Junk To Do Lists, Opt for a Daily Calendar

Junk To-Do Lists, Opt for a Daily Calendar

Allocate ‘Real’ Time to Accomplish ‘Real’ Tasks

 

By Dr. Sathya Menon

 

Dubai : If you are struggling with an exhaustive ‘to-do’ list and burdened with deadlines, here’s a piece of steady advice – it’s time to junk the traditional post-it. Instead create a more user-friendly daily calendar, allocating a realistic time and a date to accomplish ‘real’ tasks at hand.

 Management gurus have now discovered that our brains can only handle about seven options before we’re overwhelmed. It’s easier for us to make decisions and act when there are fewer choices.  Looking at the 33 items on your to-do list will either paralyze you or send you into default mode: checking email for an hour instead of doing real work.

While living in a daily or a weekly calendar, it is important to keep a few hours free every week, in case you are unable to finish a task within the deadline, those empty hours will help in overcoming the backlog.  The level of responsibility remains the same — to set expectations about what can be accomplished with the amount of production time you have available.

 Most of the items on a ‘to-do’  list are not necessarily  ‘’order for lunch” or “fix the punctured car tyre”. They are those that need serious planning and are time-consuming. So unless you set a priority among the tasks and allocate time for them, creating a huge to-do list is bound to end up in failure and frustration. 

 This is primarily because most of us tend to take up tasks that can be accomplished fast while the other more serious ones tend to be ignored. For example the task of a business review meeting might be accomplished without a hassle but that of reading through a employee benefits handbook might remain in cold storage for a fairly long time.

 While making a calendar, ensure that there are self- commitment devices in place, that lock you in your course of action. In ancient days of war, soldiers use to stand against a river wall to ensure that they don’t run away from the enemy. You can impose similar penalties  on yourself to ensure that you are on the right track.

Handy Hints

 

·         Junk to-do lists, create a daily/weekly  calendar instead.

·         Allocate real time for real tasks.

·         Keep self-commitment devices in place.

 

Dr. Sathya Menon is the Academic Director, Blue Ocean Academy, Dubai

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