Be Your Best

Todd Gifford – Success Coach

Productivity for most of us is about getting the most results out of the time we spend trying to achieve the results.  Or another way to say it, get the greatest results and impact out of the least amount of time and/or effort.

Productivity comes down to making best use of your time, and making good choices about how to utilize your time.  In order to take all this stuff that we do and try to better understand it as it relates to productivity, here are 3 key lists that you can create and use to help you become more productive.

The 3 Key Lists

1. Key Things I Must Do

This list sounds really simple and basic, but it is surprising how many of us get caught up in activities that we did not ‘decide’ were things we must do.  In order to improve productivity, we have to have conscious thought about what tasks we are choosing to spend our valuable time on.  ‘Must’ is different than ‘should’ or ‘could’.  Must-Do things represent tasks and projects that you have consciously decided are critical to get done, period.  These are ‘if I do not do this _______ task/project, I will not get to where I need to go.’  When you bump many of the things you find yourself doing during the day against this criteria, you will generally find that you are doing many things that are not Must-Do.  This fact, by itself, is not a problem.  The problem comes in to play when you review all 3 Key Lists of your Productivity System.

Bottom line is you should have a “Things I Must Do” list which comprehends all the variables and priorities that your job/life present you.

2. Things I Don’t Like to Do, But Are Key to Get Done

Inevitably, when you are thinking about your Must-Do list, if you are doing this correctly, you will identify Must-Do items, tasks, and projects that you do not like doing.  The reason you do not like doing them is irrelevant.  Bottom line is you don’t like to do some of the Must-Do critical tasks and projects.

The key aspect of this ‘Must-Do But Don’t Like to Do’ list is that you need to find someone or something else to complete these tasks/projects.  If you do not find alternative methods to get these tasks/items completed, then they likely won’t get done or done soon enough.  If you are like me, I procrastinate on things I do not enjoy doing.  I trick myself into thinking that the task is tough or time consuming, and that I need a bigger time slot for it than I have right now; or that it will require more research or pre-work than it really will.  Since you don’t like doing the items in this category, we all will tend to stay away from these items or put them off.  But that does not make them any less important on the Must-Do list.

The key for items falling on to this list is a little bit of time spent being creative about how someone else or something else could complete the task for you is time well spent.  Instead of grinding on the task itself, brainstorm how it could be completed some other way.  Obviously, if the task can be delegated to someone else, that is the easiest route to take.  But many times, we dwell on the task needing to be done that we don’t like to do vs. thinking ‘who else or what else could do this for me?’.

3. Things I Like To Do, But Should Not Be Doing

This is the toughest list to create, but arguably the most important list that negatively affects our productivity.  This list is made up of the tasks and projects and activities that we really like to do, but they do not bring substantial value to you or the company.  Essentially, they are not Must-Do items, but they are attractive to you like a ‘shiny object’.

These ‘shiny object’ tasks and activities can chew up a tremendous amount of time, and prevent you or your team from completing ‘Must Do’ critical and high value projects.  I see very capable people ‘justify’ these Like-To-Do tasks into the day’s agenda.  If they are repeat type of tasks, then they can become a bad habit within your daily schedule.

Thinking in terms of these 3 key lists of activities/ tasks/projects, helps to serve as a neutral check and balance for your time.  They serve as a good audit and pulls you out of the forest to see the bigger picture and ensure you are making best use of your time.

At minimum, just thinking about which list or category the task or project you are working on falls into will help you become more productive.  Eliminating just one chunk of time each day that would have been devoted to a ‘Like To Do, But Should Not Do’ task and replacing it with a ‘Must-Do’ critical task can increase your productivity substantially.

Be Your Best,

Todd D. Gifford