How to get things done?

Introduction

Almost everybody has the problem of procrastination, feeling overwhelmed with many things to still do, wherever one turns.

The dread of having to do things makes it a drag to get going, naturally leading to procrastination.

But there is a simple, foolproof way to actually get things done.

The method is quite simple, and consists of simple easy steps.

In my method I use yellow notes, but any other way can also work.

The first step is:

Get it out of your head, and onto paper

Take a stack of yellow notes, and give every task you need to do yellow note on which you write down what needs to be done.

It is very important that you include the simple, mundane stuff. Something as simple as “take out the trash” should also be on it. Very often it helps to go through your email, messages, and walk around in your house / workplace, because things will ‘pop-up’ the moment you see them.

Take your time to do this. It is important that you found (almost) everything that needs to be done.

The key benefit of doing this, is that it creates overview and frees your brain of being overwhelmed. The moment you have it all laid out in front of you, it ceases to feel overwhelming, even if its a lot.

For every task / TODO, try to specify the W’s

The W’s are the specifics, of the Who, What, Why, Where, When.

A good way to visualize this, is to think of lunch:

• with WHO do I have lunch,
• WHERE to have lunch,
• WHEN to have lunch
• WHAT is it (lunch)
• WHY to have lunch

Don’t overthink it. Simply write down the first thing that comes up.

Try to subdivide the To-Do’s in smaller tasks, and try to be as concrete as possible

If you have to go to a social event like a birthday, take the yellow note that says: Go to Lisa’s birthday, and replace them with a Yellow notes that say

• Buy gift
• Go to birthday (including the WHEN, and WHERE)

Cluster the yellow notes according to dependencies, urgency and logistics

Lay out the yellow notes on the table, and puzzle with them to get the things that have similarities close together.

For example: If you have to go to the store to get stuff, cluster them with other stuff that need to be picked up or done outside.

If you have to cut your nails, and take a shower, then cluster those as well.

Pick the small and easy things in your yellow notes overview

The reason why it is important to write everything down on yellow notes, is not only to get it out of your mind, but also to create easy pickings of stuff to do.

A lot of the small things that need to be done, are often things that can not wait, but those things are also the things that are ‘solved problems’. These things do not require heavy thinking. Cutting your nails, taking out the trash are simple and fast to do and don’t invoke dread.

There might be things that you feel are more urgent, but unless it comes down to things that have to be done in a few hours, do not focus on them.

Do the small and easy things in your yellow notes overview

Now do the small and easy things in your yellow notes overview and remove the yellow note after every small task done. Don’t forget to make a small show out of ripping apart the yellow note after it is done.

• Make coffee? Done!
• Shower? Done!

The reason for this, is that the physical act of tearing up the TODO is creating a positive feeling, and this creates the energy to do another small task.

Set a goal and an ambition

Now that you got a bit of energy to get going, check your yellow notes to see is there is anything you think you should do that day.

Also create pick another task as an ambition. You don’t have to do this today, but if you feel like it after doing the thing you have to do that day, then that’s fine.

Be modest, and don’t forget that you do not have to do the ambitious task: It’s completely optional.

It helps if you split out big TODO’s in small todo’s first.

By getting the small things done quickly, your mind is free to focus on the big things.

Be satisfied, and don’t feel guilty for not doing more

As long as you keep splitting up tasks in smaller tasks, and do at least one of them, you are making progress. Being angry at yourself or feeling is simply making the tasks that have to be done more difficult since you are giving them a emotional depth which is deeply off-putting.

Doing something or learning for the first time is fun. HAVING to do it is deeply repulsive.

Keep the remaining TODO’s somewhere for another day

Write the remaining TODO’s down in an email to yourself or in a digital todo-list so that you can do the same thing again another day.

It’s best to not keep the original yellow notes, since the act of writing them down in front of you is crucial. The writing down helps you think about it.

Also: if you keep the original yellow note, then dread gets focused on this pile of yellow notes, and you will become reluctant to take them out.

Extra: Keep your INBOX Empty at all time

Do you have an overflowing INBOX? This simple rule keeps it manageable:

• Go through your mail at most 3 times a day
• Quickly scan them, and quickly read them.
• If the mail is something FYI, then you can simply archive or delete the mail
• If the mail has to be acted upon, but it can be done quickly, set it in a TODO mailbox
• If the mail has to be acted upon, but it can not be done quickly, then set it in a TODO2 mailbox
• If you need to keep the mail around in the near future, then tag the mail or set it in a TO-SEE mailbox
• Your INBOX should now be empty
• Go through the TODO mailbox, and do the quick tasks

When expedient do the things in the TODO2 mailbox. Treat them like ‘real’ todo items.

By getting the small things done quickly, your mind is free to focus on the big things. The extra benefit is that a small task such as replying to a mail does not linger, which might create anxiety and gain emotional weight if not picked up within a few days.