Why managing our workday by merely using to-do lists is a terrible idea

One of the most common misconceptions about productivity is that it’s synonymous with getting more work done.

However, that understanding is a relic from the industrial era. Back in the 19th and 20th centuries, most people did factory-type work. Their job was to turn resources into physical goods, so merely putting in the hours and getting more work done led to higher productivity. 

In today’s knowledge economy, things are different. Productivity is about accomplishing our goals – or getting the most of what matters out of our limited energy, attention and time. Put differently, being productive requires us to be intentional about spending these three resources wisely.

As it turns out, managing our workday by merely using to-do lists is a terrible idea for pulling this off. Nir Eyal compares managing our workday with to-do lists to running our life on Windows 95, because to-do lists “[…] allow us to get distracted by the easy or urgent tasks at the expense of the important work.” As a result, we often go through our days on autopilot, fall prey to precrastination and ultimately end up stressed out, overworked and unproductive.

Yet, there is a better way. One of the most effective and well-researched approaches for accomplishing our goals is using implementation intentions at work. Doing so entails deciding in advance on 1) what you’re going to do (e.g. focus deeply on a challenging task) and 2) when you’re going to do it (e.g. from 8 to 9 am). Instead of merely keeping ourselves busy, this enables us to align how we spend our energy, attention and time with what we want to accomplish.

The approach is popular among not only leading productivity experts such as Nir Eyal, Cal Newport and Chris Bailey, but also many of the most successful (and busy) entrepreneurs of our time – including Bill Gates and Elon Musk (who both chop their day up into five-minute slices).

Over the next three weeks, I’ll share my planning approach, which uses implementation intentions to get the most of what matters out of our limited energy, attention and time. It lets you systematically reconcile focused and collaborative work, doesn’t require planning your time to the minute and includes three levels: The week, the day and the hour. Stay tuned!

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Until next week,Christian