If you read our last post you’ll have just collected everything you’re responsible for along with some of the things you’d like to do with your free time into a single list.
Daunting, right?!
When I made a list for the first time of everything I needed and wanted to get done over the next three weeks, I felt a brief sense of relief, followed by immediate panic.
I laugh about it now, but at the time I was like, “OMG how am I going to get all this done?!”
Trust me on this one, we can do this!
You just need some tools and processes to help you figure out what the immediate next step in getting all these things done is. Then you can put one foot in front of the other and blindly follow your own directions later.
First, indulge me in a productivity rant. Every good productivity series has one, right?
If at this point you’re thinking, “I think I’m good now... I have a to-do list... I’ll just get to work checking things off my list”... please don’t try to sail that ship into the sunset without a plan or process for getting things done. A “to-do list” is not a plan.
You need to process the information from your list of to-do’s: how long things will take, what other steps are involved, etc., and then you can prioritize what needs to be done and when.
I’ve organized a productivity matrix for you. It shouldn’t take long to fill with items from your list, which we'll be calling “projects” since most of them will require more than one action to complete.
Here’s what the productivity Matrix looks like:
Here’s how we’ll load each line item to-do from our list of EVERYTHING we know we have to do.
Step 1. Pick any one project from your list of to-dos and assign it a priority level / status.
We’re calling your “to-do’s” projects now. Because let’s be real, most of the things you have listed will require multiple smaller tasks to complete.
We’ll only be using the four categories below. Trust me, everything on your to-do list will fit into one of these four categories.
NOW: Use this status for projects that are due either today or tomorrow and for the projects you have the means to begin working on right now.
NEXT: Use this status for projects that need to happen within a week or so and aren’t quite as pressing as the items you have listed under “NOW.”
LATER: Use this status for long-term goals or projects you will be working on over the next three weeks or so. These tasks are not urgent but they are still very important!
WAITING: Use this status for projects that you literally can’t do until you either have more information or someone else does something that will allow you to complete the rest of your task.
Step 2. Now that you have assigned each single project a status, write down every next step or smaller task you can think of that is required for completing your project.
Here’s an example of what this might look like…
A project assigned to NOW: Study for AP U.S. reading quiz, due tomorrow.
Next Steps: Do required reading, take notes, add chapter definitions to quizlet.
A project assigned to NEXT: Biology paper, due next week.
Next Steps: Decide on a thesis, Find additional research articles, Outline Essay, Finish Writing
A project assigned to LATER: Senior research paper.
Next Steps: Decide on a topic, meet with teacher for topic approval, begin research, decide on sources to use, decide on a thesis, outline research paper, send teacher project outline... etc.
A project assigned to WAITING: Midterm, due next month.
Reason you’ve assigned this project to waiting: You have a test next month but your teacher hasn’t told you what the test will cover.
Next steps: Set a reminder to follow up with your teacher every so often until you know how you can begin studying for this exam.
Step 3. Repeat steps 1 and 2 till you’ve processed EVERYTHING on your to-do list.
The reality is this is going to take a while, and you may be tempted to give up. But I can assure you, processing all that you have to do and coming up with a plan for accomplishing your goals now will pay off BIG TIME!
You’ll find it’s 10x easier to complete your work later when you know exactly what you should be doing next.
Step 4. Get to work and recategorize your work as needed.
As you make progress in completing your projects, you’ll have to recategorize things. Things from “Waiting” have now become “Next” items or “Next” items have become “Now” items, for example.
In time, you’ll find a means of adapting this system of productivity to your unique needs. Just consider what I’m offering here as a jumping-off point to get you started on finding what works best for you.
Now if you’ve completed all the steps above, CONGRATS, YOU DID IT!
If you wanna get high-tech with this system, you can try adapting it for use with a system like Asana for Students.
If you are asking yourself, “how do I organize this all into a calendar?” That’s a question I’ll be answering next week.
Email me and I’ll send you the downloadable worksheet I’ve created to help you create your own productivity matrix.
As always, if you need an online tutor for just about anything - including getting organized and being productive with your time - let us know!