The ToDon't List: Delaying Procrastination
Tuesday, September 19, 2006
One of the biggest obstacles to my productivity is procrastination: more specifically, the emergence of hundreds of (apparently) REALLY IMPORTANT tasks when I have a task that is actually important at hand. I picked up a great tip for dealing with this, but I can't track the source down now, so until I do I'll just give it a name and get on with it.
It's very simple- I keep a ToDon't list. When I should be writing a report, and instead find myself wanting to do something else, I just write that down on a list to do later. When Later comes, I look back through the list to evaluate how important the tasks actually were. Normally, they're not important at all. From my current ToDon't list:
- Look up names of X-men and their powers
- Where do bats sleep?
- Do Owls see in Infra-Red?
- Track down recording of Johannesburg Counting Crows concert
- Who invented Post-It notes?
All of these seemed like really important things to do at the time- which is why the ToDon't list is so useful- by holding the items until later, I can 'get a second opinion' from myself on their importance. Here is the really funny part though: because I've written it down on a list, I somehow feel as if I've done something other than the task at hand, so the side of me that wants to procrastinate is satisfied to an extent.
Tagged: Lifehacks, Productivity, Procrastination
PS- In case you were wondering, Wikipedia to the rescue, sometimes here, I don't know, CC Trader's Network, and Spencer Silver
posted by Peter le Roux @ 3:06 PM,
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