Is Your To Do List The Problem?

Home
>
Get Organized - Organization
>
Is Your To Do List The Problem?

Is Your To Do List The Problem?

You start each week with great intentions. You are determined to get a grip of your workload. You are determined to write a to do list, you even promise yourself that you will stick to it and use it and reprioritise each day so that you finish what you want to every day.

But yet again by Wednesday afternoon life, stuff and your habits have made your Monday morning intentions seem a distant memory and you are back in fire fighting mode with a longer to do list and feeling even more overwhelmed by what you have to do.

Well have you ever stopped to think that it is your to do list that is the problem?

* Perhaps you are not a to do list person?
* Perhaps your to do list has the wrong things on it
* Perhaps your to do list is causing your fire fighting reactions?

Could there be another way to manage your workload? Could there be a better way for you to prioritise? Could there be a better habit for you to adopt?

What if you made one simple mind shift? What if you focused on "to achieve" instead of "to do"?

This mind shift requires that you look at results, goals and achievements rather than individual activities and tasks. To do lists focus on "NOW" and tend to allow reactive decisions. To achieve planning focuses on "RESULTS" and encourages proactive thinking.

You may have a to do list that has items which you consider urgent and you may have items on there that you consider important. It is that distinction that is critical when prioritising what you actually do on a day to day basis.

Is it more important that you react to all your emails as soon as they arrive or is it more important that you keep your regular progress meetings with your team members? Is it more important that you take focused time to plan your sales strategy for the next quarter or is it more important that you react to every phone call?

Only you can determine what is REALLY important and what is important and urgent. This is the way to decide what you need to focus on each day and this is the way to decide "in the heat of the moment" whether you need to stop what you are doing to focus on something else.

"Things which matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least." Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

About The Author
Beverley Hamilton is the author of Take Control of Your Time: 7 Straight Shooter Strategies for Success. To learn more, subscribe to Quickstart her free ezine and get more tips, tools and articles visit at One Step Further

NOTE: You're welcome to reprint this article online as long as it remains complete and unaltered including the "about the author" information at the end.

In The News:

Ex-Mexico cop pleads guilty in US to organizing cartel hit squad
Chicago Tribune
(Reuters) - A former Mexican police officer accused of organizing a hit squad for the once-powerful Tijuana drug cartel pleaded guilty in a US federal court on Friday to racketeering and drug trafficking, prosecutors said.

and more »

BetaNews
Get organized with WikiPad
BetaNews
WikidPad is a simple text editor that allows you to construct a custom personal wiki on your own PC, perfect for organizing thoughts, ideas, to-do lists, contacts and more. How does it work? Suppose you need to buy a few birthday presents for someone.

CBC.ca
Teamsters trying to organize parkway truckers
CBC.ca
The Teamsters union is attempting to organize nearly 150 dump truck drivers working on the $1.4-billion Windsor-Essex Parkway. Union organizer Rick Parent said he's distributed union cards to several of the drivers. Parent said he couldn't gauge ...

and more »

SimplyUs Brings Couples Closer, With An App For Organizing Their Lives Together
TechCrunch
That idea comes from co-founder Jonathan James' background in productivity software — formerly at Microsoft, James worked on early versions of its SharePoint application, and found that while he was incredibly organized at work, at home he and his ...

and more »

Akron Leader Publications
Organizing Memorial Day parades: A labor of love - and respect
SouthCoastToday.com
By Curt Brown Although the number of veterans who march are dropping in some communities, the organizers of Memorial Day parades on SouthCoast remain passionate and consider what they do to be a labor of love. "There's work involved, but I enjoy ...
Area Memorial Day ActivitiesFenceviewer
Old Coyote named Grand Marshal of Memorial Day paradeThe Bozeman Daily Chronicle
Memorial Day events & observancesWIVB

all 550 news articles »

Benefit being organized for Natick man with ALS
MetroWest Daily News
By Brian Benson/Daily News staff Family and friends of a local man battling ALS are organizing a benefit to support him while trying to raise awareness about the fatal disease and the need to support research to find a cure. Stephen Malieswski, an avid ...

Sydney Morning Herald
Quebec Students Protesting Tuition Hikes Organize on Twitter
Mashable
The hundreds of protesters that were arrested on Wednesday evening in the Canadian province of Quebec for rallying against university tuition hikes have been organizing their efforts on social media for months. The tuition hikes, which would raise ...
The Quebec Student Strike Celebrates 100th DayIn These Times
Mass arrests: Over 700 Canadian protesters detained in police crackdown (VIDEO ...Skim That

all 2,629 news articles »

Jewschool
Nominate someone for the Community Organizing Residency
Jewschool
by Kung Fu Jew [➚] · Friday, May 25th, 2012 From our friends at Bend the Arc, the organization(s) formerly known as Jewish Funds for Justice-Progressive Jewish Alliance-Shefa Fund, the Community Organizing Residency is accepting applications — and ...

Coupon Lady: Organizing your stockpile
The Augusta Chronicle
We would always start our summer vacation helping my grandmother clean, organize and get ready for the canning season ahead. I recall the smell of the Murphy's Wood Soap that we used to scrub the wall paneling and furniture.

Bin-Store's Wide Range of Products Gives Spring Fever to Eager Organizers
SBWire (press release)
Organizing the space around their homes and offices is no easy job, and often there is too much stuff but nowhere to put it. Long-term storage is one option, but most people want to have easy access to their affairs when they need them.

Google News