Despite my grandfather telling me when I was a kid that “Sitting too close to the (TV) screen will rot your brain,” there I was sitting in front of three screens.
On the first screen I was teaching myself a programming language (Python). On the second I was answering client emails and updating websites. And on the third I was answering a steady stream of text messages.
Of course, there were to-do lists everywhere – in notebooks, on spreadsheets, in emails, in apps, on scraps of paper… And that didn’t even count the piles of “stuff” lying around the house that needed to be dealt with too.
Quite simply, I had become overwhelmed, unfocused and unproductive.
So, I shut everything down and went for a walk to clear my mind.
Easy Productivity – Version 1.0
During my walk a simple question popped into my head.
“What are the next three things you are going to do?”
Divine inspiration? A flash of insight? More advice from Grandpa?
I don’t know the source, but Easy Productivity begins there.
When I got back from my walk I wrote on a Post-it note
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
A few hours later it looked like this
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
It felt so good to be done with that mini to-do list that I created another one and completed that too. This led to a rather simple observation…
The smaller the to-do list, the bigger the satisfaction that comes from completing each item on it.
The Challenge – Step by Step
1. Take a few slow, deep breaths to clear your mind.
2. Ask yourself, “What are the next three things that I am going to do?”
3. Write those three things down on a Post-it note or piece of paper.
4. Start working on one of them immediately.
5. Do everything you can to complete all three.
6. Cross off completed items.
7. Repeat.
Congratulations, you just finished the first real lesson of this course! If you sign up for an account you’ll see a “Mark as Complete” button that allows you to track your progress. Creating an account will also remove irritating little ads like this.
Questions? Comments?