“If you spend hours writing down all the things that need to be done, you have only wasted time painting an overwhelming picture that makes you want to do anything but confront it. You feel “stuck,” and that is a very hopeless feeling. The more you neglect that list, the angrier you get at yourself. The result? Depression, anxiety, substance abuse…etc. The answer? Make a list of what you can realistically do the following day, do it, and feel proud of your accomplishment!”
—Anonymous e-mail
I’ve put six and seven items on the sample Doing lists. Studies have shown that most people can remember five to nine items and seven is average. The idea of a Doing list is to make what you want to do concrete. If you have to keep referring back to your list, it is too long. I made it even easier for us by filling in two of the blanks. See, you should only put four or five things on it. Even that may be too much. Tom Sullivan suggests, “Make a list of ten things you want to do today. Then cross out seven. If you get three important things done, you’ll have accomplished a lot.”