From To-Do to Done by Maura Thomas

Author:Maura Thomas
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2021-03-29T00:00:00+00:00

Four

Make Things Easy for Your “Doer”

When it comes down to it, taking action is what your list—and the action management portion of the Empowered Productivity system—is all about. Right now, as we work on setting up your list, your inner planner is active. However, it’s your inner doer who’ll be using the list. Many of us love utilizing our inner planner. Our planner has all these great intentions and ideas and relishes in listing them out and putting them in order. However, we also need to motivate our inner doer to accomplish the mission the planner sets forth. Otherwise our list is meaningless. You could have the most brilliant plans and ideas in the world, but they only matter if you manifest them as actions. Your planner needs to guide your doer in a very specific way in order to inspire action.

I want you to picture being in doer mode and using your list during a typical day at work. You’re going to be busy and moving quickly. And things will likely be hectic around you. Your opportunities to get things done often occur in very short windows—like a few minutes between meetings or before everyone else arrives in the morning. To empower your productivity, your list needs to help you quickly identify the best use of your time in those stray moments so you can take immediate action in the most appropriate way, based on your priorities.

So let’s say you look at your list and see an item that just reads Budget.

Your planner knew what you meant when you wrote Budget. You thought it was clear what that word entailed. But when you’re in doer mode trying to use the list amid your stressful day, you have a different reaction.

Budget sounds big and hard.

It sounds like it’s going to take a long time.

And just reading the word Budget doesn’t make clear what you need to do in that moment to accomplish that task.

All of that makes it likely you’ll just skip over Budget when you see it on your list.

Budget becomes a speed bump on your list. It makes you slow down to consider just exactly you meant by Budget. In other words, it creates friction. And just as you do with a speed bump on the road when you’re driving, when you come across a speed bump on your list, you’re likely to just go around it, and pick something on your list that sounds faster and easier. But getting that budget done might just be one of the most important things on your plate right now, and if you keep skipping over it, you’re going to find yourself under pressure, trying to get it done at the last minute. That’s not the way to produce your best work.

So when you add items into your task manager, it’s important to phrase each item in a way that keeps it from becoming a speed bump. When you’re in doer mode, you need to know exactly how to act on an item when you see it on your list, without having to stop and think.

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