Episode 332
The Power of the Done List
Primary Topic: The concept of "done lists" as an alternative to-do lists
- To-do lists
- Negative impact of to-do lists
- The never-ending nature of to-do lists
- The lack of dopamine stimulation from to-do lists
Primary Topic: The importance of recognizing and acknowledging accomplishments
- The need to realize and appreciate what has been accomplished
- Writing down everything that has been done
- The positive impact of acknowledging accomplishments
- Increased self-awareness and behavior modification
Primary Topic: Optimizing time management based on the analysis of accomplishments
- Analyzing the time spent on different tasks
- Patterns and insights from analyzing accomplishments
- Adjusting time allocation for different tasks
- Increasing conscientiousness and accountability
- Achieving the desired goals through behavior modification
Primary Topic: Identifying areas for improvement and making necessary changes
- Realizing time spent on tasks that are not enjoyable
- Identifying unexpected time allocations (e.g. emails, interaction with key individuals)
- Evaluating the impact of hired assistance (e.g. VA)
- Optimizing work processes and arrangements
- Making necessary changes for personal and professional growth
Primary Topic: Benefits of having a "done list" mindset
- Shifting focus from to-do lists to accomplishments
- Boosting mood and motivation through acknowledging successes
- Making informed decisions based on time allocation analysis
- Creating a sense of achievement and success
- Improving overall lifestyle and well-being
Primary Topic: Conclusion and call to action
- Encouraging listeners to try implementing the "done list" approach
- The potential positive impact on mood and productivity
- Emphasizing the importance of self-reflection and making necessary changes
Transcript
Hello, and welcome to the travelling introvert. Today, I want to talk about to do lists. Actually, I wanna talk about done lists. So a lot of us might have a list list of things that are on our plate, be it projects, tasks, household things, gift buying, stuff to do with our car, stuff to do with various things throughout our life. We tend to have lists. Of us do anyway. And these lists can rule our lives and can make us feel very negative about ourselves. Because here's the thing with to do lists, they never end.
Janice Chaka [:No matter how much of it you complete, There's always more stuff to be done. And we all know, scientifically, that our brains run on dopamine, and to do lists don't really help us with that dopamine. The to do list itself, like, this is all the stuff that I have to do, really big downer. Ticking off, hey. This is what I've done. Great for us. Gives us the dopamine hits, all of those wonderful things. Now here's the thing.
Janice Chaka [:What we're really bad at, in general, Is realizing everything that we've done or we've accomplished over a set period of time, be it a day, an Hour, a week, a month, a year. And, yes, having a to do list is really, really helpful for you to Brain dump everything and organize everything and know what needs to be done and how to prioritize and all that fun stuff. But your brain doesn't like that. What it likes is, hey. I've done stuff. So what you want to do or what I challenge you to do Just go ahead and, over the next day or so, write down everything that you've done, big or small. If it took 5 minutes, 15 minutes, or 3 hours, write it all down. And there's 2 parts to this because, Yes.
Janice Chaka [:It's gonna tell you, oh, I did all of these things today. Then you're gonna be like, oh, was this a good use of my time. Were all of these things things that I had to do? Were all of these things propelling me towards my goal? Whatever that goal might be, be it to finish projects, to get a promotion, to to get a new client. You begin to see patterns of how much time you're taking doing certain things. And it's really good for your self awareness. Because once you're aware of how you spend your time, Then you can make changes to it to optimise how you spend your time. You won't be doing, oh, I've got this to do list, and, actually, I need to do all of these things. You might be like, I know that my week needs to be split up better with this much on this sort of tasks and this much on these sorts of tasks.
Janice Chaka [:How can I arrange my week or my month or my day to better suit that and go ahead with sort of optimizing the way you spend your time because that in itself is you modifying your behavior? You become more conscientious when you know that you're writing it down, and you feel like you're being observed. You're holding yourself accountable at the end of the day. And so the benefit is you're getting that dopamine hit of, yes. I've done these things. But, also, the second part of it is changing your behavior to in the way that you want, in towards what your the goal that you have. So it could be that you realize after a week that you're spending a lot of time doing things you don't actually enjoy, or you're spending a lot more time on emails than you thought, or a lot more time hand holding a key person more than you thought. Maybe you hired a new you're, an entrepreneur, you hired a VA, and you thought that You are only spending 3 hours a week sort of with your VA, and then you realize, actually, it's 15, then you get to optimize and and think, oh, okay. What do I need to do to make this better for me and for them? So it's something for you to think about.
Janice Chaka [:And then you also get to view what small handful of responsibilities or people eat at the majority of your time, and then you get to make the decision of whether you want to continue doing that moving forward or if you wanna make changes. So instead of having that to do list that gets you down and is never ending, try having a done list that will give you those mean hit sort of of being successful and accomplishing things and see how your mood changes and what changes you can then make to your lifestyle. Thank you for listening. This is Janice at the career introvert helping you build your brand and get hired. Have a great rest of your week.
