Anyone can make a list, and anyone can make that list look nice, colour code it and sort it into sub-lists, but none of that is important. Productivity software is obsessed about making things more efficient, but I would rather focus on what makes people and teams more effective. Seth Godin wrote that “getting people and organizations in sync is the project of our times“.
What’s really important is getting the right work done, not writing wish-lists of stuff you hope to do one day, if you have the time. To-do lists abdicate responsibility, by writing it down you think you are being efficient and purposeful, but how often do you ask yourself, “Should I be doing this task at all?”. Personally, I find writing long lists of things to do demotivating, they tend to keep growing and I never know when I should be satisified that I have finished, because I never am finished.
The Pareto principle found that 80% of the effects come from 20% of the causes. This is particularly true of your workload.
[The corollary of this is that you can stop doing the 80% of nonsense which accounts for 20% of your results and free up a lot of your time. Why do we get side-tracked on the unimportant? Probably because it's a lot easier to do those smaller, less important tasks than actually sit down and do the really important stuff that takes more effort.]
A recent study [1] demonstrated that those who write down their goals, share them, and check them weekly are 75% more effective than those who simply think about their priorities.
So rather than write never-ending lists, identify and commit to your top five priorities. What is a priority? They can be goals, or they can be a significant “to-do” item, such as a project. To help you identify your top priorities simply ask yourself, ”If I can only get five things done today/this week/this month, what would they be?”. By asking the question repeatedly for different time periods you can focus on different sized priorities. Regardless of whether it’s a day or month though, the satisfaction from achieving 5 out of your defined list of 5 priorities is much higher than achieving 5 items from a massive list. Now you know when you are finished, and you can enjoy that feeling.
This idea isn’t new, Cameron Herold, tells the story of Charles Schwab, head of the Bethlehem Steel Company, who learned this technique from management consultant, Ivy Lee, in the 1920s. Schwab was reported to say that from a money standpoint, this was the most profitable lesson he had ever learned. After hearing Cameron tell the inspirational story how he used this while growing 1-800-GOT-JUNK from sales of $2M to over $100M a year I tried it out in my last business. It worked!
This is what sparked the inspiration for Teamly. Our strapline is “Get the right work done”; we want you to focus on what really matters.
But it’s not just for the individual, (the clue is in the name!); we have developed this primarily as a tool to help businesses be more successful through more aligned and effective people. I will write more about that next time.
What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Let us know below.
by Scott
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More about Teamly:
Teamly is a new kind of productivity and teamwork management tool that helps you move beyond your mile-long to-do list and focus on the truly important stuff—your top 5 priorities for the day, week and month. Visit Teamly for more info or to sign-up.
Further Reading:
[1] The factors which enhance achievement of business and work related goals by Gail Matthews, Ph.D., Dominican University of California
Recommended book: Do It Tomorrow and other secrets of time management by Mark Forster
Blog by Cameron Herold: Turn lists into a Top 5
