Michael Ashcroft – Getting It Done

I find simple to be quite beautiful.

Surprisingly, it can often be hard to keep things simple in our lives.  We keep trying to cram more and more into our days.  Doing this, however, reduces our capacity to immerse ourselves in what it is that we’re actually doing, in any particular moment.  Very often I find myself doing something, like eating or cleaning or walking, and all I’m thinking about is what I have to do next.

Prioritising what is important in our lives and cutting out all the bullshit is a great way to create a simpler life.

This post is already beyond simple.  I’m not even exactly saying what I wanted anymore.

All I wanted to do was share 2 tips that have helped me simplify – and they’ve made me undeniably happier too.  Less really is more.

First up – the simplest and most useful to-do list I’ve ever come across – Teux Deux.  And its free.  The part I like about it best, is that you can only see two or three words worth of a to-do item on your list.  This, I’ve discovered, is just about all the words you need to create a memory trigger for yourself.  So rather than writing, “Call Sam and discuss the blah blah blah,” just write “Call Sam.”  If you’re smart, you’ll remember the rest

Second – on that list, just put three important things you want to get done that day.  Don’t fill that beautifully simple Teux Deux list with tonnes and tonnes of bullshit you won’t get done.  That’s not the point.  Pick what’s important and do that.  Make it so that when you look back on your day, you’ve accomplished what you wanted.  If there’s only 3 things, you’re much more likely to get them done.

And for whatever reason, there is something really satisfying about ticking accomplished tasks off the list.  I don’t even delete them.  I like having them sit there, crossed out, and seeing that I got shit done!

Keep it simple.  I’d say more, but I’ve already said too much