To-Do List Series #1 – Why You Need an Outboard Brain

In the comments section of my last blog post, Barbara raised the question, “Why do I rebel against my own to-do lists?” That sparked a lot of thinking for me. So now I’ve got a series of posts about to-do lists . . . yep, you’ve got it. On my to-do list.

Why do we even use to-do lists, anyway? What’s in it for us other than stress because we never seem to cross enough things off of them? Because when they work, to-do lists actually help us relax. Yes, that’s right. Relax.

“Huh?” you say. (That’s one of the things I like about you. You’re so articulate.)

Allow me to explain. Oh, and to be clear, I’m using “to-do list” as a catch-all term. For you it might mean anything from a hastily scrawled sticky note to a complex, category-driven application on your computer or PDA. Whatever works for you. (Or doesn’t work, as the case may be—don’t worry, we’ll get to that in future posts.)

A to-do list is really nothing more than an outboard brain.

Early humans simply didn’t need them. Imagine our cave-dwelling ancestors:

1. Hunt animals.
2. Gather plants.
3. Gather wood, feed fire.
4. Cook.
5. Eat.
6. Mate.
7. Repeat.

The absurdity is clear. And it’s not just the fact that leaves and charred twigs didn’t make very durable personal planners, either. Our ancestors knew what to do because it was all about survival—what was necessary was also pretty darn obvious.

Ironically, though their lives were physically demanding and dangerous, hunter-gatherer societies also spent far less time fulfilling their basic needs than we do.

Even later agricultural societies had more leisure time. Yes, people had to work long, back-breaking hours during crucial periods such as planting and harvesting. But for most of the year, they could finish up work in the fields and kick back with jars of mead at the end of the day, telling stories around the hearth fire. There was no, “Sorry, honey, the feudal lord asked me to work late again tonight, and on the way home I need to get gas for the mule and pick up your doublet and hose from the dry cleaner. Can you make sure little Sigismund gets to spear-throwing practice on time?”

No, it’s only our modern lives that have become this complex, and overrun with demands on our time that often feel completely overwhelming. To deal with it all, we need to find external ways to capture our commitments, because our brains simply aren’t wired to hold all that information and feed it to us as we require it. Our ancestors didn’t need it, so we didn’t evolve that way. And biological evolution lags so far behind technological evolution that we needed to call in reinforcements.

Thus, the humble to-do list was born. (It has grown up to become far less humble in its adolescence, like most teenagers, but that’s a story for another day.)

By writing down the things you need to accomplish, and by when, you free your mind from what author and productivity expert David Allen calls “open loops.” Even if you’re not aware of it every moment, these open loops sap your energy and concentration simply by remaining undone, because at some level you’re aware of all that incompleteness hanging over your head.

Then, if you don’t find some way of recording these open loops outside your own gray matter, not only do you feel anxious about all of your undone tasks, you’re also anxious (again, this may not be fully conscious) that you might forget about them. It’s a double-whammy of worry.

Keeping a to-do list—and keeping it more or less current—eliminates the second of those two worries. Unfortunately for those of us who are planner and system addicts, Writing it All Down (or Getting it All Entered) is not synonymous with Getting it All Accomplished. (“What? You mean I bought this gorgeous new Franklin Covey planner in rich buttery nut-brown leather with a personalized monogram, and filled in all my calendar items and things to do, and it’s not going to do them for me??? I want my money back!”)

Sorry, you still have to do the things yourself. But getting some clarity around what those things are, and getting them out of your head and onto a list, gives you an incredible feeling of relief. Sometimes you feel overwhelmed with everything you think you have to do, and when you see it all written out in ink or pixels, you realize there’s less of it than you thought.

Or that the truly urgent stuff is doable, and the rest of can be deferred for a while with no harm.

Or that what you thought was a huge, icky, complicated project actually has a set of steps you can take in an obvious and logical order.

Or that everything looks a bit more manageable than you were anticipating.

Or that there are things you really, truly don’t have to do. Now, and maybe ever.

Or a combination of all of these. Whatever you discover, somehow just being able to see it in written form helps you wrap your mind around it all. And the sense of relief is amazing.

Want to try it?

Throughout this series of posts, I’ll offer some concrete, practical suggestions that will let you feel the relief that comes from having an Outboard Brain of some sort. Give them a test drive and let me know what works for you, what doesn’t, whether you have any questions, etc. As always, I’d like to make this a real conversation, not just me doing all the talking . . . uh, writing.

So your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to do a brain dump. You can do this in one of two ways, though I recommend the second one.

Way #1: Use a small notebook.

Way #2: Use a stack of index cards.

I recommend the index cards, because while this exercise is only about capturing your thoughts, next time we’ll deal with categorizing them. And that’s easier to do with a stack of cards you can shuffle around than a list you can’t. (Helpful hint and Alternate Way #2: When I did this recently, I cut some blank cardstock down to the size of business cards, wrapped a rubber band around them, and had a very portable working Outboard Brain.)

Now, take 15 minutes or so when you can be undistracted. Transfer the contents of any current to-do lists to your new TOB (Temporary Outboard Brain). Don’t forget that receipt from lunch where you jotted down the errands you want to run this weekend, the sticky notes hanging precariously from the bottom of your computer, and any other spots where pesky to-dos like to hide.

Then, do a brain-dump from scratch, as much as you can think of off the top of your head. What’s in your short-term memory because you weren’t near your computer or Blackberry or a notepad when you thought of it? What has come up in the last few hours that you haven’t written down anywhere but want to remember?

Don’t worry about being complete—that’s why you are going to carry your TOB and a writing utensil with you everywhere you go for the next several days. Here’s where the magic happens. Because you have it with you, every time you think of something you need or want to do, add it to the TOB right then and there.*

*Exceptions include while driving, operating dangerous machinery, or in the middle of a heated discussion or amorous encounter.

At first, you may find yourself pausing to jot things down a lot. That’s okay. The flood will slow down and eventually become a trickle. That’s when you’ll know you’re essentially done with your brain dump. Also, don’t worry about keeping your cards or notebook pretty. This is temporary, and doesn’t need to be a work of art. In fact, you might use this as practice in allowing things to be slightly messy!

The next post in this series will talk about what to do with all the to-dos you will have corralled by then. Until then, keep collecting, and trust that even though it’s not yet organized into a Holy and Sacred System, you will still have the most important things at the forefront of your mind. Maybe even the forefront of your notebook (use a highlighter or a special symbol in the margin for urgent items) or card deck (clip the urgent stuff in front).

Meanwhile, savor the feeling of release as you mentally let go and entrust your commitments to something outside of you. Ahhhh . . . feels great, doesn’t it?

Tagged as: lists, overwhelm, systems