An insane statistic tells that there are already 528 million entrepreneurs in the world and this count keeps on rising. However, most entrepreneurs want to see results as soon as possible that’s why they flood their to-do list apps thinking that all of them can be done in a couple of weeks only.
This makes them feel overwhelmed, and uncomfortable, and end up procrastinating. In this episode, you will learn how to prevent ‘to-do list overwhelm’, determine the methods on how to properly do your to-do lists, and learn the right attitude and mindset that will surely help you hit the box icon in all of your lists.
Connect with Dhiren:
- LinkedIn – https://linkedin.com/dhirenb
- Facebook – https://facebook.com/dhirenbh
- Twitter – https://twitter.com/dhirenbh
Links:
- Deprocrastination
- Michael Hyatt
- The Full Focus Planner by Michael Hyatt
- The Weekly Preview (The Full Focus Planner) by Michael Hyatt
- My Productivity Manefesto
Books and Podcasts Mentioned in the Episode:
- Someday/Maybe List (Getting Things Done) by David Allen
Episode #54: David Allen on Someday/Maybe and Incubation Best Practices – Getting Things Done®
Episode Highlights:
- 02:02 The scenarios where you feel overwhelmed with your to-do list that you should be mindful of
- 02:25 The mindset that people think it’s normal to do 10 things at once is what we should train ourselves to not have
- 03:57 One of the best ways I’ve learned to put my 1000 thoughts properly into words before I sleep
- 04:20 A way of planning to execute a process consistently and routinely
- 05:14 Our common mistake in planning our daily basis and what we need to consider looking at
- 06:36 How to indicate what is a priority and what is a bonus task on your to-do list
- 07:46 Revisiting the “Someday/Maybe List” by David Allen
4 Tips to Make Your To-do Lists Less Overwhelming:
- Have a process, no matter of tools and apps will help if you don’t have the muscle memory of updating your to-do list.
- Plan the week first and then the daily to-dos, eye on the ball, bigger picture. Select the top 3 for each day and stick to that.
- Indicate priority and bonus so that the date or put into Someday/Maybe list.
- Hide unnecessary to-do lists.
Quotes:
02:04 “To-do list becomes overwhelming when you feel you never run out of tasks to finish and feeling bad for not doing it ahead of time.” –Dhiren Bhatia
02:25 “Most entrepreneurs have a very long list. As humans we’re never built to do 10 things at once yet we feel that it’s normal. It is what I think causes immediate stress.” –Dhiren Bhatia
02:50 “Oftentimes, when we think that we are very operational, there are some issues that take away our fire.” –Dhiren Bhatia
03:30 “We get carried away with the shininess and the slickness of the To-Do app, but we never really have a process that we follow consistently.” –Dhiren Bhatia
03:21 “Having a process that you can execute consistently and routinely is going to help you manage your to-do list.” –Dhiren Bhatia
05:00 “Have a process that you can execute consistently and routinely so that it becomes second nature and becomes part of your muscle memory.” –Dhiren Bhatia
05:22 “We need to take a look at the big picture, take a look at where we’re heading, and remind ourselves what that goal really is.” –Dhiren Bhatia
06:57 “By segmenting and prioritizing certain tasks, you can get a lot more done.” –Dhiren Bhatia
07:37 “One of the things that I have learned is to put a firm date or an approximate date on when I think I will do that task. And sure enough, not all tasks can have dates. So using the someday maybe/idea (by David Allen) is a great one.” –Dhiren Bhatia
08:26 “It doesn’t really matter what application we all use. No matter how slick the app is, it’s never going to get a to-do list taken care of because we’re the only ones that can take care of that simple piece of paper, and pen works wonders.” –Dhiren Bhatia
08:56 “If you haven’t done your to-do list, all this will start today. And if you miss today, start tomorrow. It’s about taking that first step and really just getting started with the process. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been gone for it doesn’t matter how long your to-do list is if you have to clean it out, start again, there is no better time than today.” –Dhiren Bhatia
Thank you for listening! I hope you enjoyed this episode and I’d love to hear your feedback. You can email me at hello@elevatedentrepreneur.fm and help me improve or if you have someone in mind that would be a great guest on the show, feel free to recommend them via email.
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Thanks, and lots of love,
Dhiren Bhatia
