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Avoiding Death by To-Do List: 15 Ways to Overcome Overload and Work Smarter in 2012

By Jason Womack

USA

If you’re like many others  you’re dreading your first day back after the holidays. Your to-do list and bursting-at-the-(cyber)seams in-box loom large. This article explains how to get a handle on both—and maybe even find the wherewithal to finally change your life.

Now that the presents have been unwrapped and the halls have been undecked, it’s back to the daily grind. And while you’d love to feel energized and excited about jumping into 2012, instead you’re weighed down with dread. You know the second you step foot in your office you’ll be hit with 20+ tasks to add to your to-do list and an inbox full of e-mails begging for an immediate response. You start January 2 feeling overwhelmed and incapable of getting everything done—and 2012 will become another year of wishing things were different.

It’s true: For too many of us, feeling anxious and overwhelmed has become the new normal. But 2012 can be the year you finally get a handle on your to-do list and start working—and living—at your best.

Most of your dread doesn’t come from the work itself—it comes from how you think about the work. The psychological weight of unfinished tasks and unmade decisions is huge. There is a constant feeling of pressure to do more with less. You can’t change that reality…but you can make peace with it.

The first step to changing the way you get things done is to accept that you’re never going to get it all done. You’ll always be updating your to-do list by crossing off completed tasks and adding new ones…and that’s okay. When you improve the way you approach the things you need to get done, both on the job and off, you’ll stop wishing things were different and start really making new things possible. Read on to learn more about some good habits you can create in 2012 and make it your most productive year yet.

Purge and unsubscribe. When I suggest reducing your psychological burden, in some cases that means reducing your literal burden. Start 2012 by deleting and recycling to make room for the “new” of the new year. Too many people let a backlog (paper AND digital information) pile up over the last six weeks of the year.

Get rid of everything you can and reduce what might be coming in. Unsubscribe from e-mail newsletters, magazines, book-of-the-month clubs, perhaps even the ad-hoc committees you’ve joined recently. Try the “unsubscription” for three months; at the end of those 12 weeks, you can re-up if you want to!

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About the Author Jason W. Womack Author Jason W. Womack, MEd, MA, provides practical methods to maximize tools, systems, and processes to achieve quality work/life balance. He has worked with leaders and executives for over 16 years in the business and education sectors. His focus is on creating ideas that matter and implementing solutions that are valuable to organizations and the individuals in those organizations.  Author of Your Best Just Got Better: Work Smarter, Think Bigger, Make More, Jason shows that working longer hours doesn’t make up for a flawed approach to productivity and performance. Entrepreneurs need to clarify their habits, build mindset-based strategies, and be proactive. Womack’s signature workplace performance techniques offer specific strategies to consistently and incrementally improve performance.  For more information visit www.womackcompany.com. Your Best Just Got Better: Work Smarter, Think Bigger, Make More (Wiley, February 2012, ISBN: 978-1-118-12198-6, $24.95) is available at bookstores throughout the USA and from major online booksellers.  More about the book at www.womackcompany.com.