Revise Your to-Do List Using the ABCDE Method
An important component of productivity is prioritizing your daily responsibilities, which is why to-do lists are so important. I usually suggest using the Eisenhower Matrix , which helps you visually sort tasks by their urgency and importance, but there is another way: the ABCDE method, taken from the book Eat That Frog!: 21 Great Ways to Stop Procrastinating and Get Results. “More done in less time” by Brian Tracy. Obviously, eating a frog —or doing your biggest and worst task first—is one way to get through your daily responsibilities, but structuring how you do everything else is also very important. Here’s how it works.
What is the ABCDE method?
The ABCDE method is a simple way to categorize everything you need to do. Using it can be a solid first step to creating a to-do list, especially if you follow a model like the 1-3-5 list , which requires you to complete one major task, three medium ones, and five. little ones every day. Figuring out big, medium, and small tasks is actually a task in itself (but, sorry, it doesn’t count as one of the five).
As you plan your day, you grade each task in front of you. First, make a list of everything you need to do. This could be a list of your tasks for the day, week or month – over time you will correct all of this. Then rate each one based on this plan:
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A is for the most important tasks, as is anything that will have consequences if it is not completed. These are the “frog” tasks that will take resources and time, but they can also be something that doesn’t take much time but carries a significant penalty for failure, such as paying a bill on time.
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B tasks are those that also need to be completed, but will not have as big of an impact if they are not completed immediately. You know you need to get them done at some point (so they don’t turn into the urgency of Task A), but you have a little wiggle room.
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C tasks have no consequences if not completed, but would be nice to take care of. For me, task C might be a response to a PR pitch that I’m not interested in interviewing their client. I didn’t have to do this, but it’s nice because it maintains a friendly professional relationship. (Conversely, Task B would be to respond immediately to someone’s publicist when he tries to schedule an interview. Task A would be conducting the interview.)
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D tasks are anything you can delegate to someone else. The person you give it to should not have any A or B tasks to take away from; it should be a priority for them, even if it’s not a big deal to you or you just trust them to do the right thing.
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E-tasks are those that you completely eliminate. If they serve absolutely no purpose, have no consequences, or even have the potential to throw you off course or cause harm, just don’t do them. However, this is a fairly relative assessment: let’s say you wanted to go to the grocery store tonight, but you just don’t have time. You have enough food at home or you can order takeout. You can skip it this time, but once you’ve used up all the food, a trip to the grocery store will return to a higher position on the list. Other E tasks may never appear again; they are simply unimportant. Ignore them to reduce the pressure on yourself.
Using ABCDE Assessments to Structure Your Day
Once each task has been assigned a score, start planning your day (and week and month). This is where the 1-3-5 to-do list comes in: the one big task should be a Class A task, something urgent and timely and/or requiring a lot of resources and focus. Three medium-sized problems may include a smaller A problem, but it will most likely be a B. For the five smaller problems, collect the remaining B grades and, if you wish, Cs. For Level D tasks, outsourcing and coordinating them may still require enough work to qualify completing the delegation as one of your five small tasks, but it depends on how much effort it actually requires and what the rest of your day looks like. like. Don’t shoot the envoy, but you may have to return to task C to take care of the delegation.
E grades can simply be crossed out. Go ahead and delete them or cross them out. It will be nice (and productive) to get that finality from them.
Once you’ve determined what tasks are needed for the day, look ahead to the week and make sure you remember all the B-level responsibilities and move them to a day that works for you if you don’t have time for that particular day. day. If you put them aside, they will turn into “A” quite quickly.
As always, rely on the time frame to plan the day from there. Block out time for each task on your calendar, giving yourself more time on your core A responsibilities and less and less time on B and C. Don’t multi-task; instead, do everything in order, starting with eating the frog and moving on to the other things one at a time until they are completed. (The exception here is that if you delegate tasks, try to get them done early so the other person has time to do what should be an A or B job for them too.)
Grading your responsibilities is an easy way to put them into perspective and increase the sense of urgency, which makes you more productive . Putting it all into an organized list gives you structure and direction, wastes less time during the day, and gives you a sense of accomplishment when you’re done, which is a productivity win in itself.