Improve Your Happiness at Work by Changing the Way You Approach to-Do Lists
A simple to-do list can make you more productive, but it can also make your work tedious and boring. It’s time to put your big goals back on your to-do lists.
Art Markman, Ph.D. , professor of psychology and marketing at the University of Texas at Austin, believes at Fast Company that filling your to-do list with only day-to-day activities helps you stop loving your job. … Essentially, your to-do list has become a daily reminder of the least enjoyable parts of your job, and that undermines your motivation.
To combat this, Markman recommends adding tasks to to-do lists that bring you closer to what you think matters. Include a few general tasks on your list in addition to your daily urgent tasks. You want to be able to look at things from previous days and actually see your progress towards your goals, not just the little things you have on your list today. If you can find a way to get the goal back on your to-do lists, repetitive tasks won’t be as tedious. You will be reminded that your job is more than just a series of urgent actions, and you will be a little happier in the long run.
How to Make To-Do Lists That Make You Happier at Work | Fast Company