Why To Dos don't get done

13/10/10 

This morning, the only thing left on my list was the most important thing;

Job Seek.

My bad. You don’t have to be Tony Robbins to identify that To Do had a serious discrepancy. It was non specific.

Bear with me for a moment. The SMART rules of goal setting; Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time Bound.

My other 3 tasks were all of those things. All realistic, achievable goals with a self-set deadline of the day and measurable because by the end of the day, they would either be done, or not. Most of all, they were all very specific. Make a phone call. Go for a drive. Go to the gym. Pretty self-explanatory. But “Job Seek”? What the hell is that? I kind of did it. I looked. That’s seeking. But job seek what? Job seek how? Job seek when?

It was a non specific goal so nothing got done and today I’m no closer to finding employment than I was yesterday.

My general rule of listing is that it doesn’t get deleted until it’s done. Putting "Job Seek" as #1 on my list, is like writing “Lose weight”. If the end goal can only be reached by achieving smaller goals, then smaller, specific, achievable goals should be listed.

Crossing those To Dos off your list, or deleting them or checking them or whatever you do when you’ve done them isn’t just satisfying, good for your confidence and your motivation, it keeps you achieving.

Big tasks, small tasks, even mundane begrudge tasks like paying a bill or cleaning the fridge, once you’ve ticked them off, you’re better off than you were before you hadn’t.

The idea of writing a To Do is to stay progressive.  So this morning I got more specific with "Job Seek".

To Do

Create new job searches – recreation and hospitality (beggars can’t be choosers, I need to make myself more available for more jobs)

Find Bar Course (because I can’t work in hospitality if I don’t have the qualifications)

Gym session

New training plan

Oven / kitchen floor

Tasks to get me closer to my employment and fitness goals and the mundane domestic tasks which just help me feel a little  more in control, in this highly unpredictable world.

All specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound with a deadline of today.

I was up at 5.30. It's 10.30am. Now my list looks like this;

To Do

Book BARMAX

New training plan

Kitchen floor

Smart.