use productivity systems.
To master any system
you must first align with your to-do list.
The answer to the question:
“do lists really help you get stuff done?”
is:
“yes; if you use them with the right attitude!”
Writing a to-do list is extremely helpful (pivotal, really); however, there comes the time when you actually have to do the tasks on your list!
That’s when it can become hard to follow-through with your plans. You can end up ignoring your checklist or even feeling intimidated by it, and that’s when good ol’ procrastination sets in.
There are tricks to help you get through this sticky spot! If you find yourself in this situation, then I encourage you to look at your list through a different lens.
How to Use a Checklist as Your Loyal Sidekick
The degree to which your list of today’s tasks can be helpful to you is determined by the attitude with which you approach it.
It’s time to kiss and make up with your checklist and remind yourself that your list is there to help you.
Think of your daily task list as a sidekick, it’s the Robin to your Batman, ready to help you take on the day’s battles.
It will be tempting to blame the checklist system and divert time into looking for other ways to be organized. But don’t get caught in this trap (you’ll only be delaying progress)! Stay loyal to your sidekick pal!
When it comes to our checklists, what most of us need even more than a new system, is a new perspective. However, after you give your attitude a tune-up, then you will need to find the productivity system that works best for you. I recommend The Dane Technique, a system I crafted over many years to help manage time and energy with über-efficiency!
The Dane Technique:
How to Get Seriously Organized using Checklists ~ e-Workbook, $4.95
“…The Dane Technique provides concise, easy to understand, specific instructions
for people who want to get organized using checklists.
Beginning with a simple, yet powerful, manifesto
the book quickly walks the reader through a series of exercises
leading the reader to their own checklists.
No specific forms or software are required
leaving the format up to each unique and, soon to be organized, happy person”~ Paul Puckett, Asset Portfolio Manager
This e-Workbook will help you to get better organized. In order to improve your self-care and increase your health protocols, you need a simple productivity system — a good system can help you to find extra time and energy and to create a new schedule and daily routine that works best for your life. Individually, The Dane Technique is $4.95, or you can enjoy the value and benefits of the entire Kit for $14.95.
“…making a list felt like a chore
but after reading Dane’s “How To Get Seriously Organized Using Checklists”
I am now understanding how important lists are. My life is becoming clutter free
and I get more accomplished throughout the day because the lists suggested by Dane
are helping me be more productive in my personal and business life.
Quotidian list is my favorite! Don’t know what that is? Get the book and find out!
Trust me, it will change your life!”
~ Doina Oncel, Solutions Specialist for Non-Profits
By utilizing principles of Success Psychology, the Longevity Lifestyle Kit ensures that your new, positive habits will “stick” (instead of having you start out with good intentions and then falling back into the same old habits). There are 5 key pieces to the Kit:
“Live with Intention. Create a happy, balanced life. We all want this, right? Dane’s tips and techniques in his checklist book are a great way to reduce stress and be more productive. I’m a list maker, and follow a daily plan. But, sometimes things get in the way of completing my daily list. I really like thinking of my daily list as organic and always improving. If you aren’t a list-maker — he provides simple principles that will make a positive difference”
~ Margie Arnett, University Professor
Is Your List of Today’s Tasks an Enemy or a Best Friend?
I know it sometimes feels like your checklist is scorning you, but try to remember that your list isn’t there to make you feel bad. If you your list could talk, it would instead simply say: “I am a tool designed to help you. If you need me, I’m here for you.”
To reverse that negative energy and get into back into your positive productivity groove, it’s helpful to remember the following:
- ◕ remind yourself your to-do list is a helpful tool
- ◕ tell yourself the checklist is a list of things you want to happen
- ◕ treat your checklist as a crutch to lean on in frantic times
Checkists and Prosperity are Best Friends Forever
It’s so easy to get distracted these days! The trick to succeeding in modern life is to stay on track — to regularly realign with your purpose, intentions, and goals. Checklists are great at this! They help you to correct your course each day so that you live the life that you actually want to live. But there are tricks to using lists correctly that you need to know, in order to have them work for you instead of against you.
your list of today’s tasks can help you shine
If you need a reminder that your to-do list is there for you — your best friend forever, your partner in crime — then put a reminder at the top of your checklist. Something to welcome you when you pick it up.
Affirmations are a powerful way of suggesting positive thoughts. If you start your list with a message saying something along the lines of: “Hi, I’m here to help you, let’s get through this day together,” then it might be easier to remember that your checklist is your pal.
Afraid your colleagues or relatives will tease you? Who cares!? Productive people who achieve great things are bold, fearless, and innovative! If you need a creative solution to realign with your checklist, then create one!
I encourage you to not give up on to-do lists. To-do lists are life-improving! Compiling lists, and referring to them daily, can actually can help you accomplish more during the day, help you to focus your mind, and move you steadily toward your short-term and long-term goals. You just have to learn how to use lists in a better way, and with more consistency. If you know the tricks, then using a checklist is not only not a drag, but it helps make a busy day go more smoothly and more enjoyably!
That book the E-Myth Revisited taught me that there are certain daily tasks that are the lifeblood of any business, large or small, and to not systemize them is: perilous.
Most people stop-and-start checklists and I actually just see that as a healthy, natural part of the process. Even the lists we don’t complete or look at again have value because: we paused a moment to clarify and capture our thoughts.
thanks to Sean Cameron for his help with this feature and video!