Tom Peters suggested the "to-don't" list: a complement to your to-do list where you write down habits that drain energy or fragment your attention. The speaker's example: don't answer email in the morning, because it kills writing productivity. Treat it as seriously as your to-do list.
You probably have a to-do list. Well, today I want to tell you 2 other lists that can go alongside your to-do list. They don't take very much time at all, but they can be really helpful. The first is an idea I got from the great Tom Peters, who suggested that we all establish a to-don't list. A to-don't list. What does he mean by that? Well, we all know there are things in our lives, in our work, in our midst that drain our energy, divert our attention, sometimes suck the very life out of us. And we should enumerate those things, Thomas says, and don't do them. Indeed, we should treat our to-don't list with the same reverence with which we treat our to-do list. Now, I've been doing this for several years now. So, for instance, my current to-don't list is, don't answer email in the morning. I find that it distracts my attention. It fritters away my writing time, I don't need to be at my very best to respond to email, so don't do that.
