1: What’s the best way to make your to-do list?
There’s something satisfying about writing down a task and then crossing it off your list.
“That’s exactly the wrong way to create a to-do list. That signals you’re using it for mood repair, rather than to become productive,” says Carleton University psychologist Timothy Pychyl in Charles Duhigg‘s book Smarter Faster Better.
Writing down a series of short-term objectives allows your brain to focus on the short-term satisfaction of completing each task.
“We are encouraging our need for closure and our tendency to freeze on a goal without asking if it’s the right aim,” Charles observes.
“The result,” he says, “is that we spend hours answering unimportant emails instead of writing a big, thoughtful memo—because it feels so satisfying to clean out our in-box.”
You’re getting things done. Just not necessarily the things that matter.
So is the answer to create a to-do list with stretch goals?
Not necessarily, Charles notes. “We all know that merely writing down grand aspirations doesn’t guarantee you will achieve them. In fact, studies show that if you’re confronted with a list of only far-reaching objectives, you’re more likely to get discouraged and turn away.”
The solution? Pair stretch goals, your big ambitions, with SMART goals: tasks that are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and based on a timeline.
2: Start by dreaming big and aiming high.
“Describe the goals that, at first glance, seem impossible, such as starting a company or running a marathon,” Charles suggests.
Next, pick one of these goals and break it down into specific steps you can tackle now.
Ask: “What realistic progress can you make in the next day, week, month?”
“What are the specific, short-term steps along the path to bigger success?”
“How will you measure your progress?”
Many studies show that you’re more likely to succeed if you break your big goals into smaller, short-term tasks.
3: When Timothy, the Carleton psychologist, creates his to-do list, he begins by writing down on the top of the page a stretch goal, like: “Conduct research that explains goal/neurology interface.”
After that, he writes down the smaller tasks that show him exactly what to do next.
“Specific: Download grant application. Timeline: By tomorrow,” he writes.
“That way, I’m constantly telling myself what to do next, but I’m also reminded of my larger ambition so I don’t get stuck in the weeds of doing things simply to make myself feel good,” Timothy says.
That’s the key: Your to-do list should tell you what to do next while reminding you why you’re doing it.
The best to-do lists include both stretch and SMART goals.
Charles suggests you don’t need to detail every SMART criterion. “What matters,” he explains, “is having a large ambition and a system for figuring out how to make it into a concrete and realistic plan.”
The power of this approach? Every time you cross something off your list, you’re moving closer to a goal that truly matters.
More tomorrow!
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Reflection: Look at your current to-do list. Are the items on it moving you toward something that truly matters, or are some of them there simply because they’ll feel good to cross off?
Action: Write one important stretch goal at the top of your to-do list. Then identify the specific, realistic next steps you can take to move closer to it.
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