The Ten-Minute To-Do

Another good tip from the 43 Folders people: make every item on your to-do list an actual ACTION item, and make it something that can be completed in a reasonable chunk of time (I've decided that for me, this is about 10 minutes).

This tidbit of advice goes against everything I learned in the Franklin Planner Cult Indoctrination, uh, I mean, Productivity Class, I went to waaaay back in 1996. Their point was, don't waste time putting anything on your to-do list than can be done in less time than it takes to write it down.

The problem is that an item like, "Get started with *&@#(#& journal clubs so you don't look like such a slacker compared to Michelle," is simply too complex. It seems like a to-do, but it is actually a project statement with about a jillion little to-dos packed inside it.

However, broken down into tiny chunks, that to-do looks like this:

1. Collect emails into one folder
2. Call Keisha re: phone bridge
3. Make a list of club participants
4. Contact phone club participants
5. Contact chat club participants
6. Etc

These are tasks I can actually manage in the time I have: before a meeting starts, while waiting on hold, or whenever. Larger tasks (e.g., map out first module of Health Policy and Management biblio class) get scheduled for a time I'm at my desk and unencumbered for an hour or longer.

The key difference between this and the Franklin philosophy is that the Franklin folks have you evaluate your tasks by priority and then allot them accordingly. The unfortunate fact is that everything's gotta be done, important or not. So, for me, it seems to work to break it down into atom-sized peices and just do whatever fits in the time slot I have in front of me. At least I get the positive feeling of checking small things off instead of having large items drag along with me for days or weeks.

Queequeg has declared my idea of a KCMetro Librarians' Binge to be square but appealing. If you're a reader and want to come, post a comment and I'll be sure you're on the list. Not like it's an exclusive or anything, but just so's you'll know when it's happening.

WDT