“不做事”清单如何助你提高效率

内容来源:https://lifehacker.com/how-a-to-dont-list-can-make-you-more-productive?utm_medium=RSS
内容总结:
【新型效率管理法:“不为清单”或成提升效能关键】
在日常工作中,人们习惯罗列“待办事项”,但最新效率管理理念提出,制定“不为清单”可能更为重要。该清单通过明确拒绝无关事务与摒弃不良习惯,帮助人们聚焦核心目标,从而提升工作效能。
“不为清单”主要分为两类:
第一类:戒除不良习惯
此类清单着眼于长期自我提升,需定期更新维护。建议每周一回顾完成情况,剔除已克服项,补充新问题。若难以识别不良习惯,可尝试每日复盘:记录当日工作得失与改进思路,通过数据积累发现行为模式。
典型示例包括:
- 避免作息紊乱,按时就寝起床
- 及时处理邮件不拖延
- 保证规律休息与午餐时间
- 拒绝工作积压至截止前
- 明确划分工作与休息界限
第二类:规避非必要任务
在协作场景中,需培养“合理拒绝”的能力。通过书面记录划清职责边界,当被委托非本职任务时,可礼貌回应:“感谢信任,但我当前工作已满负荷,待完成分内事务后再与您沟通”。
常见规避项有:
- 不包揽团队合作中的他人职责
- 停止追讨无效沟通
- 精简低回复概率的邮件处理
- 避免越级安排他人工作
- 新增任务前先完成现有事项
此外,个人也可通过ABC分类法或艾森豪威尔矩阵梳理任务,将“非紧急非重要”事项直接列入清单。在崇尚忙碌的现代社会中,主动舍弃非必要任务虽是挑战,却是保持专注与效率的重要法则。
专家提示,将两份清单置于电脑旁或手机便签中随时查阅,让“有所不为”成为高效完成“必为之事”的导航仪。
中文翻译:
你肯定对任务清单不陌生,但或许你真正需要的是"止步清单"。与其纠结必须完成的事项,不如审视那些为实现更大目标不必做甚至不该做的事。这看似浪费时间实则不然:清晰辨别不值得投入精力的事务,能让你轻松划分优先级,专注于真正重要的事情,从而提升工作效率与成果。以下两种止步清单可供参考。
第一类:不良习惯清单
首先应列出需要戒除的不良习惯。这类清单关乎目标设定,更适合作为人生整体提升计划,而非针对特定目标(后者更适合下文将介绍的第二类止步清单)。有些阻碍你前进的习惯显而易见,有些则不易察觉,但当你开始记录时,更多问题便会浮现。
例如:
• 保持规律作息,不贪睡也不赖床
• 避免拖延邮件回复
• 坚持工间休息与午餐时间
• 拒绝把所有工作积压到截止前或下班前
• 明确工作界限,不昼夜连轴转
制作清单时你会发现自己面临的症结。建议每周固定时间(比如周一早晨)检视更新:总结上周戒除成效,删除已克服的陋习,补充新发现的问题。书面记录虽简单,却能为你提供攻克恶习的具体行动指南。
若难以识别阻碍你的普遍陋习,则需要数据支撑。仅靠每周零散记录可能不够,此时可尝试每日复盘:记录当日得失与改进方案。经过数日或数周数据积累,行为模式自会显现,届时便可针对性调整。
第二类:无谓任务清单
多数效率方法聚焦于个人在职场或团队中的职责,但高明的方法会为任务委派留出空间。学会拒绝超出能力范围或不属于分内的工作,是值得培养的特殊才能。维护"不作为任务清单"便是有效手段。
建议列出如下内容以确立并坚守界限:
• 不包揽团队项目中他人职责
• 不纠缠拒绝沟通的对象
• 不浪费时间在石沉大海的邮件上
• 不越俎代庖安排他人工作
• 未完成现有任务前不承接新需求
书面记录划清界限的事项有助于坚守原则。当有人提出清单上的请求时,你可以从容回应:"感谢您的信任,但目前我的日程已满档。待完成必要工作后我会及时告知您。"
清单制成后务必物尽其用。将其置于电脑旁或手机备忘录等显眼处,让"有所不为"的清单指引你高效处理待办事项。
这类清单还有另一重价值:除了可委派或回避的集体任务,工作或个人目标中也存在可直接忽略的事项。这就需要通过优先级排序来甄别——可用ABC分类法或更客观的艾森豪威尔矩阵。最终你会识别出那些既不紧急也不重要的任务,它们正是你的"止步事项"。在崇尚忙碌的快节奏社会中,我们常忘记有些事本可不必做。尽管养成这个习惯不易,但将无谓任务清出日程能助你保持专注与高效。
英文来源:
You’ve heard of a to-do list, but what you might actually need is a to-don’t list. Instead of focusing on all the tasks you have to get done, it could be beneficial for you to look at everything you don’t need to or even shouldn’t do in service of your larger goal. It sounds like a waste of time, but it’s not: Seeing clearly what shouldn’t be taking up your attention is a simple way to prioritize your time and focus on what really matters, which will lead to enhanced productivity and output. There are two kinds of to-don’t lists to employ.
To-don’t 1: Bad habits
The first kind of to-don’t list you should make is one of bad habits you want to avoid. This is all about goal-setting and is more of a plan you should adopt for your life overall if you want to improve it generally, not a technique to employ when you have a specific goal in mind (which the second kind of to-don't list, below, is better suited to). The habits that hold you back can be obvious to you or you may not realize some of them, but once you get started writing them down, more will come.
Some suggestions are these:
Don’t sleep more or less than you’re supposed to, meaning you go to bed on time and don’t hit snooze in the morning.
Don’t put off answering emails.
Don’t skip breaks or lunch.
Don’t save all your work until right before it’s due or you need to leave work.
Don’t work all day and night without setting boundaries for when you’re off.
As you make your list, you’ll discover the trouble areas you’re facing. Set aside a time, say every Monday morning, to review and update your list, tracking the progress you made on not doing those things last week, removing any that you’ve overcome, and adding new trouble spots that you’ve run into. As simple as it seems, having it all written down gives you a roadmap and something concrete to focus on while you blast through the bad habits.
If you are struggling to identify the broad, bad habits that might be holding you back, you need data. Writing down a few ideas every week may not be enough. In that case, try conducting after-action reviews at the end of each day, jotting down what went well, what didn't go well, and how you'd like to retool your efforts going forward. It will take a few days or weeks of data collection, but you will start to see patterns emerging, and you can take action on them.
To-don’t 2: Tasks you don’t need to do
A lot of productivity methods focus on what you, specifically, need to contribute to your workplace, team, or various responsibilities, but some of the best ones also leave space for you to delegate tasks to others. Saying “no” to requests or new tasks that you don’t have the capacity for or there’s no reason for you to be the one to do is a special talent we should all cultivate a little better. One way to do that is to keep a list of the tasks you aren’t touching.
Consider making a list that includes things like the following so you can set clear boundaries and stick to them:
Don’t pick up other people’s responsibilities on a group project.
Don’t follow up with someone who is refusing to communicate.
Don’t waste time on emails unlikely to get a response.
Don’t schedule everyone’s work for them.
Don’t agree to new elements of a project until existing tasks are handled.
Keeping a real record of the things you are drawing a line in the sand about will help you actually stick to that line. It also helps to have and idea of what you’ll say if and when someone asks you to do something on your to-don’t list. Thanks to the existence of the list, you can simply say, “I appreciate you thinking of me for this, but I don’t have space for that right now in my current schedule. I’ll let you know when I’m done with the things I need to do.”
Once you have your lists compiled, refer to them. Keep them somewhere you’ll see them, like next to your computer or in a note on your phone, and let the power of writing down what you’re not going to do guide you as you tackle the actual to-do list.
There is another element to this kind of to-don't list, however. Yes, there are tasks you can delegate or avoid in a group setting, but there are also tasks you yourself can just disregard, whether at work or in your personal goals. To figure out what they are, you need to prioritize everything you have to do (or think you have to do). There are a few simple ways to do this: You can make an ABC list or opt for the more objective Eisenhower matrix. At the end, you'll see some tasks are neither urgent nor important. Those become your to-don'ts. In a hustle-focused, fast-paced world, it can be hard to remember that sometimes, you just don't have to do something. Banishing unnecessary tasks from your schedule can help keep you focused and productive, even if it's a hard habit to start.