Before you can select one, you have to answer these three questions to know which tools will work best for you.

1. How do you want to record your current and potential tasks throughout your day? Recall the idea of hoppers from Effectiveness Habit #1: Get It Out of Your Head. Make a quick list of common places in your life where you might receive or think of current or potential tasks. For each, jot down how you would prefer to capture those tasks. At your desk, for example, would you want to write the idea on a piece of paper and toss it into a desk tray, type something on your computer, type something on your smartphone, or jot something in a notebook? What about while you are in a meeting, on your commute, on the shop floor, at the soccer field, in bed, or at the grocery store?
2. Do you prefer Paper or Electronic? For your lists, which do you think you would prefer? For taking notes in a meeting, which would you prefer? Or, perhaps, you’d rather have a hybrid of both?
3. If electronic, which type(s)? Mac, Windows, Linux? Notebook or desktop? Apple, BlackBerry, Android, or Windows phones or tablets?

Once you know the answers to these questions, it becomes easier to narrow the choices of good tools to select from.

Ciao,

Mike

Yes, there are several good systems to support the Effectiveness Habits and your lists. As Debbie notes, one of the first factors to consider is “paper or electronic?” Both can work very well. And both have some downsides. Here’s an overview of the pros and cons of each to help you decide.

More about specific paper and electronic systems in upcoming posts.

To your continued success,

Mike

1. Putting due dates on tasks (doables or outcomes) that you haven’t really promised to anyone. “Oh, I better get that done. I’ll flag it as due today.”
2. Marking tasks as high priority, flagged, starred, or urgent. “Geez, I gotta remember to do this. I’ll mark it ‘high priority.’”

Because we tend to make too many things due soon and mark too many things urgent, these tactics lose their meaning and power. We end up going numb to them. Perhaps the only thing that Artificial Urgency achieves is increasing your sense of guilt about what you are not getting done and about your productivity.

Of course, due dates and urgency flags can be useful if used well. Mark an item with a due date only if you have made a promise to someone that you will get the task done by a certain date. Example: “Complete TPS report by Wednesday evening as promised to Carol.” And feel free to have up to one task per day marked as urgent.

How, then, should you stay on top of all the doables and outcomes that you would normally festoon with due dates and flags/stars/or priority numbers?

Easy. Do your daily and weekly refreshes. You will easily stay on top of things by scanning and updating your lists at least daily.

Make sense?

1. Give yourself a break. Treat the act of using these tools as just another habit to build. The best way to build any new habit is not to force yourself. Instead make a strong commitment to the habit then observe yourself in the act of initially not doing the new habit. Soon the dissonance between your commitment and your observations will help you very naturally adopt the new habit.
2. Choose how you will start building your set of lists: using the “core dump” method or “accretion” method. Either works well.
• In the core dump method, you start with everything. Fill pages and pages with each and every task, potential tasks, idea, and dream. Then you use Effectiveness Habit #3: MOD It to transform that written mass into your core set of lists.
• The accretion method is similar but you start quicker with just the now-most-important tasks, potential tasks, ideas, and dreams. You still use Habit #3 to build your core lists. Over time, you can add more and more tasks, ideas, etc. until everything is in your lists.
3. Get assistance. Partner with a friend who will help you stay on track.

To your continues success!

Mike

Use this list to help you build your set of lists.

So why do we need this tool? Because we all have a strong habit of tolerating–even welcoming–bad feelings.

The Catch is about becoming aware that you are feeling bad despite the habit to tolerate that bad feeling. This awareness opens the door wide.

When you feel bad, you are thinking about something(s) you do not want.   When catch yourself when you feel bad, you open wide a door to thinking about what you want, feeling good, getting more done with ease, and being happier overall.

You can most easily Catch yourself by noticing the sometimes subtle and always unwanted physical feelings such as weightiness, tension, or numbness in your chest, back, head, neck, arms, legs, hips, etc.

Try it for a day. Or if a day is too much, try it for just an hour. See how many times can your catch yourself feeling bad and how many times can you catch yourself feeling good?

Every one of these daily notes/posts addresses something in one or more of the lenses. Notes about The Effectiveness Habits, for instance, are mostly about the “Do” lens.  Look for more to come from all four of the lenses.

Meanwhile, try using the above table as a diagnostic. For someone or some organization you know, apply theses lenses to their situation. Can you see where they are well focused (if at all) and where they may be having trouble (if at all)?

And, rounding out this list, the article describing How to Build a New Habit.

So, what would you like to do next to become more effective with more ease?

To your continued success,

Mike

No?! I’m shocked.

Actually, I’m not shocked.I expected you to find it hard if not impossible to add these time management/effectiveness tools to your life. Here’s why…

Most of us will resist new procedures or tools such as the seven Effectiveness Habits. That’s because we tend to see any discipline as an imposition and as an affront to our personal freedom.You will resist suggestions, systems, and procedures from me and others because they appear to be a restriction on you. If you catch yourself thinking things like, “It’s too much,” “I can’t change,” or “I’m overwhelmed,” then you are very likely in a resistance to discipline.

Luckily, if you see value in the seven Effectiveness Habits or any other tools, you can bypass that resistance and adopt the tools. Instead of seeing them as limitations on your freedom imposed by others, see them as habits you freely choose to adopt for the benefits they provide you.

“Freely chosen, discipline is absolute freedom.” Ron Serino

So, now, which of the seven Effectiveness Habits will you freely choose to adopt today?

1. It’s fuzzy. You haven’t decided what this item means to you. An example of an item like this might be, “terms and conditions on the Olivier contract.” All this says is that you want to remember something about those Ts & Cs. But is this something you want to file, do, or delegate?  Take the time and decide what this item means to you. (see Effectiveness Habit #3: MOD It)
2. It’s not doable. You may have decided that the item is something you want do. But if it is not broken down into a specific, physical step, you will ignore it on your list.  Restate this item as either a physically doable step (e.g. email, call, errand, read, etc.). Example: turn “Wilkinson Offer” to “Outline Wilkinson Offer.” Or, if it is an outcome (something that takes more than one step to complete), then record the outcome on your list of outcomes and pick a very next doable step for it. Example: turn “fix the terms and conditions on the Olivier contract” into an outcome called, “Fix the Ts & Cs in the Olivier contract” and have a next, physical step of, “Call Linda to ask what she thinks the Olivier Ts and Cs need.”
3. It’s not important. Other things are and have been more important to do first. Reassess if this item is really important now. If it is not, move it to your “back burner” list.

To your continued success!

Mike