Ep #72 How your to-do list is keeping you stuck

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I often speak about productivity and how trying to be more productive is actually a trap. 

This is because being productive is all about doing more in less time. This sounds a lot like being busy, which we so often wear as a badge of honour. 

Here’s the thing. Busy does not mean progress. Busy also doesn’t equal fulfilment, and it definitely doesn’t automatically create the results you really want.

At the heart of productivity we have to-do lists. 

We create to-do lists in an attempt to be more productive, to get things done. But there is a problem with the to do list. There are a few problems, actually, the biggest most detrimental one being that a to-do list doesn’t stop us from doing only the easy things. 

Our brain loves easy. It will always choose the path of least resistance.

When we create a to do list, we typically write down al the things we need, should, and want to do during the day. (I love how optimistic we are about everything we think we can do in one day).

Since we are conditioned to go for easy, we always pick the fun tasks first. Before we know it we have done a lot but we haven’t touched the things that are important. Those tasks we know will have the biggest impact on our business and lives. 

Something else you may have noticed about your to-do list is that it never ends! We are constantly adding to it! Often from a place of reaction. We add things to the list as they pop up rather than from a place of purposeful action that is linked to our bigger goals and vision for our business and life.

The result? 

We get stuck in the day-to-day of doing and we often forget where we are going.

Before we know it…we wake up very aware of how much time has passed and how little of the things we said were important actually got any of our time and attention.

Have you noticed how your brain sends you these reminders of “oh you need to do this, or “you must remember that thing”?

We are constantly being reminded of unfinished items, uncompleted tasks, and our unmet goals.

This creates a lot of anxiety in us and it often wakes us up in the wee hours of the night in a panic with thoughts like “I have so much to do tomorrow!” and “How will I get everything done”

This nag from our brain is called the Zeigarnik Effect.

Research shows that the Zeigarnik effect is the unconscious mind's request (okay…more like a desperate plea) to the conscious mind to create a plan of action.

This is a very important concept to grasp.

Your brain is nagging you to create a plan of action.

The key word here being ACTION!

Simply making a plan in your head isn’t enough…your brain will keep pressing you. Because you MUST take action on the plan.

Remember:

 Oooohhh you better share it it’s so goooood!

We can use our brain’s natural persistence to create MASSIVE results while doing less, not more.

Here are the three important layers to getting the most out of our day:

1. Every action you take in your business needs to be aligned with your bigger goal and vision. If it isn’t, why are you doing it? The simple question you can ask yourself when you plan your week is: Will this action move me closer towards my goal? Or is it distracting me from it?

2. Pick ONE focus task. A focus tasks is a high impact and urgent tasks. You might have many actions planned for the week but we need to stop convincing ourselves that we can multi-task and use the power of single-tasking to drive us forward. ONE focus tasks means your attention isn’t diluted. 

3. Schedule your actions in order of most impactful to least impactful. Do not do the least impactful tasks until the most impactful tasks have been done! You will always schedule your focus taks first, then the other most impactful tasks. 

When I say impactful, I am referring to tasks that directly contribute to the goal but that are also urgent. 

If you have a goal of writing a book, designing the cover of the book might be impactful, but it isn’t urgent if you haven’t even done the outline of the book, or written the book yet, right?

Download the Prioritizing Protocol Here to ensure the most important things are getting your energy and attention!

Prioritizing is a key element to doing less and achieving more because it forces you to look at every task and question whether it deserves a spot in your schedule.

If your time is truly important to you, you will be very very cautious with what you allow to go onto your schedule.

Approaching your week in this way means that you are being intentional with your time every single week of the year. Imagine completing one highly impactful task in your business every week for 52 weeks (you’re going to take some breaks in there, of course, but you get my point).

You will have made much more progress when your time was spent intentionally rather than just doing a bunch of things that aren’t really aligned with what you want or what will get you there.

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