3 ms·
More than anything else, I find that making a list with things that can actually be ticked off (ie specific, and measurably attainable in the short term, not so
by Stormbringer 16y ago
More than anything else, I find that making a list with things that can actually be ticked off (ie specific, and measurably attainable in the short term, not something like "lose weight" or "become pro-active") is my best productivity tool.
There's something about a good list that is just like a flag to a bull to me.
- jamesbritt 16y ago(ie specific, and measurably attainable in the short term ... It's great self-hack. If I can just get rolling, I can (often, not always) keep moving and get stuff done. It's the "Wow, I have a gigantic task here; it's so huge that a few minutes just $(anything_but_the_task) won't matter" thing that ruins the party.
- Stormbringer 16y agoI think it is part of why I'm so much more productive at debugging. Give me a spreadsheet with a big list of things that are wrong and I'll bulldoze through them like a lightsaber through butter†. On the other hand, going to one of the 'proper' 'enterprisey' bug tracking systems actually reduces the visual impact, there is no list you have to search for them one by one and there is all this bondage and discipline around it. Because of this for me anyway the spreadsheet ('worse') is 'better'. †Disclaimer: it helps if you actually know the program and understand the problem that is being solved etc
- officemonkey 16y agoThat's the whole idea behind David Allen's "Next Actions" in the "Getting Things Done" book. Sure, the goal might be "Lose 50 lbs", but the "Next action" is "Do 20 min of exercise today". Often turning your "to-do" list into things you can actually DO is all it takes.