Are you a list maker? I am too, but I’ve got to say that recently I’ve discovered a bit of a problem with my habit of scratching out a list of things to do at the start of each day.
While putting my key goals for the day down on paper helped me, I often struggle to know where to start. So I do a bit of everything.
I type an email and then don’t quite finish it.
I make some calls and then forget to follow up.
I start a job and then jump to another item on my to-do list before the original task is completed.
Multitasking might be the hallmark of the entrepreneur, but it’s also a pretty dumb way to work at times if you’re prone to distraction.
So I’ve adjusted my daily list in two ways.
Firstly, after whacking everything down I go back and order the items in terms of their priority.
And then I highlight two or three things that I will work on until they are complete – that is, I actually finish these tasks before I start something else.
Simple yet effective for me at least – the key is to actually tick things off, not just to start them to give yourself the impression of action.
Get it done – today!
Andrew Sadauskas is a former journalist at SmartCompany and a former editor of TechCompany.
