Get Physical With Your Time Management

Often times todo lists end up containing non-actionable items.

For example:  You can not literally, physically 'do' year-end report, yet 'year-end report' might be how you list someting on your todo list.

Remember, a todo list must be made of things you can literally, physically, 'do'.

Framing your todo list in the physical world helps keep it real… Helps keep it useful, accurate, and efficient.

Here's how:

Imagine what’s being done, and make a task statement that includes verb, noun and object.

E.g.

• Instead of having a task ‘year-end report’.  Your verb/noun/object statement could be: Download Q3 spreadsheet from work server
• Instead of having a task ‘get with Anil’, your verb/noun/object statement could be: email Anil to schedule dinner

What we are doing is breaking big nouns into small verbs.

From the big noun ‘year-end report’ to the small noun of ‘download’.  And then adding the relevant objects… I.e. Download what?… ‘The spreadsheet from the server’.

This makes the task clear in terms of physical next step actions.  Which is key to getting things done, identified in GTD by David Allen, and adopted by the InstaTime Time Management System.

You want to zero in on the physicality of the first action you must make for all of your projects next actions.

Merlin Mann of 43folders.com says he tries never to plan a task that would take more than ten minutes, which suits his level of ‘busyness’. Your optimum task time-frame depends no your own busyness.  For further detail on 'getting physical with your time management' visit Merlin's excellent post.