Ep139: Why your to-do list might be sabotaging your productivity

00:00 Before we get going, I have an invitation for you. If you're ready to find out how much easier it becomes to get things done when you have Make It Happen Club in your life? The doors are open to new members right now and i would love for you to join us! So Make It Happen club is a calm quiet sanctuary where you get the clarity focus and motivation you need And now, onto today's episode.

00:51 Welcome to Unfrazzle, a podcast for solo business owners with a big vision who are ready for a kinder more sustainable approach to productivity. I'm Louise Miller and each week i share bite-sized insights to help you step away from the hustle stop faffing and stay focused so you can make your brilliant ideas happen and make a bigger impact in the world Before we dive into today's episode, if you enjoy what I'm sharing here on Unfrazzle and you'd like to support the podcast You can buy me a cuppa by going to BuyMeACoffee.com slash Louise Miller and making a one-off donation. I'll pop a link to that in the show notes Okay grab yourself a cuppa and let's get started

01:31 You know that feeling when things are getting on top of you, so you grab a fresh piece of paper write everything down feel briefly better and then realise you've just made a very neat list of all the reasons your overwhelmed and your actually no further forward. To-do lists are brilliant and they're also kind of unhelpful because more often than not your to do list doesn't help you actually get anything done. It's brilliant because it means you don't have to hold everything in your head, and with all the things you're juggling in your life and your work can you imagine not having a to-do list? And not writing things down I can't even imagine what that would look like but your to-do list is not a plan

02:08 And that's the mistake I see people make over and over again. They write their to-do list, then they think that's them done and can now crack on an be productive! But it doesn't work like that does it? It is not your fault – it's your to do lists fault because your to do list has no sense of what matters most… It doesn't know what's realistic in the time you have. It has no clue how much energy you have, what order things should happen in or what you're actually trying to achieve so when you sit down at your desk in the morning and the only thing you have in front of you is a long To-Do list it's no wonder you don't know where to start! When your To Do list is dictating what you're doing each day it is no wonder that things feel hard for you

02:46 So first up, everything on your list appears to be equally important doesn't it? There's no hierarchy. Things get written down in the order they popped into your head not the order they need to happen and when there is no clear order of priority your poor exhausted brain will likely gravitate towards quick and easy things meaning that the things that matter most keep on losing out And there is also a problem I know lots of you have which is that the minute you write something down especially if its on a nice new shiny list You feel like you're making progress Your brain tricks you into thinking you did something useful but you're still no closer to getting that thing done. And it's pretty soul-destroying when your To Do list is growing faster than it shrinking, isn't it? Right I'm working from a To Do list

03:30 So the point I'm trying to make here, and i hope that it's landing because its really important is that a list will tell you all the things you need to do but it isn't a plan. A plan will tell you what to do next so if you have a to-do list but no plan your setting yourself up to fail So if that's resonating and you're starting to realise that you've been expecting your To Do List to do more of the heavy lifting than it is designed for, here's a question for you to consider. Look at your To Do List and ask yourself If I could only get one thing done today that would actually move my business forward what would it be? And asking yourself that question forces you to prioritise – to filter out all the noise from all other things yelling for attention It gives you something to focus on so that you can step out of busy work into progress

04:30 Now I'm not saying that the other things on your list aren't important. You still need to pay your invoices and feed the dog and send your client that thing you promised them, but when you're clear about which one thing is most impactful you'll start to find ways to get that thing done. And yes i know that isn't always easy particularly when you have a lot on your plate and you're not used to making those sorts of choices and then acting on them but those moments of choosing are the first step towards making a plan that will make sure you're progressing your priorities Not just responding to what's happening around you and taking care of everyone else. So choosing what's important, breaking that down into manageable steps and then thinking about when you're going to take those steps. That's planning! And it's way more effective than sitting down with your To-Do List and seeing what jumps out at you each morning. Just to recap... Your To Do list is a brilliant tool for capturing what needs to get done but that's where its usefulness ends – it won't help you actually DO the thing. For that you need a plan. Doing this kind of thinking on your own without any structure or guidance isn't

05:32 It's tricky, right? And that is why I created Make it Happen Club. So that I can guide you through a process that takes you from a long list of things to do, to a plan you will actually follow. If having that level of clarity would feel like a blessed relief for you head over to louisemiller.uk slash make it happen club to find out more and i'll pop a link in the show notes And if Make It Happen Club isn't right for you right now thats ok too just have a think what can you do differently so your not relying solely on your To Do List to help take action at the right time And as always I hope that this helps and i look forward to seeing you again soon. Thank you for listening to Unfrazzle, if you enjoyed this episode please subscribe and share it with a friend who needs a dose of calm productivity in their life and I'd love it if you could leave me a rating or review as that will help more people discover the podcast

06:21 And if you're struggling with productivity right now, take my free assessment to find out what's really getting in the way of you getting things done. It takes less than three minutes to complete and I'll send you tailored resources and insights that will help based on your score You'll find that at louisemiller.uk slash quiz and there's a link for that in the show notes So thank you so much for being here and I look forward to seeing you next time