Use this simple method to maintain your sanity with work.
– Make a to-do list the night before.
– Once done with that to-do list, no more work allowed.
– Never add stuff for the to-do list the same day. If someone asks you for something, reply with “Ok I’ve got it on my calendar for tomorrow!”
Over the years I’ve done work for different sized companies, companies of my own, different roles etc.
While I love doing work, sometimes I would keep adding stuff to my to-do lists and IT NEVER ENDED.
So a few years back I came up with some hard rules I must follow so I can maintain a steady amount of work output over the years without facing any sort of burnout.
1.) Make a to-do list the night before.
I have found making a to-do list BEFORE YOU GO TO BED to be the best way to stay productive during the day.
By making my to-do lists the night before, it mentally prepares me for what I need to do, and allows me to plan the day ahead of time.
Here’s example of a to-do list you make the night before:
Always make this list the night before.
Before I started making to-do lists the night before, I’d wake up, go over the work I need to do, write out a ton of tasks, then dread doing them, or maybe not even have enough time in the day because I didn’t plan correctly. (Did you know 41% of to-do list items never get finished?)
Preparing your work the night before is so incredibly important, because you can define what a “successful” day of work is.
Once you finish those tasks, your day has been “successful!”
This brings us to the next step….
2.) Once done with that to-do list, no more work allowed.
I go through my to-do list and scratch off each item until finished.
A completely finished to-do list.
Sometimes I use a piece of paper to cover the entire page, and only scootch it down to the next item when finished with the last.
You can watch the whole process here (this is a video from 2012 and I still use this method every single day):
Once this to-do list is completely scratched off, work is officially done for the day.
I have to get off the computer and go do something else.
- Get outside.
- Go read.
- Listen to a podcast.
- Cook.
- Call friends/family.
- Do a fun project.
- Learn a new song.
- …whatever.
I have found it super important to call it quits when you hit the end of your to-do list.
3.) Never add stuff for the to-do list the same day.
The most important part of this process is:
!!!!NEVER ADD STUFF TO YOUR TO-DO LIST THE SAME DAY!!!!
I’ll repeat this again…
!!!!NEVER ADD STUFF TO YOUR TO-DO LIST THE SAME DAY!!!!
I’m going to repeat it once more….
!!!!NEVER ADD STUFF TO YOUR TO-DO LIST THE SAME DAY!!!!
One more time just to make sure you understand…..
!!!!NEVER ADD STUFF TO YOUR TO-DO LIST THE SAME DAY!!!!
If you keep adding stuff to your to-do list, you will start creating a never-ending to-do list, and you will never be “satisfied” with a good days work.
If someone asks you for something, reply with “Ok I’ve got it on my calendar for tomorrow!”
Here’s several ways you can tell people in a polite way:
- “Ok I’ve got it on my calendar for tomorrow!”
- “I’ll get it to you within 48 hours.”
- “Got it, it’s on my to-do list for tomorrow.”
- “Awesome, I’ll be handling it by 3pm tomorrow.”
- “I’ll get it to you in 24-48 hours.”
So when someone asks you for something, assuming it’s not 100% urgent, reply with “Ok I’ve got it on my calendar for tomorrow!”
I viciously guard my time and energy, so if someone wants a task done, I always tell them I have it on the to-do list for tomorrow.
Some people are not in a position where they can deflect every task for 24 hours, so for these people they should make it clear which tasks are REQUIRED for the same day, and which are not.
Many times people will promise something right away, which sets the expectation it will be done right away:
But what if you just try to mention you’ll do something tomorrow:
If the boss absolutely needs this report earlier, they will mention it.
This exchange wasn’t bad at all, and everyone knows the report will be done by 3pm tomorrow. By simply changing the wording of the response, everyone is happy.
I hope this helps you guard your time and set boundaries on your work much better :)
Sincerely,
Neville Medhora
Thank you Neville for these great tips.
Honesty I have always been a ‘to-do list’ person. It always boosts my productivity, I never add to my list because I always look forward to the last task on the list.
Ohh great tips Faith!
Taking a walk or playing guitar or piano for me in between work really helps me :)
Really incredible!
I started following your blog yesterday (I didn’t sleep because I thought so much was cool and reading “Seriously I couldn’t sleep”).
This tip that you use I will test, this stuff from tools like calendar, Trello etc.
It’s not working for me because I am also a person who likes simplicity.
I’m 16, my goal is to live off copywriting and be the biggest in my country for the next 3 years at least. Your content is helping me a lot in this!
Nice article, keep going!
1. To do list
2. Ear plugs
3. Pomodoro (timer) method
p.s. thanks for the reminder about not adding more things to the list.
p.p.s. after about 8-ish years reading your blog, I still get something out of it. Love seeing your emails.
p.p.p.s. when does the student become the master?
I use 1 and 2, but never been a big Pomodoro person for some reason (although soooo many people love it)!
Glad you’ve been following along for so long, maybe a book is in order. I’ll send it to Bamboozal :-P
Put a timer on for each task so you don’t end up doing the same task for 3 hours. Usually the Pomodoro method is what I use with 30 minutes doing one task and then 5 minutes pause and then back to 30 minutes.
Sometimes, 30 minutes is not enough for a task but having these reminders help keeping track of time.
Great tip Myri! So many people use the Pomodoro Method, I should probably give it another whirl :)
Completing my tasks each day is always a tough one for me. I struggle through it because it is always must to achieve with limited time.
I have no system or tips I follow but with this you have sent, I will try it out and see how effective it will be.
Thanks Neville!
Well hopefully this system helps you Helen!
Hey Neville,
Great tips ESPECIALLY about not adding stuff same day. I tend to do that which leads to burn out fast because it’s never “done”. I get trapped like a hamster on a wheel.
One other trick I use for myself is to employ the Pomodoro technique (timed sessions of 25 minute and then a small break) to make sure I’m getting up. Sometimes I’ll put on an 80s tune and dance or play with my pups or step outside for a bit.
Working at home I can get stuck in the same position for a while if I don’t set my timer and I start to lose energy fast if I’m not moving!
There are online apps that can time you like this free tomato timer
or sometimes I use an actual egg timer like this one
Thanks again!
Yeah you need to get off that hampster wheel and feel “done” for the day. I think it helps you stay productive forever rather than going through a burnout cycle.
Possibly book-worthy comment Vickie, complete with egg timer pic!
I feel seen. I asked Neville about that video on Twitter couple of days ago, he responded (helpful as always) and now a blog post :-) Thanks man.
Thanks Emma! I noticed that Tweet got a lot of attention so I decided to make a slightly more in depth blog post to show/explain the process. You were heard :-)
Years ago I had used your format and it worked. Then I lost the info. For the last week I was wishing I had it still. (We moved and it might be in one of fifty+ boxes.). And now this email! Add mind reader to your impressive list of accomplishments!! Thank you.
Glad you liked it Gary, I’ve definitely got a lot of use out of this method and hope you do too :-)
I only check my email once a day. *gasp* I know! But, it’s filled with everyone else’s priorities, so I quickly get to inbox zero and focus on my own intentions.
That’s a great tip Marian!
Hey Neville!
I try to keep it as simple as possible.
I have 3 points of 100% control every day – morning, evening, at the end of the week.
Every morning I work on my main priority for the day. If done by afternoon I go on the second on and finally the third one. If it’s not done I keep working on the same task.
I never have more than 3 things on my To Be Completed list. I have a Radar list where I add things to keep in mind. This is the “It would be nice to do this as well” list.
Every evening I review the day by asking a series of ultra-secret questions and see what can I do better tomorrow.
Every week I review the week with – yes – a series of ultra-secret questions and I see what I can improve for the following week. What were the main obstacles, etc.
Then I decide the main projects for the next week, what resources I need, what will be the main obstacles to get them done.
Set myself some nice juicy targets and off we go.
That’s it :D.
P.S. Your system it’s pretty cool as well.
Oh wow, glad you have a system that works so well for you Angelo! Possibly a book-worthy comment :)
I’m not sure if this is allowed at all work places, but listening to something in the background is very helpful for me. Also, setting a timer. I find that if I have a difficult task to complete, setting a timer and telling myself I only have to work on it for an hour before I get a break is helpful.
Hey Marisa, at the end of the post I address this. Basically if you say “I’ll have this by 3pm tomorrow” (or something like that), and they need something much quicker they will tell you right away.
You can also ask “When exactly do you need this by?” so you can clarify the question and everyone is on the same page!
Thank you so much, this is so helpful. I try to plan as well, but I struggle to keep my plan because I almost always add something to the list on the same day, then get stress out because I am not being able to do some of it.
PS: can I pls get a copy of your book You are gonna die? It is nice to plan for my death.
Hey Nico, then use this method and it will make you far happier!
I actually get a little “addicted” to trying to finish my to-do lists….which keeps me productive.
This might possibly be book-worthy :)
If you don’t want people to expect immediate responses (esp. during non-office hours), schedule your replies to go out the next working day. In this way, you train others to respect your schedule and way of working.
Oh that’s an interesting way to make sure you don’t get bombarded with work right away!
I do a variation of this. As a copywriter, I don’t want my clients to get used to getting an immediate reply. I will often schedule my assignments to go out later than I finish them. Agree, you have to train clients to respect your time. 95% of them are totally fine, but there’s always one or two who think you’re at their disposal 24/7/365.
I look at Neville’s drawings to get my zen fix for the day. Oh yeah!
No idea if this is also common in the US, but in my country, clients have this obsession with sending super long voicenotes via WhatsApp (like… 8′ long audios, it’s insane). So I started telling them that I listen to their voicenotes while showering or… errr… passing the contents of the bowels out of the body (oh this came out fancy) because they’re too long and that’s the only “free time” I have. It made some of them feel weird so they just started sending texts, like a normal person would do :P
Oh geez, those voice notes are super annoying!!
I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to say, but if someone sends me a long video or voice note, I simply respond with, “Too long, can you plz summarize?”
….and they usually will respond via email or text with what they want!
I’m just doing this Comment for the free Book you promised me
So
Here goes
I have come to understand that my Inner Champion undergoes a slow death when I Don’t say ‘ no ‘
so I set myself Goals for each month
Financial Goals
Goals for my passion
Goals for my Career
Movie goals ( I mean why not??? )
and then I create an outline of what a perfect day would look like
I create a set of daily tasks that would take me close to these goals and make me happy.
Once that’s done
I just add tasks onto those Primary tasks each morning
Each task is evaluated to make sure that they will take me closer to those goals
and
If it will not
I just say NO
It’s hard
But I say no
Hey Jagadeash sounds like you’ve got a great plan in place for accomplishing all your tasks, congrats!!
Hi Neville,
To-do list aren’t new on the market, I’ve heard more people than I can remember to create one before you get to work. But, what they failed to define is when they WILL work, and when they WON’T.
I’ve been using a to-do list from my college days, but I could hardly complete all tasks ever. Why? Because I didn’t know how to say, “I’ve got it on my to-do list for tomorrow.”
I learned to keep unnecessarily interrupting calls short by using Tim Ferris’s advice of telling people, you’re in the middle of something or asking them to define their long stories in an email. And now it’s you.
I guess the more time people spend banging their heads on the keyboard, the more creative ways they come with to save it. And I hope down the road as I gain more experience, I become like one of you guys.
Seriously! Thanks so much for sharing this insight.
Hey Sadaf thank you very much, and glad this works for you! Possibly book-worthy comment :)
It’s crazy how effective a small sentence like, “I’ve got it on my to-do list for tomorrow” can completely change expectations.
Hope you start using it and it helps keep you more sane with work :)
When I saw the summarized version of this on LinkedIn, I immediately liked the post & applied it. I’m on my 3rd day now. And it has been creating wonders already.
In my work, I usually stay sane by wearing earphones (even when there’s no music). It signals people not to talk to me. It allows me to get drowned in my work.
Hey Macky so glad this has helped you already!
I’ve been using this same system for YEEAAARRSSS now and it’s been great.
As for ear phones, I personally use earplugs a lot when working as it drowns out noise from the outside world:
https://copywritingcourse.com/ear-plugs/
….but if you’re in an office setting then big earphones definitely help deflect people from talking to you.
Awesome you have a system in place for productivity :)
Really informative, the reason why I subscribed to your emails! You give game when you aren’t even giving game😂 keep on being great bro!
Last night, as I was making my to-do list for today, I smiled contently at “komment on Neville’s great post”.
I also note, for each day, a couple of habits I’m working on – a simple checkbox for habit stacking, a line to scrible some gratitude, and a broad time block schedule.
Also, 3 daily goals and the most important thing to do for the day.
Then, at the end of the day, a quick review and setting the stage for the morrow.
That’s awesome Yotam!
I actually used to do the 3 daily goals thing also (not sure where I picked that up from….maybe one of those journal things).
I did for about 20 days or so, but usually the goals ended up being the same thing over and over so I stopped.
Whatever helps make a day better I’m down with, so glad you found a great system!!
Thank you Ruheth, much appreciated! I’ll try to give more game 😏
I agree with you! Anytime I include things into my to-do list on the very day, I barely get half of it done.
Another tip I use is, I try not to have more than 10 things on my list, because once I go through a list with more than 10 tasks in it, I just become mentally tired, before even getting started😂
Hey Toluwanimi I feel ya….definitely created an endless to-do list when you add to the same day.
I like the 10 items idea! I usually don’t put a limit on the number of items on the to-do list but I agree, if it gets SUPER LONG it’s unlikely I’ll do allllll of them!
that’s good.
i do something similar. i do a to do list in the end of the workday for the next day. i list all of the stuff that needs to be done, even if not all can be done.
at the beginning of the day i go over the list, choose some small quick tasks and some larger ones. i memorize them, and start working.
at the end of the day, i will go over the list i did, and see what i managed/remembered to do. i mark out what i did. the task that i forgot to do, probably were not that important to do, and i will move them to the next day :)
that way i make sure i only do what is A MUST, or really important. of course i will try and make first the next day, those that i didn’t do the day before (if they are important enough :) )
Nice system Katz!
I used to have a GIANT to-do list of stuff, but by the end of every day I still felt “not accomplished” and “unsatisfied” I still had so much work left.
But different people work well differently, so this is a great little system that works for you, awesome!!
This are such valuable tips. In particular the suggested response to the boss who asks for a report. Just adding “…by 3pm tomorrow” when you agree is so elegant. It packs all the negotiation into a few works and also trains your boss (who we all know has the potential to wreak havoc on our schedule) to respect your time without making a big deal about it. Bravo Neville!
Hey Neil thanks, it definitely is a great little sentence to let everyone be on the same page, know the work in question will be finished, and also not add it to your schedule the same day :)
Just made this comment to get your awesome book.
To stay sane I DON’T EDIT MY TO DO LIST AT THE SAME DAY!!!
Bahhaha…..well at least you will remember NOT TO ADD TO YOUR TO-DO LIST THE SAME DAY!
Like you, I planned at the night before. But I just time boxing, you may hear about this (Elon Musk uses it). It is really really push me to run faster and be more productive. I finished tasks I’d needed all day to do within 4 productive hours.
Oh interesting! I’ve tried boxing things in certain times, but for me personally it hasn’t always worked great.
So long as I get all the stuff on my to-do list done I kind of don’t care too much HOW I do it, so long as it gets done.
It’s crazy how different people are in their approaches!
I’ll be trying this today!
Awesome, best of luck with it Greg!
Those lines are gold, thank you. I frequently tell people at work I’ll do things the same day and it just piles up.
Thank you Jenny, I hope they work well for you! Such a simple and easy way to change the outcome right??
I used to have my to-do list on my head and I can tell that was completely a misery. But, since the day I started planning ahead of time (writing my to-do list on paper), I have achieve great success and happiness.
Anyway thanks for your tips it was really helpful.