In my freelance IT Consultant days I often went from being a Analyst/Programmer hired in, to running the development of the ‘we are a bit late upgrading our IT to stay competitive’ shop.

I used to carry round two folders, one with the database diagram and key process descriptions and one with project management stuff.

We were into structured methodologies in those days so I kept my finger on the details with walk through’s of specifications and code. Of course I had my own development and pre-production log ins so I could ‘Test, Test, Test’.

I always tested and ran conversions myself and often coded them, its the data stupid.

I had a 20 minute meeting with the analysts on a Monday and tasked up everyone for 2 weeks. My best contractors I hired in needed ‘two weeks work’ scheduled.

If some one came to me with a 5 minute problem I often did it there and then. A 15 minute one would get done in 2 days by someone and bigger ones got into the schedule. The aim is to have made progress at the end of each and every day.

In smaller shops of course you are resource light so some stuff has to be winged and that’s where experience and a few staff who can work off the back of a fag packet comes in.

How about addressing the real problem: Procrastination.

The To-do list itself didn’t cause that. Fear, laziness, distraction, lack of motivation & lack of confidence and probably other factors are all causing that. Making a “Done list” only addresses one aspect of it (confidence), and not even in its entirety.

The problem with dropping the To-do list altogether, IMHO, is that you’re breaking a fundamental block that you need to address the other aspects.

For example, If you lack motivation or if you can be easily distracted by things that are not in your To-do list, maybe those things should actually be there. Maybe your priorities should be revisited.

If you know that you really, want and are really motivated by something that you’re not doing, maybe you should then try to identify whether you’re afraid of tackling the task because it’s too big => search for help.

In short, I do believe that even though completely imperfect and not easy, To-dos are still a fundamental starting block for having a more efficient and organized life routine.

i think we all need to be careful not to waste energy chasing the ultimate system for productivity and instead accept that we’re all different and work in different ways, and we probably need to adopt a bit of this, a bit of that, a pinch of the other, to make it work for each individual. what will work for walter won’t work for me and what works for me will send walter over the edge.

anyway…happy achieving!