Have you ever written items on your to-do list, gone back to it a few days later and have no idea what the items mean? It’s probably because your to-do list isn’t actionable. Let’s look at an example to-do list to get a better picture of this.
Mom
Kitchen
Pride & Prejudice
Cat
The to-do list above reads more like a shopping list than a set of actions. With a list like this, we have no idea what’s supposed to be done. A more actionable list should look something like this:
Call mom
Put up new shelves in the kitchen
Purchase the book, Pride & Prejudice
Take cat to the vet on Saturday
As you can see, we’ve taken our list of items and now made them actionable. So when we go back to it later, we know exactly what needs to be done. Are your to-do lists actionable? Want to know how you can tell if your to-do lists are actionable? Ask the follow question about each item on the list, “Does it begin with a verb?”
We all want to be as productive as possible, but even with our systems, it can sometimes be difficult. To be more productive as well as live a life of joy and fulfillment, I think we need to live simply and develop good habits. An old cliche comes to mind as well, “Stop and smell the roses.”
Here are seven habits to propel you on your way to being productive.
1. Plan to Do
But if you haven’t been planning you can’t start to work, intelligently at least . . .
President Dwight D. Eisenhower
Would you start off building a house without a blueprint? Without an architectural plan, you have no direction or idea of what the finished product should be.
If you wouldn’t build a house without a blueprint, then why would you start your day, a project or task without some sort of direction or plan?
If you really want to enjoy life and every moment of everyday, then don’t let another day go by where you are walking around like a person with no vision, purpose or direction.
2. Develop Good Sleeping Habits
Going to bed on a regular schedule is something I have to force myself to do. I love staying up and wish that sleep wasn’t a necessity. It wasn’t until one day that I discovered that I was just existing and not living.
What I mean is that I was pretty much a zombie every day. It was due to the fact that my brain was cycling as it should which happens during sleep. When you go to bed at a decent hour and regular schedule, you will begin to see the world anew and you will be more productive. Otherwise, bad sleeping habits could lead to insomnia.1
3. Fuel Up, Often
There is nothing worse than trying to work and your stomach keeps speaking to you. Ask any licensed nutritionist and they will tell you that snacking through out the day not only quells hunger, but it also helps with weight loss, it prevents overeating, improves mood and helps with focus.
4. Minimize Distractions
Minimizing distractions doesn’t mean you need to go dark because there are times you need to be available just in case an emergency arises. Nevertheless, you can minimize distractions in 5 ways:
If you are not working on your computer, put it to sleep.
When working on the computer, silence all notifications.
When working on computer only have the application(s) open you need.
Place your phone on vibrate.
If you are wearing a smart watch, silence it and take it off.
Research shows that listening to music can boost productivity.2 However, make sure it is uplifting and lower the volume.
5. Take Breaks
Taking small breaks throughout the day, gives your brain a quick rest break in order to refresh itself. You can even maximize this time by taking a break and having a snack. When I stare at a problem that I can not solve, I will take a break, not think about it, come back and then the answer just somehow comes to me. 3
6. Utilize Ubiquitous Capture
We all do it. When we are away from our desk, we come up with a brilliant idea and then by the time we get back to our office we forget about it. Majority of us do have smart phones with some sort of notes app. Every time an idea or task enters your mind, you should quickly jot it down. If you don’t have a smart phone, then start carrying a piece of paper or pocket sized notebook and a pocket sized pencil or pen.
7. Schedule, Me Time
There are times when we find ourselves throwing out the phrase, “I need some alone time,” or “I need some me time.” You are absolute right, you do. This is the time to decompress from the day, physically and mentally. You need to find a nice quiet place and take up a non-strenuous activity such as yoga, meditation or breathing exercises.
Welcome to mind mapping. Mind mapping is Plan To Do (PTD) and PTD is mind mapping. This is where you begin (plan) before you can actually do.
When looking at a mind map, you will see how similar it looks to a street map or map of a city. This is a wonderful picture of a mind map because you are using it to navigate your way through your project, task or to-do list.
How Are Mind Maps Structured?
Like the majority of mind maps, it starts at the center of the city (continuing with the city map analogy). It represents the main idea of your mind map. If it’s a to-do list, then you can write, “To-Do List.” If it’s a project then you can write the project’s name.
Next, from the center of that city, you will have several different roads leading from it. These roads are what’s called your areas of focus. For example, let’s say you have an unorganized or unstructured to-do list of items that spans different locations (i.e. work, school, home, etc.). These would be your areas of focus.
Now, from each of those roads (areas of focus) you will start to branch off into other roads or secondary roads. These are actionable things or your to-do list items broken down into their appropriate area of focus. So under work, you would branch out and write out the appropriate to-do items and the same goes for school, home and so forth.
To help you better understand, let’s take a look at an example:
House Cleaning Mind Map
The picture above is a mind map of a house cleaning project. If you get overwhelmed with house cleaning and don’t know where to start, then this is a perfect example for you.
As you can see there are seven focus areas: dining room, back room, middle room, front room, kitchen, bathroom and living room. Before going on, make note that only keywords or short key phrases are used. This is the best practice for mind mapping, but feel free to do what works for you.
Next, moving beyond each focus area are actions that need to be done in each of those areas. (Please note that this is an example of a to-do list type mind map. Therefore, secondary roads are not always action items.) Now that you have a birds eye view of your house cleaning project, you can now determine how to tackle it.
By studying this mind map, there are four of ways you could tackle this project.
#1 Tackle Like Actions First
In the mind map, you can see that several rooms have actions that are similar. Five rooms need sweeping & mopping, two rooms need dusting and two rooms need vacuuming. You could start off by sweeping then mopping the five rooms, then tackle the rooms that need vacuuming, then dusting and then the remaining items for the bathroom. Also, you would want to start with mopping the bathroom after sweeping, so that by the time you go back to it, the floor will be dry.
#2 Move Clockwise
The second way you could tackle this project is by moving clockwise through the mind map. You could move clockwise throughout the day or move clockwise throughout the week.
#3 Time Blocking
The third way you could tackle this project is by using time blocking. Time blocking is scheduling your tasks into time slots in a weekly planner or calendar.
How it works is that you would create a to-do list from your mind map. If you wanted to tackle them in one day, then you would schedule your tasks into 30 minute increments or more with 10 to 15 minute breaks in between. An alternative is you could spread them throughout the week giving them appropriate time slots.
#4 Structured Checklist
The fourth way you could tackle this project is by creating a structured checklist. If you are a creative professional, then this would likely be the best option for you. Without the stress of a set time constraint, a creative can move step by step through it, realizing that it may take 15 minutes or 2 hours.
By mapping out your project, task or to-do list, you get a better picture of what needs to get done, and it gives you a better vantage point in order to figure out how you want to tackle it. You also have the freedom to choose how you want to structure it or you can integrate it into your current work flow.
Well, that’s PTD in a nutshell. It is simple, minimalistic, flexible and easy to follow. Make sure to check out the rest of the articles for other mind map examples as well as other helpful articles to help you plan to do.
His definition of productivity struck a chord with me. The truth is our time is limited, and we should strive to make the most of it as well as enjoy life to the fullest.
Similar to Mr. Bailey, I’ve been obsessed with productivity for as long as I can remember. At the time of his Tedx talk, he had written a book entitled, The Productivity Project: Accomplishing More by Managing Your Time, Attention, and Energy.
I chose not to read his book because I wanted to see what could be birthed if I combined his definition with my way of thinking and working. In my brainstorming, the phrase, “You do not because you plan not,” came into being and therefore became the foundation for Plan To Do (PTD).
PTD is a simple and minimalistic productivity system and lifestyle.
So, what does, “You do not because you plan not,” mean? Well, let’s go back to Mr. Bailey’s definition of productivity. The key phrase is “making better use.” Sounds great in theory, but how does one go about accomplishing it.
The reason you currently do not make better use of your limited time is because you do not plan for it or make a plan of attack or action. Making that plan gives you a vantage point or a big picture concept of your project, task or to-do list in order to maximize efficiency.
Let me be clear, PTD is not another 5 step system. It’s not about hacks, beautiful notebooks, planners or even software. It’s also not against those things either. Instead, its a flexible and creative system that you can use in its native form or build it into your current work flow or system.
PTD’s method is simple, and you only need to learn one thing, mind mapping. If you’ve never heard of mind mapping, it’s basically a colorful diagram (plan) which shows you information in a visually pleasing way. Mind Mapping is nothing new. It’s been around for quite some time and has been used as a studying tool, memorization tool, presentation tool and more.
To get up to speed on mind mapping, watch the video entitled, “How We Mind Map Our Online Business“. Once you’ve watch the video, head on over to the next article, “Mind Map Your Way to Doing.”
