{"id":315,"date":"2011-06-19T21:04:04","date_gmt":"2011-06-20T04:04:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.teachjim.com\/?p=315"},"modified":"2011-06-19T21:04:04","modified_gmt":"2011-06-20T04:04:04","slug":"mastering-your-master-to-do-list-for-increased-productivity-and-profits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.teachjim.com\/index.php\/2011\/06\/19\/mastering-your-master-to-do-list-for-increased-productivity-and-profits\/","title":{"rendered":"Mastering Your Master To Do List For Increased Productivity and Profits"},"content":{"rendered":"

So much on your to do list and so little time.<\/strong> It does not have to be that way.
\nStephen Covey’s 7 Habits brought us the Urgent vs Important matrix. David Allen’s Getting Things Done gave us the liberating in-box management tactics.
\nToday, I bring you the breakthrough techniques of clearing your mind and clearing your list based on context to target your next action for results.<\/p>\n

Master To Do List<\/strong><\/h2>\n

David Allen and Stephen Covey and many others advocate a master to do list. A single location for keeping all your to do items. This master to do list is to help you keep your mind clear to focus on the important tasks of each day.<\/strong> There is no reason to clutter your mind or your life with all the stuff you need to do. The answer is to put it on to the master to do list in your system. Once on your master list you don’t need to think about it and it can appear when you need it. (That is if your system is working- more on that in a bit.)
\nLike many of you, I use technology tools to keep my master list. Tools like Toodledo, Nozebe and Remember the Milk let us maintain our master list and filter it into manageable subsists. You and I keep our master to do list, our life’s to do list with everything we need on it. This list is on our phones. It is available to us at any time. I pull up my list where I am in my current context. At my fingertips is the list of prioritized tasks I need to get to. The system works. For many of us, our master list has became a monster!<\/p>\n

Master Your To Do List<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Are you scared? Maybe you should be! You have invited a monster into your house. Your master to do list is that monster and you should be frightened. I know, I’ve been worried for weeks. Yes… My monster is smothering me. I’m Buried. You? Yes? When your master to do list hovers between 2 and 3 hundred tasks you’ll wake up one day realizing there is no way it will ever get “finished”. You may feel like you are sitting in the shadow of an ominous monster. Smothered, comes to mind.
\nI’ve been doing what I was taught. I’ve done it religiously for years. Keep a master list. Clear your mind. Don’t loose a thing. Well, maybe it is time I lost something. Maybe I’ll accidentally delete my entire list! What will you do?
\nYes, what we’ve been taught has worked. Capture the to do items. Put them on the list. Conquer each item at the most appropriate time and place. Urgent – do it now! Important? Give it a place to go and go on. Take care of it in context. Really?<\/p>\n

Next Actionable To Do List Item
\n<\/strong><\/h1>\n

I’m suggesting two ways to manage the pressures presented by your monster master to do list.<\/p>\n