Forget The To-Do List, Start A Done List

May 16th 2007

To-do lists don’t have to be restricted to just your next actions. GTD encourages you to break down your next actions into context lists, which are essentially to-do lists but grouped under appropriate contexts, so for example, if you are sat at the computer you can immediately scan all the actions you need to do there.

Using a similar principle, I have to-do lists for all sorts of purposes. I’ll discuss in more detail about that in a later post but for the time being I will tell you about my done list (it’s an awkward name but it gets the point across). It is primarily a motivational tool and basically, whenever I do something to be proud of, complete a difficult project, or push myself and stretch my boundaries I put it on this list.

Too often we forget about all the achievements we have done and we doubt our abilities. We only think about what we are achieving in the here and now. Since I’ve started filling in my done list, I’ve been reminded of the praise I got at school and the awards I won for my artwork. It’s been a while since I last painted anything so when I recently started again, I considered my efforts rather poor and it was quite disheartening. That was until I remembered my past achievements, what I was capable of and still am capable of.

How you choose to implement your done list is entirely up to you. You can make it GTD style and have contexts (achievements you did at school, work, socially and in your personal life etc) or you can have one big list, which is what I personally have as it’s a big boost to see a large pile of sheets listing all the great things I have achieved.

When you first fill it in, remember to think as far back as possible and include anything you consider to be an achievement, no matter how small. Don’t compare your achievements to other people, be proud of what you personally have done. You might win a trophy with your local football team but then look at the World Cup trophy and question it’s significance. I can bet that every player who lifted that trophy was grateful for each and every minor medal or trophy they won on the way.