This is the 4th episode in a series on productivity. Go to episode 1.

One of the things that all human beings have in common is that we all have a To Do List. We can let it overwhelm us, or we can take the reigns and manage it ourselves. An easy mistake people make is to confuse non-important tasks with important tasks. This is something that naturally happens. Day-to-day things come up, and at the moment, they feel important and then before we know it, we’ve gotten to the end of the week and we realize that we didn’t get the things done that needed to be done. We’ve let what is in front of us direct us.

That is why we are creating a system that allows you to manage the day-to-day while also keeping an eye on your most important priorities. When you have a system, you are able to confidently say NO to the day-to-day attention grabbers knowing that you would otherwise be addressing them to the detriment of your highest priorities.

Now that you have your To Do List, it is time to categorize them. By categorizing them, you will be able to come up with a system for addressing each category. You’ll find the basis of this concept in David Allen’s book Getting Things Done. 

The categories are:

1. It can be dealt with quickly
2. It will take time or multiple steps
3. It can be delegated
4. It is not right for now – ‘someday/maybe’
5. It is reference material

If you’d like a workbook that will walk you through this process step-by-step, sign up for our newsletter here.