Thanks for the feedback regarding my article a few weeks ago, “I’m Not a Gardener, But I Know How to Prune”. It seems the imagery resonated with many of you. This topic was always intended as a two-part post because we can’t address physical clutter without talking about Time Clutter. We can prune away unproductive time practices just like pruning away unproductive clutter!
Do you ever feel like you’ve got a million things to do today and you’re scrambling to just get something done? Yep, me too.
About a month ago, I started to prune my To Do list. It had become a dumping ground and, even though I really love my list, that habit was NOT serving me well! I had unrealistic expectations of myself and my time, and I set myself up to fail daily by leaving too many tasks on my daily list. Failure feels rotten, as does scrambling and stressing to complete tasks.
I added the following to the top of every day’s To Do list:
“TASKS MUST BE ACTIONS: Review; Prioritize; Allot time; Emails / Calls – 5 minutes or less; Actually schedule; Make June list.”
So, what does this mantra mean?
“Tasks Must Be Actions:” My To Do list holds a lot of information, but only actionable steps or errands. I keep ideas elsewhere. “Change The World” is a great idea, but it’s not helpful on the To-Do list. Only actions are permitted – “Send graduation announcements”, “call the chiropractor”, etc.
“Review”: Multiple times every day, I review my schedule for the day (and maybe 
week) and my To Do list. If I have a full day of clients and appointments, I cannot reasonably expect to complete 20 tasks or run 10 errands. If I happen to find a couple of hours free, though, I can fill that time with productive tasks. “Review” means I have a clear idea of what my day may hold.
“Prioritize”: We all know that not all tasks are created equal, especially when it comes to productivity. A strength of my To Do list is that I list EVERYTHING that needs done – today and tomorrow, next week and next month. All these tasks are important, but they don’t all need to be done RIGHT NOW. I set my tasks for the day based on the urgency of the task and the time available today. And tasks that aren’t a high priority for today are assigned to another day.
“Allot Time”: How long do tasks really take? This is very important information for us to have! For example, “text client to confirm appointment” takes 30 seconds, while “Write blog and 
newsletter” usually takes a couple of hours. Yet they are listed on today’s list one after the other. Allotting time for tasks lets us know what we can fit in the time we have. Daily, I look at my task list and assign 5 / 10 / 20 / 30 or 60 minute time allotments to each Errands or Task. If I allow too much time, I’ll have some wiggle room. If I don’t allow enough, I’ll have to wait to complete other tasks until later (which is why prioritizing is SOOO important!)
“Emails / Calls – 5 minutes or less”: I was stopped by a train this morning. In the few minutes I waited, I checked my To Do list and made two phone calls. Very often, I will tackle 5-minute tasks first, just to see how many I can check off! And I only give them 5 minutes! So I try to be clear and succinct in my phone calls and my emails!
“Actually Schedule”: These past few weeks, I’ve been more specific about actually scheduling tasks. Meaning, I’ll spot a clear 30 minutes on my schedule between clients and plan 6 5-minute tasks for that time. Or a couple of 10 minute tasks. Just one more way to make my To Do list work for me!
Finally, the “June List”: Or July, or Autumn or next year. I have lots of tasks I want to complete and goals I want to reach, though some of those don’t need to be completed any time soon. I keep the Task or Errands, but I assign in to a day far in the future. Yes, I have a September list already, with a couple of house projects I want to tackle then.
We all have time and productivity clutter we can prune. Look closely at your tasks and time this week, and see where you, too, can cut away the unproductive branches to help you grow!