Boost your productivity with this one simple change

I’m heading the first Get Your Stuff Done Mastermind. We are focusing on increasing productivity using simple but powerful techniques.

The people in the group are working on businesses, advanced degrees, and personal projects. And they’re all dedicated to building systems that will keep them more productive and help them achieve long after the mastermind ends.

Last night, we discussed the to-do list. It sounds simple, but is it? What works great for one person might create chaos for another. One of the members said he loves being able to delete what he’s done in his calendar. That’s his happy place. He deletes the items he’s completed. When I thought about deleting what I’ve finished, I wanted to scream. How would I remember which parts I’ve finished how would I keep track of what I needed to do next? I work with mind funnels. I start with the big ideas and funnel them down into smaller steps. As I complete each step, it adds up to the whole of the project. If I deleted the steps I’ve done, I’d be removing some of the project’s foundations. So while it works for him, that wouldn’t work for me.

Many roads to productivity

As a result, I’m here to make a case for marking things completed without deleting them.

What if you have to go back and figure out which piece you’ve completed? If you’ve deleted what you’ve achieved, you’ll have to either remember what you did when or back and reconstruct stuff. Both of these keep focus on past events, take up your energy and might get in the way of forward motion.

So, please consider either an app or the Reminder feature in google calendar or one if the other apps. You can set up reminders to be done at certain times and certain days and then mark them complete without deleting them.

Here’s what I mean. This is a google calendar screenshot of three of my reminders.

This is all designed to make it easier to achieve your productivity goals while using minimal effort and energy. If it’s easier to achieve and keep track of your achievements, you’ll get a ton more done.

How do you approach your to-do list? What works for you? Comment below and let me know.

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