Putting everything, at first, on the top of your "to do" list... the easiest, but best system

(Click on the title of the post to read the entire post.)

(This is based on putting this system in place:  Read Simple, No Holes Task Management.  This is relatively quick and VERY productive!)

The reason I designed this system was because I had never had a consistent system that I would use.  This one is easy and very clear and effective for me.  It works!  (The chief criterion for a system is, of course, that it works to produce the desired result.  Some people design great systems, in and of themselves, except they forget the essential part of the system: having a human be able and motivated to do it.  So they end up never getting the result of great management of their tasks, or life!!!)


EASY QUEUES OF QUEUES AND TO DO'S

As I use my simple task management system, I am impressed with how well it works, especially as I fine tune it even more to make it easier to do and much more impactful on my life!

What I do, quite simply, is follow the rule of adding everything I think of doing to the top of my task inbox list.  (It is set up, in "settings", to put any added tasks at the top of the list.)

Before following this system, I would often just go off on tangents of things that "strike me as interesting", or whatever.

 And I would find myself missing out on doing what is of more value, simply because I was operating on automatic (the impulses of my primitive, simple mind) instead of deciding what should NOT be at the top of the list and where to put them.

Actually, I don't necessarily always decide where each thing should go exactly, I just drag and drop them out of the top positions on any of my queues of waiting tasks to do in each area. And sometimes I just drag and drop them into the nonurgent category/subject/project they fit into and later I re-sort those within the category by their priority order.

The tasks in many categories will fairly often drop into oblivion, as being not impactful enough for me to even do.  (This is a do the most impactful first so that the least impactful are pushed out of the doing, as opposed to the way many people operate, where the least value fills up the day and pushes out the most impactful and important out of the day...)

As an example of how this works, I am concerned about "the World" and how well, or not, it operates, and I want to do something about it.  But when I move a task into "The World" category list, I kinda know that my rational brain will decide not to do it (at least most of the time).  I could come up with the most brilliant things, but, alas, I recognize that I have about a zero chance of having any impact on the world overall.  And, of course, using my higher brain would result in me thinking "Gee, zero value for doing this - I wonder what I can do of high impact to 'my world', to me and to those whom I can affect?".

Using this overall process causes one to automatically have to think a little, first,, and very simply with no effort, about what I choose to do or not, when my higher brain is used(!).  It is easy to decide "Gee, that was appealing at the time, but golly I don't think I want to spend the energy on it now that I see it now.  I'd rather do something of  high impact!"  Then, I might move it to a place somewhere else on the lists... or, sometimes, I just plain delete it from the list, as something that will never really make the list of items of enough value to actually do!

(If something is not to be done for a while, but is highly impactful or a "must do", then you would put a due date and speculative time of the day to start it - in my system that adds into into my calendar with a tickle to call my attention to it!  When you get to that date, and have more clarity on your week, you might drag and drop it into a different day or just bring it back into the top of your task inbox list so it can't be missed.)


WHAT THE SYSTEM LOOKS LIKE

Anyway, the system looks like this in action:

#1. The MUST rule:  Instead of doing something right at this minute directly I put it in the task inbox to choose from later (unless it is very small), .

[I do something similar with emails.  I quickly scan them and transfer them to my to do list (I just email it to my Queues list, where it goes at the top of the list automatically) or I put them in Sure, High, or Misc to read when I have the time.  I will often find that I don't even get to the "High"s, as they are squished out because I first do other things of higher value!!!!]

#2. Process the list. At some point, almost every day, I look at my big fat list of task inbox items and I "process" the items residing at the top of the list, choosing where to drag and drop them to.  By the time I finish processing those items to the right place, the item that is on top is the MORNING ROUTINE, with every to do that comes next in exact order that I will do them during the day.  And I know when the end of the daily list is by seeing the EVENING line.  (Everything after that is lined up for starting the next day, after, again, I have decided which to do in what order... for that one day.).  (There are some things at the latter parts of the list, after about 10 items listed after "Evening", that are simply randomly put way down on the list - those often just disappear into oblivion, as not having enough importance.  I can, or not, look at those again sometime and process them if I wish, but it is optional - they'll just automatically drop of the earth...)

That's it.  Simple. And it works magnificently.  (And what is vital is that it is so clear and easy to do that I actually do it!!!! Before I always had systems that were too hard, or unclear, for me to keep doing.  You might relate to that experience!!)

I've added a "picture" of what the "day to do list" would like, following.  


WHAT "THE DAY" LOOKS LIKE

In my task inbox:

OVERALL DAY

----MORNING ROUTINE

The to dos for the day then are listed in exact order of which they are to be done.

CLOSING DAY ROUTINE
-
-- EVENING

(Right after that it has pending high level current items to do after today, plus a Reading, Current List of items that I can cherry pick from, though I usually put them in order, that I can read them in the evening.)


EVENING

There are also subtasks (actually "sub"routines) are in the Evening section, but only show if I click on "Evening" to show the list.  There can be suggestion for the evening as part of the list, but it always has in it, in caps so I can spot it easily:

- EVENING ROUTINE (which contains top general suggestions on what to read, such as biographies that are at the top of who to model and the best philosophies to study, other inspiring items.)
- EVENING SHUTDOWN ROUTINE


MORNING

Also, if I want to be reminded of the details and sequence for items in the Morning Routine, I click on the little square shaped box next to the description and the to dos appear in the order they are to be done (with some of them having subtasks also). It looks like this.

Wake up routine (and the time allowed, with an alarm set)
Exercise, while reading (mostly)
Fast (to condition body to be fat burning to have more consistent energy)
Launch the day routine (what to read to set up a great, effective day, where I feel inspired)
    Make sure to daily to dos are all listed!
Start on the most impactful (or necessary) task, while fresh (so I don't waste my valuable high thinking, high alertness time!!!!) and to make sure the most value is front loaded for my day.



BUT, I'M RETIRED...

Well, if your life is still valuable to you, you would do the same thing, with the freedom to do lots more personal things, such as might be suggested on Jean's Most Valued List.


AFTER YOU IMPLEMENT A LEAK PROOF SYSTEM, CONSIDER THIS

Your highest value activities of "implement leak proof system for my to do's" and "set up daily routines" are listed near the top of your tasks list, you would (after putting it on your list) "determine what activities are of the most value to you", with the first subtask under that item being to "read and follow the links in The Highest Value Activities In Life".  Without doing the latter, one is fairly rudderless and random in life, losing way too much of the value that can be gotten from life