Does your to-do list get you down?

When I was opening the bookstore, I was surprised at the number of people who had an opinion on what I should do. Most of these people had never done any thing like it -- but they all had an opinion. I had my to-do list then, like I do now. I quickly realized that I must not only be pleased with the day’s work if I achieved everything on my list. In fact, I realized that if I achieved three or four things I should be glad, because it took a lot longer to do things as a foreigner here than I had expected.

Let’s see what people think about to-do lists. I think some cultures make more use of this method of organization than others. Part of this could be because certain nationalities are known for being more organized than others. It’s unfair to generalize because within any culture there people who are and those who aren’t. I bet if you ask people from any culture who are “go-getters” if they make a to-do list, they would say, “Definitely!”

I make a to-do list every day. In fact, I make one not only for me but also prepare some reminders of tasks for certain staff members. Those staff members are given daily briefings and instructions. I assume my to-dos for them are to be added to the to-do list they hopefully make for themselves. I have a feeling that sometimes their to-do list may only list what I have told them to do. If you work as a team or have staff under your supervision, do you ever have that feeling about others?

Usually how we are raised and our culture influence us. I don’t think I have seen too many people buying a to-do list pad here in Turkey. The culture of memorization means that often a business person can remember a quite-complicated list of tasks, but if they get really busy, they still need to rely on the good ‘ol hand-written list.

But I guess a hand-written list is old-fashioned now. In America you can find a wide assortment in all sizes of to-do list tools, ranging from Palm-held computers and magnetic white boards, to old-fashioned paper pads. Of course, you can always use smart software on your computer to make a to-do list.

For those of us who are in the habit, we find that our to-do list sometimes has the opposite effect -- and is doing us in. Now, of course, this is not all our fault. It maybe because of where we live and the different mentality we work in, that we have a cultural clash over a to-do list.

You may even find that when you live in another culture, you spend the day putting out fires and by the end of the day you haven’t accomplished any of the really important things you set out to do.

You may feel frustrated because you had made a to-do list to get things done. Now you are beginning to feel overwhelmed by the number of items still un-ticked. If you were to seek advice from a procrastination research expert, such as Timothy Pychyl, a professor of psychology at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada, he may say that you need to have a better way to use the to-do list.

When we live in a culture where the minority use to-do lists and people spend a lot of time in the “procrastination field” -- we’re preparing ourselves to work, we’re getting all set to take it on, but we never actually start doing it -- I say from practical experience, we need to cut our list in half.

The expert Pychyl would say you need to do the following:

* Break it down. Work on the big, intimidating tasks.

* List specific actions and sub-goals. Don’t let the fact that the list gets longer put you off.

* Make a flow chart. The chart tells you when to start and when you’ll be finished. (I say dream on to that: he has obviously never dealt with any government offices.)

Maybe when you think you are getting nowhere with your to-do lists, you should sit down and order a Turkish coffee and künefe dessert. Both of these take time to prepare. With the break, hopefully, you’ll feel better and you may even decide that some of those tasks on the to-do list can just be crossed off altogether.