Sunday, March 8, 2009

New To-Do List Plan

This week went okay in terms of productivity. I did get a few things done, but it wasn't much above and beyond the things I get done any other week. So, I decided to change my strategy.

I just printed out a plan for the week. This plan is broken down in two ways: by day, and by levels. I'm falling back on a technique I learned doing sales. The idea was that for each goal you set for yourself, you create three levels:

1. Must do - this is the non-negotiable, bare minimum level. If I do nothing else, I WILL do this on that day.

2. Should do - this is what I should reasonably be able to do on that day.

3. Could do - this is the one where, if I'm really on my game, I can achieve.

Each level builds on the one that came before and I've got it all worked out on a spreadsheet stuck on my fridge. The funny thing about it all is that once I put it all on the page, it really doesn't seem like much. I've also built in some catch up in my goals toward the end of the week to help fill in the gaps if I need to. It's all doable, it's just about a greater level of structure. I'm feeling good about it.

This time next week, assuming I stay on the plan and get done what I want to, I'll be feeling really good about it.

2 comments:

Minion GIR said...

Sounds like an excellent plan. And sounds quite similar to a time-management class I took when I first started at MCI. It was based around the Franklin planner (now part of Covey, I believe), but the level thing was definitely a part of it.

Maybe my basic to-do list could use some updates.

Ali said...

Yeah, levels are good. I like the part when I knock off the things in my "could do" level and feel like a rock star for going above and beyond :)