Basics of productive To Do

lists

Hello!I am Sam Asadi We are here to see how we can have a productive To Do list and action plan

TO DO lists

What is to do list?

They are list of task that are prioritized and list everything you need to carry out.

They have the most important tasks on the top and the least important ones on the bottom.

(not a surprise if your to do list is not prioritized, most people don’t prioritize them)

Steps to a productive To-Do

list

1.Write down all of your

tasks

• Write down every task you have • Break down the large tasks to small ones

-If a task take more than 2 hour is large andyou better break it into small tasks

• You can have different lists for you personal, work, study etc. tasks

2.Define their priority

• You can use A-F technique in which A is very important and F is not important at all.

• Order them based on their priority• Review them again and make any necessary

change (for example if you have too many tasks with high priority change them based on which are more important)

Eisenhower principle

“I have two kinds of problems: the

urgent and the important. The urgent are not important, and the important

are never urgent

The difference between important and urgent

Important

Activities that have an outcome that leads to us

achieving our goals, whether these are professional or

personal

Urgent

activities that demand immediate attention, and are

usually associated with achieving someone else's goals.

They are often the ones we concentrate on and they

demand attention because the consequences of not dealing

with them are immediate

Based on the paper you have there are 4 types of tasks

1. Important and Urgent2. Important but not Urgent 3. Urgent but not Important 4. Not Important and not Urgent

Important and Urgent

Why is there a paradox?

These kind of tasks are the important ones that you either:

left them until the very last moment and now they are urgent (procrastination)

Or:You couldn’t foreseen them

Non of us are future tellers but we can avoid procrastination

“procrastination occurs when

there’s a temporal gap between intended behavior and enacted

behavior-Professor Clarry Lay

The signs of Procrastinating

• Filling the day with low priority tasks• Waiting for the right time and the right mood• Sitting down to do the important task and

immediately leave to make a coffee • Leaving an important task on your To-Do list for

far too long even though you know its important• Reading emails multiple times while you have

no clear understanding what should you do with them

• Saying yes to every single un-important tasks other asks you to fill the day while you have your own important tasks on your To-Do list

• GENERALY: MAKING EXCUSE MEANS PROCASTRATION

Reasons behind becoming a procrastinator

• Unpleasant task or job• Disorganization• Feeling overwhelmed with the task

Techniques to overcome

procrastination

Eat an Elephant beetle

One everyday morning

Other techniques:

• Set goals both for your personal life and work life (both long term and short term) we will talk about how to set goals later!

• Use Eisenhower principle!• Use Prioritize To-Do lists!• Master scheduling and planning skill• Use action plans!• Count your cost of work and be honest with your

self

Important BUT not Urgent

• These are the tasks that help you achieve your goals, both personal and professional

• They are THE one tasks that make you do the important work.

• Dedicate plenty of your time to do these sort of tasks

• Leave some time for unforeseen tasks • Don’t leave them until they become urgent as

well

Urgent BUT not Important

• These are the tasks that keep you from achieving your goals

• Try to either reschedule them or delegate them• You can schedule regular meetings with those

who interrupt you often• You might want to learn to say NO to the task

and YES to the person

Not Urgent not Important

• Ultimate distractions• Try to cancel or delete them if possible • These tasks are normally one of those that

others need you to do• If you define your work boundaries and let

everyone know them, you probably will have a shorter list

Advantages and Disadvantages of To-Do

lists

Advantages • You wont forget your tasks

which will lead others to rely on you

• You tackel the important jobs first

• You wont get stressed because of large amount of jobs left to do

Disadvantages • To-Do lists are only good

when there are not too many tasks

• For the situations that there are huge amount of tasks you should use action plans and action programs

Thanks!Any questions?You can find me at @sam-asadi and @SamyAsady