Life is lists and time
Life is lists and time
The science of getting things done, might be that simple.
I’ve spent so much of my time in search of the “perfect productivity system” and it does not exist. Period. I’m over it.
Humans are complex and when humans get together, complexity explodes. No methods we invent can fully manage the messes we will make.
As I’ve led myself and other humans through projects at every level of this complexity, these three basic ingredients always emerge:
A motivation to achieve something (Why)
A list of what to be done (What)
The time needed to do it (When)
(”How”, “Who”, and “How much?” are natural derivatives, but they may fall off when at the lowest levels of complexity, especially on the personal project portfolio where “Who” is just “You”.)
The science of getting things done, might be that simple.
Meet your lists
Lists are everywhere. I have lists in Gmail, Confluence, Google Sheets, Things, seven different Jira projects, a scrap of paper, Excel, Notion, Audible, Netflix, Reminders, Training Peaks, and even Google Maps.
Lists are unlimited and theoretical. You can assign yourself a lifetime of work with a few bullet points.
Consistency is good, but you don’t have to move all your lists to one place. Meet them where they are.
Make time
Lists are an imagined future. The calendar is reality. It’s not real until it’s scheduled.
These two elements work together. Without guidance from a well-formed list, time is wasted. Without intentional allocation of time, what’s on the list won’t matter because it won’t get done.
Examples from my current week:
A weekly ritual
Equipped with this mental model, you’ll need only one ritual to manage it. Start each week by reviewing all your lists:
Choose which are important to see progress right now.
Schedule time.
For some areas, you’ll hold the time and choose items from the list later. For others, you’ll choose items and schedule them specifically.
“I have one hour this Saturday to work on my side project. I have 10 things on the list. We’ll see how many I get through before the hour is up!
“I have 2 big deliverables for Project X this week. Item #1 I’m doing at 1pm on Tuesday. Item #2 I’m doing at 7am on Thursday.“
I have a meeting with vendor ABC on Thursday, what’s on my agenda?
In your review, take an additional minute to do some housekeeping. Rank the remaining items. Maybe delete a few things? Lists are always evolving. Keep the lists organized such that when your scheduled work time arrives there’s no question about what’s at the top.
This idea transcends all project management tools and methods — it works with them. This is a personal practice to synthesize across all the lists in your life and intentionally realizing progress.
Make it happen
There you go. Please, be free of the ridiculous mental pressure for a perfect project management system. Life is lists and time. Let it be that simple.
Make note of what you’re trying to accomplish, and why
Make lists
Make time
— Phil ✌🏻