Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Start a to-NOT-do list

Of all the concepts laid out by Jim Collins and his book Good to Great this one had the most profound affect on me.

Practically every business/success book or course out there prescribes the notion of having a to-do list.  This is typically at the heart of every time management book.  There's nothing wrong with this, because it lays out what needs to be done.  I use a to-do list all the time.

What Jim Collins prescribed was a "stop doing" list or a to-NOT-do list.

On one's to-NOT-do list may be as follows:

I will NOT watch 8 hours of mind-numbing television a day (or 2 or 4 or whatever your number of hours may be).

I will NOT oversleep and not write for the 1 or 2 hours I had planned in the morning.

I will NOT not write something every single day.

I will NOT drive to work listening to the latest political blow-hards on the radio or my favorite 80's rock tunes I've listened to and WILL listen to something inspiring (for me it's either a podcast by Dave Ramsey, Dan Miller, Earl Nightingale, or Writing Excuses).

I will NOT spend my breaks and lunches at work checking my Facebook status and not working on my book.

I will NOT waste my time on mind-numbing tasks on the Internet when I planned on writing or working on my blog.

I will NOT plan one weekday where I don't have at least one blog posting.

I will NOT watch the news every single day.  A 30-minute local news broadcast is fine, but not the hours and hours that Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/Etc. bring to us in their 24/7 news cycle.  Bad news is everywhere.  I don't need to fill my mind with it.

I will NOT not take a break every once and a while, simply because it gives my body and mind time to rest.

I will NOT physically devestate my body or medically devestate my mind through poor nutrition, lack of exercise, and negative attitudes.

I will NOT start my day wishing it was a different day (Monday is just a day of the week, not something to be dreaded, so get over it.).

What's on your to-NOT-do list?

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