Do you have an unwieldy, never-ending to-do list?
​My clients are often frustrated when things on their to-do lists aren’t getting done. They feel that they must be lacking in motivation or self-discipline.

While it is possible that motivation or self-discipline can impact your productivity, more often than not, to-do lists become unwieldy because they contain large end outcomes (e.g., “write a book”) without clear, small immediate next steps (“draft a table of contents”).

Honing your skills in a technique called T-Shirt-Sizing can help you to make your to-do lists less Herculean.

How will T-Shirt-Sizing help me? 
​T-Shirt-Sizing will ensure that the tasks on your to-do list are small enough that they are possible to accomplish. 

This technique will break a behemoth, Large T-shirt project down into a set of Small T-shirt tasks that will make it easier for you to take action. Once you start taking action, you'll create a sense of momentum so that you feel proud of your progress instead of buried beneath a behemoth. 

Ideally, your Small tasks will be easily doable in 1 day and will have a clearly measurable result. Here are a few examples:

• Write 1 page of your book (with no requirements on quality)
• Draft a set of slides for your presentation or lecture
• List the collaborators needed for your upcoming project
• List 5 things that you want in your next job
• Schedule a career check-in with your skip-level manager
  
  

T-Shirt-Sizing is a skill, so don’t expect yourself to get it right at first. You may identify what seems like a Small task that then takes a longer time than you’d estimated. You may come up with Small tasks and still not want to approach them because of dread - at this point, you can start to become curious about your motivation. I’ll review ideas around motivating yourself in another post. 

By practicing making Small tasks and checking how many you’re able to get done, you can revisit and revise your to-do lists until T-Shirt-Sizing serves you.

Know someone who could benefit from coaching around time management? Schedule a time for a free chemistry call with me. 

Where does your time go? 
Are your days filled with reactions? 

Many of the folks whom I work with on time management run through each day reactively.

Here are a few examples of what this looks like:

• My boss asked me to do something that took my entire day
• My calendar was jam-packed today, I had no time to get anything done
• I meant to get work done, but people kept asking me for things and telling me they needed them right now

Sound familiar? In this mode, you may end up getting things done but it's tough to feel productive. Folks in reaction-mode feel like their time is out of their control - like they’re being pulled in too many directions.

And they're right. 

By not setting conscious priorities, it’s easy to waste time even when working long hours. In corporate jobs, there are always plenty of squeaky wheels needing grease. In academia, no one provides a clear roadmap of what needs to be done, so it’s easy to lose days, weeks, or months in limbo.

Take control of your time with 3 questions
The first step you can take in (re-)gaining control of your time is to consciously prioritize. This involves taking a few minutes to reflect on what's most important - don’t worry, this shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes.

Here are 3 questions to help get started on prioritization. If you’re a leader, you can answer these questions for yourself and on behalf of your team.

1. What do I need to get done in the next 6 months? What are the associated outcomes that I want to achieve? 
   It's OK if this is a long list. This should include any "key results" or "deliverables." 
   
   
2. Which one of these items is the highest priority for me and cannot drop?
   Only pick one. Seriously, just one. 
   
   
3. What can I get done today in service of achieving the end outcome for the highest priority item?  
   Identify something that is do-able today, even if it's small. 
   
   

How this will help you
These 3 questions will enable you to build skills in conscious prioritization and creating realistic milestones. My clients who use these skills begin to see their days shift. Instead of reaction-mode, their days are filled with proactive choice.

Their days start to look like this: 

• I have a clear sense of my priorities for today, this week, and this month 
• My calendar reflects these priorities and I spend time where I intend to 
• When others ask me to do things, I'm able to see the differences between their priorities and my own and push back accordingly
  
  

You can create that type of space for yourself, starting with asking yourself these 3 questions today. Let me know how it goes! If you'd like additional resources to help you prioritize, reach out via the "contact" link and I'll send over my free task prioritization template.