Nir Eyal argues to-do lists backfire because they lack constraints and make you feel like a failure when items pile up. He suggests timeboxing instead: commit to focused work for a set time, then measure success by whether you stayed undistracted, not by what you finished.
You're literally giving yourself a set amount of time to get something done, right?
No, no, no, no, no, no. Quite the opposite. I don't want you to get things done.
No. This man is a legend in Silicon Valley. He's written two New York Times bestsellers. He's become one of the world experts in helping people develop the power of focus and become.
I don't want you to get things done. What do I mean by that? One of the things we talk about in the course is why to do lists are one of the worst things you can do for your personal productivity. If you measure your life every day by how many cute little boxes you checked off your to do list, you have already made a cardinal mistake. Why? Because to do lists have no constraints. They have no constraints. I want to do this. I want to do this. I want to do this a mile long. And I've never, in all my years of research, met anybody who always finishes everything on their to do list. And yet we keep using this stupid technique, thinking we are broken. And really, it's the technique that's broken. So as opposed to measuring your life based on how many things you got done, stop that. Measure yourself based on one metric alone. And that is. Did I do what I said I was going to do for as long as I said I would without distraction? That's it. I don't care if you finish. It's not about being done with the task. It's about doing it for as long as you said you would without distraction. Why? Here's the kicker. Here's the kicker. If you come home from work every day and you still think in the back of your mind, oh, I didn't finish all those things on my to do list, what does that do to your self image? Day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, you're reinforcing your self image of someone who doesn't do what they say they're going to do. Loser. How does that feel? You start believing this about yourself. It's terrible. And by the way, I did this all the time, for years. I was a to do list devotee and I know this path very, very well. As opposed to when all you do is measure yourself based on your ability to work without distraction. Did I do what I said I was going to do for as long as I said I would without distraction? Now with every time box, I'm reaffirming my identity as indistractable. Whether that's 30 minutes, an hour, it doesn't matter. I did what I said I was going to do without distraction. Doesn't matter if I finish. Now here's the real interesting part. Studies have found that people who measure themselves based on their ability to simply work without distraction, whatever it is that they do finish more, they actually do more. They get more done than the people who keep the to do lists.
