Some people like software with whistles and bells. Some people like a stack of index cards or a day book. Regardless, it usually comes down to managing various lists of tasks and commitments, some of which are due now, some of which are due later, and some of which have no deadline, but you want to get to anyway. So, regardless of the mechanics of your system, you probably use at least three lists. You may well have want more than three, especially if you are a project manager or have responsibility for a breadth of tasks, but I am willing to bet that you have some variation of these three. One is DO NOW, stuff to do today. This would fall under the heading of Urgent and Important (to use the system that Covey made famous)This list should be fairly short and discrete, and it should be very actionable. It should consist of Next Action Steps (GTD< CONFIRM NAME HERE), and you will probably clear many of these in a given day.
The next list is DO SOON (you define what SOON means). Some of these items will have specific deadlines, others won’t. That’s OK. This is a very important list, because it includes items that are not Urgent, but are Important. Getting these items moving now will make your life easier later, because you won’t be pulling all-nighters or running around with your hair on fire. These items may be small or large. If large, you may want to break them down into separate steps. You may want to block time on your calendar to devote to these items, before it becomes an emergency. Review this list often and keep these items in play.
Lastly, there is DO SOMEDAY. This is for dreams. You will realize some, let others go. Nonetheless, it’s important to devote some time to dreams, fantasies and grand plans, for they are what really make life worth living. Do you want to learn French? Get a PhD? Try bungie-jumping? Just having these things on a list somewhere makes it more likely they will come true. Why? Because you know what they are, so you will recognize the opportunity when it presents itself. Because you will revisit them from time to time, and maybe they will get promoted from DO SOMEDAY to DO SOON, and then you are in business!
So, to summarize, while you may want more lists, you would most likely benefit from having at least these three: Do NOW, DO SOON and DO SOMEDAY.
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