On an Alternative to To-Do Lists…

I’m not much for “productivity hacks,” but there’s a technique that Oliver Burkeman has referred to in two different books that I enjoy –

Today is Saturday. I’ve been traveling a lot (I’ve worked for Staffbase for 13 weeks and have traveled 10 of them). I have a backlog of stuff I need to do around the house and otherwise – those expense reports aren’t going to file themselves, sadly.

My initial temptation is to write some long “To Do” list.

But those are so… exhausting. I write the list, and I just get overwhelmed by it, and then I’d rather just sit and watch Netflix. The List™ becomes this thing that follows me around all day, ruining everything. I steadfastly maintain that we hate To Do lists because they scare us at some level. I swear that they kill productivity more than enhance it.

So, Burkeman suggests keeping a “Done” list throughout the day. Meaning, just keep working on stuff, and when you finish something, write it down on your “Done” list, as a thing you have completed, and then move onto the next thing.

No matter how small the thing is – write it down. Took a shower? Write it down. Emailed a friend? Write it down? Made a sandwich? Write it down.

I’m doing this today, and I’ve done it a couple times before, and it’s really… liberating. It’s great to just keep being productive, and be steadily building this list of things you’re accomplishing. It’s often amazing how much I actually get done that I never give myself credit for.

I’m convinced there’s some background here involving narratives. Humans like building things. We like taking smaller units and using them to construct larger stories. And that’s what you’re doing with a Done list. You’re building a story of what you accomplished during a day.

(One of the founders of my company, Frank Wolf, has written an entire book about the human tendency toward narratives. I’ve found that it’s wildly applicable to life in general, not just business.)

When you make a To Do list, you’re essentially building an edifice to the things that you have failed to accomplish thus far, and you try to dismantle it. You usually fail at some level. You never finish it, and it often ends up longer than when you started.

A Done list is the exact opposite. You’re creating a story about how hard you worked that day – how productive you were. It’s weirdly fulfilling. You’re building a tribute to what you did.

Anyway, maybe try it sometime. I don’t do it all the time, but when I do, it always helps.