If you are like me, you look at your to-do list and ask, "When will I get it all done?" At what point will we get up one morning and see that there is nothing on the list? More importantly, if that list was blank, would that be a good thing? Would if represent freedom? On the other hand, would it represent a life for which there is no longer a purpose?
To understand the point, let's substitute the term "restaurant menu" for "to-do list." When I go into a restaurant, I am presented with a lengthy menu. A large menu selection is a positive trait. Am I going to order everything on the menu? Of course not. Even if I visit that restaurant a dozen times and order something different each time, I will still not have tried every choice on the menu.
Ordering everything is not what a menu is for. It is not something to be "finished." It presents choices for me, enjoyable choices. The longer the menu, the more things I won't choose. The longer the menu, the greater the chance that what I do choose will be delicious! I won't eat everything, but I like the fact that the menu puts it all in front of me.
I walk into a library. There is no way I am going to read everything from the vast array of books that occupy that building. But that's not what a library is for. It presents me with wonderful choices. The organized way in which books are shelved and the comprehensive card catalog provide me a total picture of my choices.
We can view our to-do list as something that must be finished, or we can view it as something to be enjoyed. I propose that the attitude we take toward the length of our list may well shape the quality of what we put on it, and in turn, the quality of our lives.
If my aim is to finish the list, then my temptation is to add only those items which can be finished quickly. I will limit my goals. I will resist adding items to the list, looking at each additional item as an enemy standing between me and a list that is "done."
I can take another view of the list. I can view it as a place to trap all of the worthwhile opportunities that I can't take advantage of at this very moment. It is the menu that lists 50 different varieties of cheesecake. I will eat one today, but I sure would like to keep a list of the other 49 for the next time I am hungry for cheesecake. It is the library which houses all of the classics. I can only read one at a time, but I am glad the shelves house many more, because I will be back.
The older I get, the more I realize that I will never "get it all done" and neither will you. With all of the opportunities that are available to you and to me in this great age in which we live, to be able to "get it all done" means we must ignore the mere existence of a wide array of wonderful choices. What a sad existence that would be.
The length of my list is a testimony to the wide variety of interests I have, my thirst for knowledge, and the overall outlook that tomorrow will be better than today. As long as there is a healthy list of opportunities, there is a reason to get up in the morning, a reason to "seize the day," and an attitude that when the night comes, I can say that I did something to make today count.
When will I get it all done? I hope the answer is never!
Showing posts with label master list. Show all posts
Showing posts with label master list. Show all posts
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Friday, September 11, 2009
When Will I Get It All Done?
If you are like me, you look at your to-do list and ask, "When will I get it all done?" At what point will we get up one morning and see that there is nothing on the list? More importantly, if that list was blank, would that be a good thing? Would if represent freedom? On the other hand, would it represent a life for which there is no longer a purpose?
To understand the point, let's substitute the term "restaurant menu" for "to-do list." When I go into a restaurant, I am presented with a lengthy menu. A large menu selection is a positive trait. Am I going to order everything on the menu? Of course not. Even if I visit that restaurant a dozen times and order something different each time, I will still not have tried every choice on the menu.
Ordering everything is not what a menu is for. It is not something to be "finished." It presents choices for me, enjoyable choices. The longer the menu, the more things I won't choose. The longer the menu, the greater the chance that what I do choose will be delicious! I won't eat everything, but I like the fact that the menu puts it all in front of me.
I walk into a library. There is no way I am going to read everything from the vast array of books that occupy that building. But that's not what a library is for. It presents me with wonderful choices. The organized way in which books are shelved and the comprehensive card catalog provide me a total picture of my choices.
We can view our to-do list as something that must be finished, or we can view it as something to be enjoyed. I propose that the attitude we take toward the length of our list may well shape the quality of what we put on it, and in turn, the quality of our lives.
If my aim is to finish the list, then my temptation is to add only those items which can be finished quickly. I will limit my goals. I will resist adding items to the list, looking at each additional item as an enemy standing between me and a list that is "done."
I can take another view of the list. I can view it as a place to trap all of the worthwhile opportunities that I can't take advantage of at this very moment. It is the menu that lists 50 different varieties of cheesecake. I will eat one today, but I sure would like to keep a list of the other 49 for the next time I am hungry for cheesecake. It is the library which houses all of the classics. I can only read one at a time, but I am glad the shelves house many more, because I will be back.
The older I get, the more I realize that I will never "get it all done" and neither will you. With all of the opportunities that are available to you and to me in this great age in which we live, to be able to "get it all done" means we must ignore the mere existence of a wide array of wonderful choices. What a sad existence that would be.
The length of my list is a testimony to the wide variety of interests I have, my thirst for knowledge, and the overall outlook that tomorrow will be better than today. As long as there is a healthy list of opportunities, there is a reason to get up in the morning, a reason to "seize the day," and an attitude that when the night comes, I can say that I did something to make today count.
When will I get it all done? I hope the answer is never!
To understand the point, let's substitute the term "restaurant menu" for "to-do list." When I go into a restaurant, I am presented with a lengthy menu. A large menu selection is a positive trait. Am I going to order everything on the menu? Of course not. Even if I visit that restaurant a dozen times and order something different each time, I will still not have tried every choice on the menu.
Ordering everything is not what a menu is for. It is not something to be "finished." It presents choices for me, enjoyable choices. The longer the menu, the more things I won't choose. The longer the menu, the greater the chance that what I do choose will be delicious! I won't eat everything, but I like the fact that the menu puts it all in front of me.
I walk into a library. There is no way I am going to read everything from the vast array of books that occupy that building. But that's not what a library is for. It presents me with wonderful choices. The organized way in which books are shelved and the comprehensive card catalog provide me a total picture of my choices.
We can view our to-do list as something that must be finished, or we can view it as something to be enjoyed. I propose that the attitude we take toward the length of our list may well shape the quality of what we put on it, and in turn, the quality of our lives.
If my aim is to finish the list, then my temptation is to add only those items which can be finished quickly. I will limit my goals. I will resist adding items to the list, looking at each additional item as an enemy standing between me and a list that is "done."
I can take another view of the list. I can view it as a place to trap all of the worthwhile opportunities that I can't take advantage of at this very moment. It is the menu that lists 50 different varieties of cheesecake. I will eat one today, but I sure would like to keep a list of the other 49 for the next time I am hungry for cheesecake. It is the library which houses all of the classics. I can only read one at a time, but I am glad the shelves house many more, because I will be back.
The older I get, the more I realize that I will never "get it all done" and neither will you. With all of the opportunities that are available to you and to me in this great age in which we live, to be able to "get it all done" means we must ignore the mere existence of a wide array of wonderful choices. What a sad existence that would be.
The length of my list is a testimony to the wide variety of interests I have, my thirst for knowledge, and the overall outlook that tomorrow will be better than today. As long as there is a healthy list of opportunities, there is a reason to get up in the morning, a reason to "seize the day," and an attitude that when the night comes, I can say that I did something to make today count.
When will I get it all done? I hope the answer is never!
Friday, June 05, 2009
The Master List
In the last post, I talked about a lengthy to-do list as being a positive thing. In this post, let's look at how to organize that list so that it can be lengthy without being overwhelming.
My to-do list is, in fact, one long list. It is organized chronologically. Since the BlackBerry does not have a "start date" field, every task from now on into the future is listed one after the other. As of this moment, I have an entry which comes due in 2017!
What is important for me is to see a well-organized list of what I want to accomplish today in the order I want to accomplish it. Each day, I quickly scan the list of items with a due date of today or earlier and adjust the due dates to move the things I want to accomplish early in the day to the top of the list. I look for a group of half a dozen or so items which fits together well and assign them a due date of five days ago. They move to the top of the list. I scan the list for another few items which I want to accomplish next and give them a due date of four days ago. I continue the process and have a groups of items dated three days ago, two days ago, yesterday, and the remainder left with today's due date.
What if I have additional time? A trick I use is to employ the last day of the month as a place for my "master list." Those tasks are the ones which have no urgency. Many do not have to be done at all. They are options that could add to the richness of my life. Whenever I have"cleared the deck" of those items which must be done now and am open to options, I always know that I can scroll to the last day of the month and pick up some ideas.
When the month ends, I will never have finished everything that was on the that "Master List." I wait for the next day, the 1st day of the month, and look at what is still on the list. It is then that I reassign due dates. There may be 150-200 such tasks. Many of them will simply be re-scheduled for the last day of the new month. On Outlook, simply putting a number in the due date field translates to that day of the current month. For example, if this month is June and I enter "30" in the due date field, Outlook converts that to "6/30/2009."
Other tasks will have gained some urgency or will seem to fit well on a particular day during the month. Those tasks will be given assigned a due date accordingly. Still other tasks are such that I know I do not want to see them again for several months. Those tasks will receive a due date for the last day of the month several months hence.
By maintaining that "master list" on the last day of the month, my list for the current day is manageable. At the same time, I have a place to store the rich supply of activities to which I can look forward.
My to-do list is, in fact, one long list. It is organized chronologically. Since the BlackBerry does not have a "start date" field, every task from now on into the future is listed one after the other. As of this moment, I have an entry which comes due in 2017!
What is important for me is to see a well-organized list of what I want to accomplish today in the order I want to accomplish it. Each day, I quickly scan the list of items with a due date of today or earlier and adjust the due dates to move the things I want to accomplish early in the day to the top of the list. I look for a group of half a dozen or so items which fits together well and assign them a due date of five days ago. They move to the top of the list. I scan the list for another few items which I want to accomplish next and give them a due date of four days ago. I continue the process and have a groups of items dated three days ago, two days ago, yesterday, and the remainder left with today's due date.
What if I have additional time? A trick I use is to employ the last day of the month as a place for my "master list." Those tasks are the ones which have no urgency. Many do not have to be done at all. They are options that could add to the richness of my life. Whenever I have"cleared the deck" of those items which must be done now and am open to options, I always know that I can scroll to the last day of the month and pick up some ideas.
When the month ends, I will never have finished everything that was on the that "Master List." I wait for the next day, the 1st day of the month, and look at what is still on the list. It is then that I reassign due dates. There may be 150-200 such tasks. Many of them will simply be re-scheduled for the last day of the new month. On Outlook, simply putting a number in the due date field translates to that day of the current month. For example, if this month is June and I enter "30" in the due date field, Outlook converts that to "6/30/2009."
Other tasks will have gained some urgency or will seem to fit well on a particular day during the month. Those tasks will be given assigned a due date accordingly. Still other tasks are such that I know I do not want to see them again for several months. Those tasks will receive a due date for the last day of the month several months hence.
By maintaining that "master list" on the last day of the month, my list for the current day is manageable. At the same time, I have a place to store the rich supply of activities to which I can look forward.
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