Look at your to-do list. Does every entry describe something you can actually do?
‘Email the proposal’ is a task. But ‘New website’, ‘Resolve the staffing issue’ and ‘Improve team morale’ need more thought.
Some entries are
- decisions
- questions
- experiments
- situations that are still developing
Treating them all as tasks can leave you trying to complete something you have not yet understood.
What kind of entry is this?
Before assigning a deadline or moving an item into ‘In progress’, ask what it needs.
- A task: You know what action to take.
- A decision: You need to choose between options.
- A question: You need information or understanding.
- An experiment: You need to try something and learn from the result.
- A developing situation: You need to watch for changes before deciding how to respond.
These distinctions help you choose a useful next step.
Give each entry an appropriate next step
You do not need to solve everything when you review your list. You need enough clarity to move forward.
For example:
- ‘New website’ becomes ‘List the problems the current website needs to solve’.
- ‘Choose a supplier’ becomes ‘Compare the shortlisted suppliers against our requirements’.
- ‘Improve team morale’ becomes ‘Ask the team what is making work harder’.
- ‘Shorter meetings?’ becomes ‘Try a 15-minute meeting for two weeks, then review’.
- ‘Possible change in client budget’ becomes ‘Check with the client on Friday’.
Notice that an experiment needs a review as well as an action. A developing situation needs a check-in or a clear trigger for responding.
Match your approach to the uncertainty
Where the next step is clear, act.
Where you need expertise, seek it.
Where the outcome is uncertain, consider a small experiment with limited consequences. Decide what you want to learn and when you will review it.
A detailed checklist may be useful once you understand the work. Before then, it can give an appearance of clarity while leaving the important questions unanswered.
Review one ambiguous entry today
Choose an item that keeps surviving each review of your list.
Ask:
- What does this entry represent?
- What remains unclear?
- What action, decision, experiment or check-in would help?
Your list can hold more than tasks. The useful distinction is knowing what each entry asks of you.
Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash
