Video’ <— what does it mean?!?

• Pick up a video?

• What is a video?

• Where can you watch a video?

• Who knows!

Guess what – your brain doesn’t know either

• Your brain looks at this single word, wondering what to do with it

If this is how you capture tasks, stop it

• The number of unanswered questions about a task placed on your to-do list like this will affect your ability and desire to complete it:
  • Presentation?!?
  • Trip?!?
  • Proposal?!?

Here are 3 ways to turn to-do’s into done’s

• Verbs – These signal to your mind and body that it’s time to get into ‘action mode’

• Details – These provide clarity and remove resistance to taking action

• Deadlines – These increase your level of motivation to take action

Capture tasks the right way

• Example: 30 mins: Write a blog post about how to turn a to-do list into a done list:
  • Write – Is a verb that describes the action required to complete the task

• Write a blog post about… – Provides details about the goal of the task

• 30 mins – Gives the task a mini-deadline to fuel taking action on it

CHALLENGE/NEXT ACTIONS

Update your to-do list,

or begin a new list following these guidelines for each action item on the list:

• Begin it with an action word (Words) – Create, make, review, write, record, organize, etc.
• Be specific about what needs to be done (Words) – So specific and detailed that you could hand the task off to someone else and they would know exactly what to do
• Include an estimated amount of time it will take to complete – A close estimation is good enough