Make Your To-Do List Motivational

Words really make a difference to how you feel about a task…

Here’s a little sunshine tip for you for the week. I think you all know I love the impact of language on productivity (and therefore on wellbeing – a leap, but not a big one in my opinion!).  
 
I share everything I share in order, ultimately, that you feel good about yourself and your progress.  
 
The other day I helped change a client’s experience of her working day with this one suggesting. It takes about 30 seconds more of thought, but it cuts out minutes if not hours of misspent thinking. I thought I’d share it here in case it might be useful to you too.   
 
Here’s the trick: Use a VERB!!! 
When you write your ‘to do’ items, wherever you write them, first off, ALWAYS (always!) use a verb as the first word. Doing this puts you into action mode, not decision mode about WHAT to do.  

Most of us tend to be hasty when we write out to do list items. In the rush to capture the thought, we don’t stop for long enough to word the thought into becoming an action. Take an extra 30 seconds to add a thought about verb that indicates what really needs to be done. That makes it an instruction, and that means when you get to it, you know WHAT to do (specifically).  

Let me give you a couple of examples: notice which of these appeals more to you, and certainly notice which puts you into action mode (because that’s what you want, you in action). Imagine you are looking at your list and see these – which is more motivating for you?  

Social media posting                 vs                 Post one Instagram and one LinkedIn post 

Gardening                                   vs                 Weed the garden  

Send a birthday card to x         vs                 Buy a birthday card to x  

This last one is sneaky… taking the extra 30 seconds allows you to understand that the VERY NEXT action that’s needed for the thought to send a card to your friend is actually to GET the card, before you can WRITE the card, before you can SEND the card…  

This is in part about the size of the task, but it’s also about making sure you help yourself, through your language to just have a more calm experience of the day.  

The invitation:  

Play with the verbs you are using, and see what difference it makes to your day and your effectiveness.