The Stop-Doing List

We all have to-do lists, sure. Here in our office, we are to-do list ninjas. (we have GTD to blame or thank accordingly). We capture everything; nothing slips through our system. But for all the greatness of this method there is one critical piece missing: The Stop-Doing List.

I first read about this notion in the classic book Good to Great by Jim Collins. What a revelation! Stop-doing.

In the book, Collins explains that in order to do the thing that will make you great, you must stop doing anything that will only make you good (after all, good is the enemy of great). With sudden clarity I was able to look at my list objectively and actively stop-doing. The relief from this simple action was surprising.

To be clear, "stop-doing" is different from forgetting. Forgetting is uncontrolled and accidental, leaving feelings of guilt or disappointment. For example:

You have a great idea => you don't have a plan or can't act => you forget about it => :-(

"Stop-doing" is very much intentional:

You have a great idea => you don't have a plan or can't act => you file it under stop-doing => :-)

In this manner, you make a very active choice to not do things that hold you back. Imagine all the free time you will have to focus on greatness.

Comments

[Matthew Cornell]

Thanks for the great reminder, Liza. I have two "won't do" lists: Stop Doing (!), and Not Doing (AKA Someday/Maybe)... ?

[Liza Cunningham]

Yes, thanks for differentiating, Stop-doing is a different action from Not-Doing (aka the Someday/Maybe list).

Someday/Maybe meaning you want to come back to it. Stop-doing meaning, nope, no way, you have no intention of doing it. Or the root of the problem disappeared and therefor you no longer need to take action. I have reflected on this issue lately and tried to note when problems resolve themselves without my help.

I think it was Tim Ferriss who said, in the 4-Hour Work Week, if you don't immediately rush to solve every problem that comes across your desk, many problems will resolve themselves entirely on their own. Even if you just let requests sit for 2-3 hours you might be surprised how many issues resolve themselves. (One of the compelling productivity reason to check email only a couple times a day). As a result items that would have take significant time can go straight to the Stop-Doing list.