Image provided by iStockPhoto.com
Dear friends,
I can hardly believe it’s been a month since my last email to you. 2018 is flying by! Today I want to zero in a classic productivity tool, the to-do list. Basic productivity advice always starts from enumerating what needs to be done. It happens for me in 5 steps, which I will describe below.
Capture: Anything that needs to be done should be written down, either on paper or in an electronic format. I do mean anything. Periodic tasks like laundry and grocery shopping need to happen! Things you don’t write down take up brain space.
Prioritize: Is this task important? (You get to define “important” based on your priorities.) Is it urgent? (does it have a deadline?) If you do not know the answers to these questions, ask the relevant person/ people. So if your mentor asks you to do something in a vague way, ask for clarification! (especially if it’s me!)
Schedule: Put it on the calendar, on a day and time you are available, for the duration that it actually will take to accomplish. You should not say “I’ll do this on the weekend” in an open-ended way. Always, always choose a specific time and day. If your calendar doesn’t take into account the time you spend on “life stuff” like making dinner, commuting, paying bills, or running around with your kids, then you will fail. Be honest with yourself here.
Complete: Do it in the time you allotted, even if you don’t feel like it.
Repeat: Steps 3 and 4 will often fail. This means you are a person. So when you get to the end of the workday, look at what you planned to accomplish and see what you did. When you see that you did not get to all the tasks, look ahead in your calendar. Re-schedule the tasks. You will have to bump some of tomorrow’s tasks to the day or week after. This is normal.
If you use this system, you will see several benefits beyond getting tasks done. You gradually realize how long things take, and how many tasks you can fit in on a given day, which helps you plan. This method will also help you say no, as you realize how many pending tasks you already have. When time-sensitive things come up, you can explicitly decide to set aside another task based on your prioritization, rather than feeling like things endlessly back up.
I’d love to hear how this strategy works for you. As always, send me updates about papers, grants, talks, and other accomplishments so I can amplify via social media or, for the UCSF people, local bragging!
Warmly,
Urmimala