Use High-Powered Tasks to Transform Your Productivity
Leo BabautaBy Leo Babauta
If you’re like most people, you’ve got a to-do list that spills over onto the next page — one or more lists of tasks that just seems to be getting longer and longer. And no matter how hard you work, no matter how many hours you put in, no matter how many of the tasks you knock off your list, it just keeps growing.
Master your never-ending to-do list by simplifying it and focusing exclusively on high-powered tasks.
Take a look at your to-do list right now — how many of those tasks will really matter in a month? How many of them are just boring, mindless, repetitive, time-consuming tasks that will keep you extremely busy without really making a difference in your life? Look through you list and see if you can find the one task that will really change your life.
That’s a high-powered task.
A task that has the power to make a real, lasting difference in your life is one that should matter the most to you. What kind of difference? One that will get you long-term recognition, that will get you awards, that will get you tons of business down the road. Or the kind of difference that you can look back on at the end of the year and say, “That was one of the best things I’ve ever done.” That’s a high-powered task.
Find those high-powered tasks on your list — and if there are none, you need to seriously think about your list. Perhaps it’s just keeping you busy and heading in a million different directions without really taking you anywhere.
Here’s how to use high-powered tasks to transform your productivity:
- Have a mission. Know where you want to go, so you can know if you’re headed in the right direction. What is your ultimate life? Where do you want to be in a year? What one thing can you accomplish in the next few months to get you to those two destinations? Focus on that one thing, and do things every week and every day to move you towards that medium-term goal (3-6 months). If you focus on more than one goal, your energy will be too spread out. Have a laser-thin focus, and you will have more power.
- Evaluate your list. Take a few minutes to look at the projects and tasks on your list. Which ones will help you move towards your medium-term goal? Which ones will make a real difference in your life? Answer these questions, and you’ve found your high-powered tasks.
- Eliminate most of the rest. The other tasks on your list will take up a lot of your time without giving you much return. Scrap those or delegate them if possible. Focus on the few that will give you the most return - the high-powered tasks. If necessary, batch process those smaller tasks that you need to do but that aren’t high-powered tasks — try to devote as little time as possible to these, though. If possible, outsource them.
- Focus on the high-powered tasks. Now that you’ve identified those tasks that will change your life and lead you towards your single medium-term goal, focus on them. Clear off your desk, eliminate distractions, and get it done. Do a high-powered task before you check email in the morning. Try to get your high-powered tasks done before lunch, so they don’t get pushed back to the next day. If you do that, the rest of your day is gravy.
- Be fueled by them. If you really focus on the high-powered tasks, they will be the fuel that drives you forward to realizing your dreams. Doing 2-3 of them each day will ensure that you are focusing on what is truly essential, doing the most with your time and getting the most return, and accomplishing great things. You will be amazed by the difference.
- Keep track. When you complete a high-powered task, be sure to note it down. You can do this in a little notebook, or a log on your computer, or on simple 3×5 index cards. At the end of each week, review your progress. If you’ve really focused on these tasks, you should have a nice little list. Be sure to review your medium-term goal and see if you’re making progress and headed in the right direction. If you’re an employee, share your high-powered accomplishments with your boss, who should be duly impressed. After all, the high-powered tasks should go a long way towards helping advance your career.
Jens
June 8th, 2007
Great article, but what about the small tasks on my to-do list. Those tasks have to be done sometimes. I just can’t throw that to-do’s away, can I?
Rajesh Shakya
June 8th, 2007
Yes, Jen is right. Small task are equally important. And those all small tasks actually make a high powered tasks. So Leo rightly started with the mission statement. Treat yourself as boss of one many company (Yourself).
1. Prepare your mission statement.
2. List goals and objectives
3. List small activities for each of those objectives. Check your activities, if they really comply with your goals and ultimately help to make your mission successful.
4. Try to avoid other activities, which may not help to achieve your goals.
5. Revise your objectives and activities and evaluate your work in every 2-3 months and make revised list if required.
Its easy to say but difficult to implement. But if you take a piece of paper and start today, you will know yourself. Its an amazing experience. I have tried and practicing everyday. I find myself very comfortable these days. So take out a blank white sheet and start from your mission statement today. At least for today, you will feel, you were living your life without really knowing yourself. After you write, it will make you forced to thing about yourself. Write me your comments.
Rajesh Shakya
Ben Harper
June 8th, 2007
There is a typo in the intro.
“now matter” should be “no matter”
James Mitchell
June 8th, 2007
I agree - Great article. Yet I too have many smaller tasks that don’t directly relate to either the Goal or the medium-term. Yet they are something that can not be outsourced.
I am assuming you are saying it is okay to continue to do them (especially if they are a necessity) - just to not spend tons of time on them. And I would further your statement and assume that if you find these smaller tasks are eating up more time than they’re worth - it would be better to discontinue doing them (even if it means not taking some of that kind of work). Correct?
LaurenMarie
June 8th, 2007
it’s also important to note that To Do lists must not turn into Should Do lists, which is where I think focusing on high powered tasks comes in. The small things can get done too, but perhaps they go on a separate, appropriately titled list.
Leo
June 8th, 2007
Good point, guys … let me clarify on this a bit.
I’m not saying not to do the small tasks. But if they are not related to your high-powered tasks (or goals), then you should limit the time you spend on them. Your real focus should be the high-powered tasks — try to do them first and spend more of your time on them.
Batch process the smaller ones. Make all your phone calls and do all your emails at once, for example. Process your inbox to empty and do all your paperwork at once. Set certain times (or just one time of the day for all of them) and get through them quickly.
The problem is that these small tasks often end up taking up most of our time. They somehow take priority over the more important stuff, perhaps because we are avoiding thinking about the important stuff. My suggestion is to focus on the important stuff, get it done first, and then rush through the smaller tasks. If you get the important stuff done but only get 3/4ths of the small tasks done, you’ve been pretty productive.
Bob Foster
June 8th, 2007
Great article, to the point. I call these tasks “turning points” because once they are accomplished they open up all other types of possibilities. Once you have a business card all sorts of things are possible. Before that you have these confusing conversations where you try and spell your web site name to prospective clients, etc. Of course this article is talking about the major goals in your life but that’s how I spot them, look for a turning point — one that will make other possibilities open up where there were none before.
If you are wondering how to prioritize tasks in general, Steve Pavlina had a good article about that on his blog at:
http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2007/05/how-to-prioritize/
Benek
June 9th, 2007
Nice article. I think it’s very important to have goals in life and business and it’s something I should try to do more of. It’s hard to recognize those high-powered tasks if you don’t have goals to associate with them!
Is anyone else bothered by the cheesy stock photos around here? Don’t get me wrong, it’s great to have a photo to accompany a blog post, but if it doesn’t really have anything to add to the post, why not just leave it off? The girl with boxing gloves doesn’t add much for me.
matthijs
June 9th, 2007
I have another one: stop reading blog posts about productivity and commenting on them and start working!
Jermayn Parker
June 11th, 2007
So whats with the main image?? Is that for sex appeal to get people interested in reading???
I think sometimes to get your “to-do” list up to date, you just need to put aside a day or segments in the day to do certain things like for example:
Mon: invoices, admin stuff
tue: sales etc
wed: blogs
thur: updates
and for the rest you do your work