Coaching practices for Avoid List Productivity
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Avoid List Productivity, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- I can’t go ten minutes without glancing at my inbox or replying to a message, and every time I do I lose my place in the real work
- I’ve got tasks scattered across three apps, a notebook, and sticky notes, and I spend more time tagging and reorganizing the system than doing anything in it
- I open my laptop and the inbox instantly hijacks my whole day
- I keep telling myself I’ll cut back on the things that drain me, but every single time the moment comes I cave and say yes again
- My list is just a flat wall of tasks that all look equally urgent, so I keep grabbing whatever’s easiest instead of whatever matters
Practices that may help
- Batch all reactive tasks into defined windows
Reply to email, messages, and minor requests only in scheduled windows — not continuously.
The Not-To-Do List - The Not-To-Do List
The not-to-do list is a set of behaviors, tasks, and commitments you commit to stopping or refusing — permanently. Tim Ferriss argues that elimination is more valuable than optimization because low-leverage activities consume time that no amount of efficiency can recover. The approach is largely practitioner advice backed by mechanistic reasoning about opportunity cost and attention. - Keep a simple, few-list system
Use the fewest lists possible — one inbox, a few context lists, and nothing elaborate.
Zen To Done (ZTD), Made Practical - Name one most-important task each morning
Each day, identify the single item from your Focus List that most needs to move forward today.
Warren Buffett’s Two-List Strategy - Write and commit to a standing not-to-do list
Turn elimination candidates into an explicit, reviewed list of permanent refusals.
The Not-To-Do List - The ABCDE prioritization method
Label every task A (must), B (should), C (nice), D (delegate), or E (eliminate) before starting.
Eat That Frog, Made Practical - Place an important-seeming but deferrable task at the top of your list
Put a compelling but non-urgent task first, so everything below it gets done in avoidance of it.
Structured Procrastination, Made Practical - Protect the list from same-day additions
Don’t add new items to today’s list when they arrive — log them for tomorrow’s planning instead.
The Ivy Lee Method, Made Practical - Treat items 6–25 as active avoidances, not a later list
Everything not in your top 5 must be actively avoided — it is your "do-not-do" list.
Warren Buffett’s Two-List Strategy - Align daily work with meaningful goals
Ground your MITs and projects in goals that genuinely matter to you, not just what is urgent.
Zen To Done (ZTD), Made Practical
Related concerns
- The Not To Do List At Work
The not-to-do list is a set of behaviors, tasks, and commitments you commit to stopping or refusing — permanently. Tim Ferriss argues that elimination is more valuable than optimization because low-leverage activities consume time that no amount of efficiency can recover. The approach is largely practitioner advice backed by mechanistic reasoning about opportunity cost and attention.
- The Not To Do List In A New Job
The not-to-do list is a set of behaviors, tasks, and commitments you commit to stopping or refusing — permanently. Tim Ferriss argues that elimination is more valuable than optimization because low-leverage activities consume time that no amount of efficiency can recover. The approach is largely practitioner advice backed by mechanistic reasoning about opportunity cost and attention.
- Closed List Productivity
Reply to email, messages, and minor requests only in scheduled windows — not continuously.
Batch all reactive tasks into defined windows
- The Not To Do List During A Big Change
The not-to-do list is a set of behaviors, tasks, and commitments you commit to stopping or refusing — permanently. Tim Ferriss argues that elimination is more valuable than optimization because low-leverage activities consume time that no amount of efficiency can recover. The approach is largely practitioner advice backed by mechanistic reasoning about opportunity cost and attention.
- The Not To Do List Under Stress
The not-to-do list is a set of behaviors, tasks, and commitments you commit to stopping or refusing — permanently. Tim Ferriss argues that elimination is more valuable than optimization because low-leverage activities consume time that no amount of efficiency can recover. The approach is largely practitioner advice backed by mechanistic reasoning about opportunity cost and attention.
- Buffett Not To Do List
The Buffett two-list strategy asks you to write down 25 career or life goals, circle the top 5, then treat everything else on the list as active avoidances — not "do later" items. The story is apocryphal and its precise origin is unverified, but the underlying principle — that near-priority goals steal attention from top priorities — is consistent with how cognitive resources and opportunity costs work.
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