And the Lists Persist

Santa Claus uses them. David Letterman does too. And so must you.

If you want your brain to perform at its highest level, you’ve got to stop asking it to be your alarm clock, filing cabinet, and librarian. You must establish other systems to remind you of what’s urgent, to catalog information, and to keep track of open (or overdue) items. In addition to your Active Projects and Next Actions lists, these four “special” lists are critical to getting your brain out of monitoring mode and into value-creation and purpose-driven mode.

Whether your system is a simple notebook, Outlook, or Remember the Milk, you’ll want to add these lists to the mix.

Stop Doing List

A graduate school professor challenged Jim Collins to focus on the right things, not just doing things right. He’s now added a “Stop Doing” List to his annual planning process, making it as important as his goals. At last year’s Inc. 500 conference, he answered an attendee’s question about what’s on his list: 1) get rid of layers and reorganize his company, 2) stop unnecessary fire drills (by not responding via email when he’s upset about something), and most importantly, 3) he stopped watching television.

Recognizing that time is our most precious asset, we must stop doing some things to make room for others. This concept hit home for me last September, and I wrote this blog post. My personal Stop Doing List changes from time to time, but the current top three items are limiting my television watching (to sporting events mostly), limiting how much I monitor my various social media and email inboxes, and not allowing outside influences to affect my moods. I’ve found this to be a very powerful tool for focusing my energy and attention.

Waiting For

Got an email inbox full of reminders to follow up with others regarding current or overdue items? Add it to your Waiting For List, and archive the email. Once you’ve requested a task or information from someone else, simply create a new entry with a brief description and date to expect the deliverable or follow-up. Then you can forget about it until your reminder system triggers you on that date. No more scanning the entire list each day to decide which items need follow-up. You can trust your system and focus on more productive tasks.

Someday/Maybe List

Have an idea, but not quite ready to make it an active project? Add it to your Someday/Maybe List. Give it a general description, add some supporting notes if possible, and select a date to revisit the idea. It’s a great way to capture the idea in writing without any specific pressure to evaluate it in the moment. To really kick start your innovation process, schedule some free time each week to brainstorm the ideas on this list and convert the great ones to active projects.

Read/Review List

Got a pile of books on your nightstand? Or a browser full of interesting websites? Or a stack of magazines on your desk? Create an organized Read/Review List, and clear the clutter. Use this list to capture material you want to read at a later date, and then reference it when you have time. I often check my Read/Review List just before I travel to gather some reading material for the trip. (It also prevents me from purchasing overpriced books and magazines at airports.)

(And if you really enjoy this approach, you may want to scan this page from David Allen with ideas for other cool and convenient lists to add to your system.)

Do you have any specialized lists you use to keep your life in order? I’d love to hear about them in the comments below.