Coaching practices for Not to Do List Examples
Describe almost anything you are working through and IX Coach finds the practices whose real-world fit is closest. For Not to Do List Examples, these are the strongest matches in the current practice library.
Does this sound like the set of challenges you might be facing?
- 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 to-do list has everything I could ever conceivably do crammed onto it, so there’s no honest line between someday-maybe and what I’m actually committing to today
- There’s never a point where I get to say I’m done
- 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
- My to-do list has swollen into a dumping ground for every someday-maybe idea I’ve ever had, so it’s less a plan than a wall of guilt
Practices that may help
- 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. - 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 - Separate "will-do" from "to-do" lists
Keep a master to-do list distinct from the closed daily "will-do" list that you actually commit to.
Do It Tomorrow, Made Practical - Work from a closed daily list
Write today’s task list before the day begins, then refuse to add new items to it.
Do It Tomorrow, Made Practical - 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 - Only put tasks on the board that you’ve explicitly decided to do
Your Kanban board is not a wish list — only tasks you have consciously committed to belong in To Do.
Personal Kanban, Made Practical - Offload cognitive load with a bedtime worry journal
Write tomorrow’s to-do list and any intrusive worries before bed — externalized thoughts stop competing for attention at sleep onset.
The Wind-Down Routine: Engineering Your Path to Sleep - 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 - Distinguish genuine deferral from disguised refusal
An item that has been on the someday list for two or more years is not deferred — it has been declined without being acknowledged.
The Someday List - Time-box tasks instead of scheduling by list
Assign each task a fixed time block on the calendar rather than a position on an open-ended to-do list.
Parkinson's Law, Made Practical
Related concerns
- The Not To Do List As A Caregiver
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 As A Parent
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 For My Teenager
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 When Overwhelmed
Keep a master to-do list distinct from the closed daily "will-do" list that you actually commit to.
Separate "will-do" from "to-do" lists
- The Not To Do List With Friends
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 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.
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