We've looked at the to do list. And we've looked at this a daily list is another very useful list to think about, which is, what do you do when you go from one to do list to the next to do list and the next to do list. And there are things on that never get done. Some people, of course, keep their to do list on sheets of paper. And when they get close to the end, they take the last few to dues, put them on top of the next sheet of paper and throw away the old one. Others keep their to do lists in the back of a notebook or running to do list on the back page and then the next page in the next page.

And they find that there are things 2345 pages back that still haven't been done. So these constants reduce, where do they come from, and what do they mean? These are the things that we should do. And not things we must do. Because if we had to do them, then we would do them because of the consequences. They're not things we want to do.

Because if we wanted to do and we do them because of the pleasure, the other stuff that gets squeezed in the middle. These are the things that we should do. And what do we do about the things that we should do? We feel guilty about not doing them, and guilt and all the emotions around that contribute nothing to our productivity to our efficiency or to our effectiveness. In fact, if anything, guilt hampers all of those by occupying mental and emotional energy that could be better used in delivering the stuff we want. So what's the secret?

When you spot these everlasting to do's that carry over from one list to the next list day after day after week of the month after year. Here's what you do, you take a new sheet of paper. And you transfer all of those two dues onto that new sheet of paper, which allows you to discharge them and cross them off the old one. And you head that new sheet of paper with the words to don't list. And when you've got your to do list, what do you do with it? Well, that depends on how courageous you are.

If you are a woman or a man of courage, then take your to do list. screw it into a smaller ball and file it in the small round filing cabinet on the floor by the door. That's the proper place for it. If you don't have that level of courage, then it's okay to find your to don't list at the bottom of the lowest drawer in your cupboard or maybe on top of the highest shelf shelf unit somewhere where you could get it if you really needed it. But it wouldn't have to bother you because you wouldn't really need if one of those two dues crops up again and it goes fresh onto your to do list. But the difference it will make psychologically releasing yourself from the pressure, all these unwanted to dues were massive.

Now there's one type of entry on your to do list that persists day after week after month. That is an exception to this. Every now and then there'll be something on there and you're looking at it and you say, you know what, that is really important. Why aren't i doing it? It isn't a shirt. It's a must, or it's a really, really want to why am I not doing it?

And the answer is because it isn't to do. It doesn't belong on the to do list because it's not an activity to do. It is a project. And as such, it's too big to do you never get the time and projects or big scary things. And so as animals evolved from the same roots as hedgehogs are 10 With a big scary thing is to curl up into a little ball, hope it goes away. We want to do it where it has huge value to us.

So how do we handle this second notebook, take a fresh page in your notebook and head it up with the name of that force to do. Write down the name after the word project, colon, project colon, and then the name. Turn back to do into the project that it really is. Now write a few words of description about what you want to achieve, what are the outcomes you want to gain from this once you go. And then crucially, write down on three lines, the numbers one, two, and three. And then fill in the first three small, maybe tiny steps.

The first three actions to take and here's the thing that can make all the difference. We're going to use the oats principle having Got the actions against each one, put an estimate of how long it's going to take, and then put a date when you intend to do it. When you've done that, transfer those dates the schedules into your diary. Now, you've turned a big amorphous not really to do that's not getting done into three specific to dues that are scheduled. So whether you put stuff from your to do list on to your to don't list or whether you turn your two dues into projects, that's the way to deal with the energy sapping to dues that never seem to get done.