This document discusses how to create productive to-do lists. It recommends writing down all tasks, breaking large tasks into smaller ones, and assigning each a priority from A to F. It also explains the Eisenhower principle of categorizing tasks as important/urgent or important/not urgent. Productive to-do lists prioritize important and urgent tasks first followed by important but not urgent tasks. The document provides tips to overcome procrastination like setting goals, using scheduling tools, and learning to say no. It concludes by noting advantages like staying organized and disadvantages like to-do lists not working well for large numbers of tasks.

1. Basics of
productive To Do
lists

2. Hello!
I am Sam Asadi
We are here to see how we can have a productive
To Do list and action plan

3. TO DO lists

4. What is to do list?
They are list of task that are prioritized and list
everything you need to carry out.
They have the most important tasks on the top
and the least important ones on the bottom.
(not a surprise if your to do list is not
prioritized, most people don’t prioritize them)

5. Steps to a
productive To-Do
list

6. 1.
Write down all of your
tasks

7. • Write down every task you have
• Break down the large tasks to small ones
-If a task take more than 2 hour is large and
you better break it into small tasks
• You can have different lists for you personal,
work, study etc. tasks

8. 2.
Define their priority

9. • You can use A-F technique in which A is very
important and F is not important at all.
• Order them based on their priority
• Review them again and make any necessary
change (for example if you have too many tasks
with high priority change them based on which
are more important)

10. Eisenhower
principle

11. “I have two kinds of problems: the
urgent and the important. The urgent
are not important, and the important
are never urgent

12. The difference between important and urgent
Important
Activities that have an
outcome that leads to us
achieving our goals, whether
these are professional or
personal
Urgent
activities that demand
immediate attention, and are
usually associated with
achieving someone else's goals.
They are often the ones we
concentrate on and they
demand attention because the
consequences of not dealing
with them are immediate

13. Based on the paper you have there are 4 types of
tasks
1. Important and Urgent
2. Important but not Urgent
3. Urgent but not Important
4. Not Important and not Urgent

14. Important and Urgent

15. Why is there a paradox?
These kind of tasks are the important ones that
you either:
left them until the very last moment and now they
are urgent (procrastination)
Or:
You couldn’t foreseen them

16. Non of us are future tellers but we can avoid
procrastination

17. “procrastination occurs when
there’s a temporal gap between
intended behavior and enacted
behavior
-Professor Clarry Lay

18. The signs of Procrastinating
• Filling the day with low priority tasks
• Waiting for the right time and the right mood
• Sitting down to do the important task and
immediately leave to make a coffee
• Leaving an important task on your To-Do list for
far too long even though you know its important
• Reading emails multiple times while you have
no clear understanding what should you do with
them

19. • Saying yes to every single un-important tasks
other asks you to fill the day while you have your
own important tasks on your To-Do list
• GENERALY: MAKING EXCUSE MEANS
PROCASTRATION

20. Reasons behind becoming a procrastinator
• Unpleasant task or job
• Disorganization
• Feeling overwhelmed with the task

21. Techniques to
overcome
procrastination

22. Eat an
Elephant beetle
One everyday morning

23. Other techniques:
• Set goals both for your personal life and work
life (both long term and short term) we will talk
about how to set goals later!
• Use Eisenhower principle!
• Use Prioritize To-Do lists!
• Master scheduling and planning skill
• Use action plans!
• Count your cost of work and be honest with your
self

24. Important BUT not
Urgent

25. • These are the tasks that help you achieve your
goals, both personal and professional
• They are THE one tasks that make you do the
important work.
• Dedicate plenty of your time to do these sort of
tasks
• Leave some time for unforeseen tasks
• Don’t leave them until they become urgent as
well

26. Urgent BUT not
Important

27. • These are the tasks that keep you from
achieving your goals
• Try to either reschedule them or delegate them
• You can schedule regular meetings with those
who interrupt you often
• You might want to learn to say NO to the task
and YES to the person

28. Not Urgent not
Important

29. • Ultimate distractions
• Try to cancel or delete them if possible
• These tasks are normally one of those that
others need you to do
• If you define your work boundaries and let
everyone know them, you probably will have a
shorter list

30. Advantages and
Disadvantages of To-Do
lists

31. Advantages
• You wont forget your tasks
which will lead others to
rely on you
• You tackel the important
jobs first
• You wont get stressed
because of large amount of
jobs left to do
Disadvantages
• To-Do lists are only good
when there are not too many
tasks
• For the situations that there
are huge amount of tasks
you should use action plans
and action programs

32. Thanks!
Any questions?
You can find me at @sam-asadi and @SamyAsady