No matter which method of task management we use, the challenge we all face is having a task lists that has become unmanageable.
Right now, I have over 600 “next” items on my list. (I keep everything in Evernote using tags.) That’s too many.
The “Getting Things Done” (GTD) system requires us to go through our lists once a week, to update our priorities for the following week. But my list is too big and it’s been a long time since I have done a weekly review.
Please don’t tell anyone.
The weekly review is what makes the whole system work. When you stop, you no longer have a task management system, you have a library.
How do I fix this?
I’m thinking about doing something drastic.
I’m thinking about starting over. Clean out the list and start a new one.
Yep, get rid of all of my “next” items and start from scratch.
What’s the worst that can happen? I’ll forgot something I haven’t thought about in months? It couldn’t be that important, could it?
Don’t we pretty much know what’s important? Aren’t we already working on what we need to do right now? Don’t we also know what we’ll probably do after that?
And we’re got our calendars for anything with a deadline.
A clean slate sounds like it would be delightful, doesn’t it? After you add back a handful of “next” tasks you remember or that come up this week, your weekly review will be quick and easy. You won’t avoid it. You’ll start getting things done.
But letting go is hard to do for a lawyer. Too many “what ifs”.
So here’s an safer alternative:
Move all of your tasks to a temporary folder or apply a temporary tag. Then, go through everything one time and decide if it should still be on your next list. If so, add it back. You will probably delete a good portion of your list this way.
Of course the danger with this safer method is indecision. We have too many things we are sure we need to do, and we can’t eliminate them.
Being a lawyer can be a royal pain in the arse.
Okay, if you can’t decide, move those tasks to “someday”. Keep your next list lean and mean.
Yes, we’re also supposed to go through our someday list during our weekly review. But if you don’t, if you go through it every six months, or every once in awhile, I won’t tell anyone. Pinkie swear.
See how I use Evernote to manage tasks and projects. Click here.
