Free Your Brain with a Master TASK List: Part Two

NOTE: This post will make complete sense if you read the November 10th post. Read it here.

Now for part two of the Think step. Remember writing your R.E.A.D.Y. goals a couple weeks ago? In order to realize your goals and create a roadmap to achieving them, you need to complete a brain dump for each goal.

So take out your R.E.A.D.Y. goals, look at the first goal on the list, and think about everything you need to do to achieve that goal – everything. Add the new items that come up to your existing brain dump document, white board, or computer application of your choice. The goal here is the same as part one. Empty your mind of any and all to-dos related to your R.E.A.D.Y. goals. Having finished your brain dump, the internal chatter in your brain is already quieting down. Your mind is free now that it no longer has the responsibility for holding all of your to-dos and ideas. However, what you have poured out on the page or the computer screen is not in an actionable format. All you really have now is a giant disorganized mess that needs to be refined a lot more before it can serve your productivity purposes.

Let’s move on to step 2--–Act.

Review your brain dump. What do you notice?

One of the first things many people discover is that they have listed projects rather than actual to-dos. A project is a large-scale task that you have taken on, one that may require many separate actions steps and take many days, weeks, or months to complete. For example, a project might be:

•  Finalize the PowerPoint deck for the upcoming client meeting
• Plan my team’s off-site leadership retreat
• Organize the holiday bazaar for our church
• Clean out the attic

The problem with a project list is that just looking at a list of enormous projects like these is somewhat paralyzing. When confronted with such a list, I often just skip over it in search of something easier to do: I start reading my favorite blogs or perusing online shopping sites, and the familiar downward spiral into procrastination begins.

To avoid this, you need to use the Act step to clearly define next action steps for each item from your brain dump. These are the specific actions you need to perform to complete the project. Each action step must be clear enough that you know what must be done, but not so detailed that it is overwhelming and therefore paralyzing. There are two types of action steps: project actions and next actions. A project action is a desired outcome requiring more than one action step to complete, while a next action is the very next physical, visible action step required to move something forward.

Here is a hint: all action steps start with action verbs. A typical project action might begin with an action verb like finalize, look into, clarify, resolve, submit, roll out, handle, or install. A typical next action might begin with an action verb like call, buy, read, purge, email, fill out, draft, review, or talk to.

The goal is to turn each item on the brain dump list into an action item or a sequence of action items. When you look at your to-do list, you do not want to have to think about your next action step. You want to be able to immediately act or execute on a task.

For example, take a project like “Finalize the PowerPoint deck for the upcoming Jones client meeting.” You might turn this into the following sequence of action steps:

• Call Stacy to get updated sales statistics for the PowerPoint slides.
•  Schedule an appointment with Gary in I.T. to help me create animations for the opening and closing slides in the deck.
• Update and revise PowerPoint slides with the sales statistics and new opening and closing slides.
• Circulate slide deck to Sue, Paul, and Howard for comments and suggestions.
• Implement Sue’s, Paul’s, and Howard’s recommended changes to the deck.
• Send final deck to office services to print eight bound copies.

Notice how I’ve taken a large, rather daunting project and turned it into a series of manageable, bite-size to-dos, none of which is very intimidating in itself. That’s the heart of the Act step.

Complete the Act step by working through each item in your brain dump and determining action steps for each one. Write, type, or dictate the action steps on a clean sheet of paper, a white board, or the computer application of your choice. If possible, try to limit yourself to no more than three or four next action steps for any project. This step might take you 30 minutes to three hours or more, depending on the number of items in your brain dump.

It is possible you might have actually written a lot of your brain dump in the form of action steps. If so, congratulations. If not, you may find this step laborious and time-consuming. Hang in there—the work will pay off. By determining next action steps, you develop a list that is highly actionable, specific, and complete—one that will enable you to productively use your time each day to complete the most important work.

At this point in recreating your to-do list, you have a large, disorganized, probably even chaotic list. It is time to impose some structure. You are ready for step 3—Sort.

This is your opportunity to organize and prioritize your action items so that, at any given time, you can quickly and efficiently execute on the highest-value task based on the time available, the resources available, and your energy level. The Sort step allows you to look at your to-dos and immediately make a decision on what to do next, which is vital in our 24/7, hyper-connected, information-overload culture.

To complete the Sort step, review your action items and think about how you can group them. There are multiple ways to group your action items:

• By tools or resources needed to complete the item (phone, email, computer, a specific computer application like Excel)
• By person (your colleague, your assistant, your spouse)
• By the physical location you must be in to complete the item (office, home, client’s location, car, or plane)
• By project
• By due date
• By energy level needed for execution (high, medium, or low)
• By time required for completion (five minutes, 15 minutes, one hour).

You may find yourself using two or more of these sorting methods, depending on how you work, the kinds of tasks you habitually face, and which sorting techniques appeal to you most. I do recommend that you include at least one set of action items sorted by time required, especially a list of items that can be done in 15 minutes or less. This is a great list to carry around as a way to convert those odd moments of free time—waiting in the dentist’s office, in line at the department of motor vehicles—into productive micro-segments of work. This list is also a great go-to when you feel the tug of procrastination. You can quickly complete a task, which gives you a little energetic boost, thus helping you transition into working on a more challenging or complex project.

Over time, the categories into which you will sort your action items are likely to vary as your needs, interests, and work methods evolve. Currently, my to-do list is sorted into the following categories: calls, computer, email, airplane, agendas, project list, errands, 15 minutes, goals, and at home.

There are two additional sorts that I also use and recommend to others: waiting-for and someday.

The waiting-for sort consists of items for which I am waiting for something from someone. Maintaining a list of these items enables me to keep track of all of my open loops without trying to remember them—something, you recall, that our brains are abysmal at doing.

The someday sort includes all the items that I want to do someday. My current someday list includes trips I want to take, books I want to read, and special items I want to purchase when the time is right—for example, a very expensive hair dryer that I’ve had my eye on (with my hair, a specific hair dryer is very important). My someday list is fun and inspirational; maintaining it frees my mind and allows me to dream big.

I encourage you to always keep a list of your R.E.A.D.Y. goals and projects in the same place as your action steps. Having them together enables you to clearly see the big picture of what must be accomplished as well as the discrete next action steps needed to achieve your goals.

The final step—step four—is called Keep, which is short for Keep Only One List. The step begins when you decide on the type of physical container, computer application, or app that you want to use for your TASK list. It is very important that you keep one and only one list. The objective is to have complete and total line of sight of everything that you need to do so you can make accurate decisions on what work to complete next. Keeping multiple lists thwarts this goal; it creates unnecessary chaos, stress, and wasted time.

Carson Tate is the author of Work Simply, published by Penguin/Portfolio in 2015. "Work Simply is not only rich with solid, practical, grounded advice about reclaiming your time, it’s infused with heart, warmth, and humanity to boot," says New York Times best-selling author Sonia Choquette. 

Follow Carson on Twitter: @thecarsontate