3 tasks

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Are you one of those task ninjas who empty their inboxes twice a day, keep a tidy list of next actions, and treat your weekly cleanup like a ritual that's more important than your daughter's birthday? That's great! But are you really getting the right stuff done?

It's all too easy to be a task management guru, but lose sight of the bigger picture, and never really accomplish anything that matters. It's what some people call busywork, and that's a great word for this because it's really keeping a lot of people busy at work! There are so many people trapped in this mindless mode, people who never stop to smell the flowers... or at least figure out why they should be doing what they're doing.

In order to break this pattern, you need to proactively decide to do certain things, and do them because you think they matter. My method is very simple (and so very, very powerful): in the evening, when I've stopped working and my mind is wandering, I write down 3 tasks that I want to accomplish the next day. I consciously pick tasks that are important, and I would feel good about finishing during the day. They're not reactions to some emails I got during the day, or other isolated external factors. Then I strive to finish these tasks as soon as possible the day after.

Now let's do the math. Sometimes I finish all three, sometimes I finish none, but on average, I probably get 2 out of 3. So that's about 10 really important tasks every week. That's 520 (!) important tasks over the course of the year. When you look at it that way, that's not bad.

Assuming you have the basic task management in order, this is probably the best productivity (or effectiveness) boost you can get. Highly recommended.

- Gummi