To do list

Time is the most valuable thing a man can spend.
Theophrastus
d. 278 B.C.

Have you ever made a to-do list? Do you use them often? I know some people who make them each and every day.

A to-do list can be a very useful tool. But today, I’d like to introduce you to a different sort of list that might prove even more beneficial.

It’s a list of things not to do. But for you to fully understand its power, a little background is needed.

Have you ever heard of the Pareto Principle — better known as the 80/20 rule? The basic premise is that eighty percent of our results come from twenty percent of our actions. While the numbers aren’t precise, the principle has been proven in many different fields. So it applies not only to business but to our everyday lives as well.

Now, if eighty percent of our results come from twenty percent of our actions, that means roughly eighty percent of our actions aren’t very effective. We’re spending the majority of our time and energy on activities where the results are fairly disappointing.

What does that tell us we should do? We need to examine what’s working, what’s giving us the desired results, and also determine what activities are taking lots of time and energy but producing few results. Then we can make a “Not to-do list”. We can specify those actions that yield little (or no) benefit in our lives and resolve not to do them any more.

Taking this simple step can bring dramatic improvement to your life. Here are just a few things that might go on a “Not to-do list”.

Placing blame: It’s counterproductive. It’s far better to look for solutions that prevent the undesirable outcome.
Procrastination: Things don’t get easier when you put them off.
Perfectionism: Done is always better than perfect.
Proving you’re right: Arguing with others just to prove a point wastes time and emotional energy. You generally won’t change the other person’s opinion, and you don’t need to do so.

Take some time to ponder the benefits you could gain if you concentrated only on those activities that produce the highest results. We could all increase our productivity by a factor of four if we eliminated the time we spend on our least productive behaviors.

There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.
Peter Drucker
1909 – 2005