The Only Task Your To-Do List Needs

In this article we will identify the to-do list’s job-to-be-done, and then we will address the only task you will ever need on your to-do list.

When I used to rely on a to-do list, my life organization often felt like a roller coaster. One week I would buckle in and “really take my to-do list serious this time”. The next week would be chaos, too many items on the list and I don’t know what to do with them all. My to-do list would:

Eventually I came to learn the importance of the quote “Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential”. Let’s break that quote down.

“Plans are of little importance…” directly aligns to the chaos that was just described. It’s simply putting plans into a list with no further thought. It means nothing at that point as there has been no further strategy to take action.

“…but planning is essential” is the key. “Planning” entails the following set of characteristics:

** Definitions of each characteristic are at the bottom of the page here

I believe a good alternative term to “planning” is “life management”, and will be using that term for the remainder of this post. Life management intends to encompass all of those characteristics, and also implies that it takes work to receive value from your systems.

The Reason Why To-Do Lists Don’t Work

The First Principles of the To-Do List

The job-to-be-done for a to-do list is life management. Whether it’s one project in your life, or all of your life’s tasks in one list, the to-do list is the organization of information as it relates to your life.

The to-do list intends to help you track your tasks, plan your tasks, stay accountable to your tasks, feel that hit of dopamine when you check the box off, prioritize your tasks, prune your tasks, and so on.

When you initially created your to-do list, it was valuable because there weren’t many action items on it. You were knocking things out and the list would shrink back down [more or less] each day. Unfortunately as more great ideas pop into your head, the to-do list often turns into a graveyard for the ideas and tasks that you were so eager to accomplish. Project-sized tasks get mixed in with simple chores, and the list loses value.

The To-Do List is an Attempt at Self-Discipline

By having the discipline to practice continuous life management, you will naturally get better at navigating yourself towards the outcomes you desire. If the job-to-be-done is life management, then the discipline to create a system for life management, and to evolve this system, is the solution.

You’re likely already very disciplined in many facets of life – brushing your teeth, showing up to work on time, feeding your kid after nap time, exercising, and so on. Managing your life effectively just might not be a facet you’ve spent as much time being disciplined in. To be fair, it’s often easy to take for granted. Being disciplined and intentional in how you organize your life will lead to an organized and intentional life.

Life is all about managing discipline in various capacities, and facing it head on is the hardest part.

The Only Task You Need Is…

☐ Make a system to cultivate the discipline to manage your life

We have talked a lot about theory, so how about a real world example to take actionable steps. This is one of many processes in my system of discipline – it’s evolved several times and will continue to change:

Stop using a to-do list, start reflecting on your day. Ideally once in the morning and once before bed.

If twice a day is too much, reflect once a day at a time of your choosing. Like I said, it can evolve, and you will know if it helps or if you have to tweak the process. What you reflect on is ultimately up to you. It is crucial that you define this for yourself over time. That being said, it doesn’t hurt to start with someone else’s framework and tweak it from there if you don’t know where to begin.

My Morning Reflection Looks Like This:

Find the free template here: Daily Introspection Journal

Here’s an example of how I reflect each morning to ensure I’m focusing on the right task:

My Evening Reflection Looks Like This:

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The morning reflection session takes no more than 20 minutes, the evening reflection no more than 10. The 30 minutes total per day allows me to address the events of the day from two valuable perspectives; what I thought I knew versus what actually happened. This has worked excellent for me, and I have been able to directly address characteristics and priorities of mine in a thoughtful, intentional, and repeatable way.

Remember – “Plans are of little importance, but planning is essential”.

Do I have to start with this process?

Absolutely not, the point is to start somewhere and then refine it into your own process. You simply could start with building out a calendar, and this would be a huge first step towards life management.

Or, you could create a project board for one high priority outcome that you are striving towards. An outcome could range from painting a room, to doing your taxes, to writing blog posts.

Now every single time you begin to work on a task towards accomplishing the outcome, you start by looking at your project board. Yes, a project board is much like a to-do list. Rather than a checkmark, you have a “Ready”, “In Progress”, and “Done” column.

The important distinction is that your project board is focused on one outcome. Focus is important. The to-do list was likely a mix of tasks across various outcomes with varying levels of priority.

The Single-Project Process Rules:

1. 1. Every time you are about to start working on the project, you start from the project board. Review it, and make sure you are working towards your perceived top task priority. Every time.
2. 2. Every time you start a task, you move it into “In Progress”
3. 3. Every time you switch tasks, take the task that was “In Progress” and move it into a “Paused” column (or back to the top of the “Ready” column)
4. 4. If you choose to use “Paused” and a task sits in the “Paused” column for too long, delete it
5. 5. Strive to remove from your project more than you add to your project
6. 6. If it feels like the project will never end, you’ve made the milestone too large

These rules are simply an example of being disciplined for your project management, the idea is to ensure that you hold yourself accountable to standards. This glorified to-do list has now been bolstered with additional processes to begin to wrangle the complexities of your life. Once you get the hang of one project, you will realize you can manage other projects in a similar fashion.

Next Steps After You Have a Single Project Under Control

Once you get the hang of one project, your roadmap into higher abstractions may look like the following:

1. 1. Track 1 project
2. 2. Track multiple projects
3. 3. Create a process to review and prioritize your projects
4. 4. Create a schedule on your calendar to allocate certain time blocks to certain projects

As you go farther, you will eventually realize that maybe you have all of these projects going on and they’re hard to keep track of. This is another opportunity to refine how you systemize your life. Maybe this refinement means you begin to use a calendar. Maybe you stop working on some projects, or maybe you remove some processes. Maybe you delegate responsibilities to another person (stewardship delegation, NOT gofer delegation). At the end of the day, only you will be able to identify and overcome your current constraint.

As you may be gathering, there are plenty of ways to start evolving your system for life management. It really just comes down to stepping back, giving yourself time to reflect on your desired outcomes and constraints, and then begin chipping away at what you perceive your biggest constraint to be.

The Tool I Use for My System

First and foremost, it is not about the tool. As we have already discussed in depth, it is about your systems. Once you have defined a system that fosters discipline, continuous assessment, and continuous improvement, it will then be worth considering the tools that will enable processes within your system. If you don’t understand the needs of your system, that’s ok! Just start with a process I mentioned above and discover what works for you. Discovering what works is exactly the point. It’s an evolving process that will change as you change. Hint – I’m also here to help!

Using Notion

Assuming you have a system and processes that you want to expand upon, I believe Notion is currently the best tool for the job. The reasons are because Notion grows along side of you, offers a cohesive experience, and integrates easily with many other 3rd party tools.

For example, I’ve built a tool that integrates Google Calendar into Notion called intertwine. All of the templates I share will also be for Notion – at least until a tool that better serves my workflow comes to market. I’ve helped many people adopt the usage of Notion, and all of them have had nothing but good experiences and positive outcomes as a result of it.

Other Tool Options

You may find other tools like Atlassian (Confluence & Jira) or Evernote better serves your needs; or you may already be familiar with these tools. You may want to start with sticky notes on a white board. Pick what works for you, but if you don’t know what you want then just pick Notion and move on to putting theory into practice. Ultimately it is ideal to lean into technology – it is easier to search, it will persist indefinitely, and new solutions are always being made to compliment the people who want more out of life (LLM hype comment goes here).

Discipline is the Ultimate Task

Unfortunately a to-do list won’t save you, a project board won’t save you, nor will anything that is trying to sell you a solution. It all starts with you, your beliefs, the current constraint you face, and your systems within those beliefs. Sometimes it takes an external party to help you identify your constraints, so always ask for feedback and leave your ego aside. If you want more for yourself, yet you aren’t currently systemizing your precious time, then I’d suggest you reflect more on what has been discussed in this blog.

Definitions:

• Life Management:

  • The continuous process of evaluating and practicing your values, setting and achieving goals, organizing tasks, and managing your time, resources, and processes in a harmonious and integrated manner.

• Value Setting:

  • Identifying and articulating your core beliefs and principles that guide your actions and decisions in life.
  • Reflecting on what matters most to you in various aspects of life, such as personal behavior, relationships, work, and community involvement.
  • Ensuring that your goals, actions, and decisions are aligned with these core values to maintain consistency and integrity.
  • Regularly revisiting and refining your values as you grow and encounter new experiences.

• Goal Setting:

  • Defining clear, specific, and achievable goals that align with your core values and long-term vision.
  • Setting both short-term and long-term goals to provide direction and motivation.

• Scheduling:

  • Creating timelines and deadlines for tasks.
  • Developing a calendar or schedule to allocate time effectively.

• Prioritizing:

  • Identifying the most important and urgent tasks.
  • Organizing tasks in order of importance and impact.

• Resource Allocation:

  • Determining the resources needed (time, money, personnel, materials).
  • Allocating resources efficiently to avoid waste and ensure task completion.

• Risk Assessment and Management:

  • Identifying potential risks and obstacles.
  • Developing contingency plans to address possible issues.

• Task Breakdown:

  • Dividing larger goals into smaller, manageable tasks.
  • Assigning tasks to team members or setting personal milestones.

• Pruning:

  • Eliminating unnecessary tasks or goals that do not contribute to the overall objective.
  • Streamlining processes to improve efficiency.

• Monitoring and Adjusting:

  • Regularly reviewing progress and making adjustments as needed.
  • Staying flexible to adapt to changes or new information.

• Communication:

  • Ensuring all stakeholders are informed and aligned with the plan.
  • Providing updates and feedback to keep everyone on track.

• Documentation:

  • Keeping detailed records of plans, schedules, and progress.
  • Using tools like project management software, to-do lists, or spreadsheets to organize information.

• Execution and Follow-up:

  • Implementing the planned tasks and strategies efficiently and effectively.
  • Continuously checking in on progress and outcomes to ensure alignment with goals.
  • Providing support and making necessary adjustments to stay on track.
  • Reflecting on completed tasks to learn and improve future processes.