Have you ever heard of the concept of having a ‘To Not Do’ list? I have and I’ll be honest it is something that I have never used – or have I? And it is that ‘or have I?’ that is making me revisit this. So today I am asking the question The ‘To Not Do’ list – helpful tool or waste of time?
The To Not Do List
The basic idea is that you will make a list of all of the things that you are wanting to not do. I don’t really mean request or opportunities that you say no to. This is more about avoiding distractions and stopping procrastination. The idea is that if we have it written down, and that list is kept somewhere we will see it all the time, then we are one step closer to winning our war. This represents a concrete decision to NOT act in certain ways.
Some examples I have seen of the kind of things people put on the list would be:
- Do not go to bed after 11pm
- Do not open up my email account unless I have planned to
- Do not allow notifications to sound whilst I am in focussed work
- Do not snack
- Do not go to social media sites unless I have planned to
- etc
Is it a waste of time?
I have always thought so. I have always thought that writing taking time to write out a list like this is unneccesary. Far better to just commit to the things that you do want to do.
I am great believer of not including things in our system that cannot justify themselves and this would be an example of system bloat.
Or so I thought.
I have realised two things that have combined to make me think I should revisit this:
- This is something I have done, but the things I have written down are spread all over the place in various notes. So, in one note about sleep you will have not to drink caffeine after 2pm. A different note about health mentions not eating after dinner. Another about focus lists not having pop up notifications on my computer except from my calendar.
- All my desires to focus on the things I do want to do, doesn’t do enough to restrain my procrastination and tendancy to wander off into distraction.
But, is the ‘To Not Do List’ actually helpful?
Honestly, I am wondering if it might be – please comment on this and share your thoughts as I’d love to hear what others think.
Given that I have lists of things I am deciding to not do spread around, bringing it together to one place will be helpful. Also, having it close by and frequently seen is only going to increase my committment (and memory!) to not do these things.
But, I have a few caveats here.
Procrastination and distraction are not universal evils. When they get out of control, they become detrimental, but distraction can be a mental break and procrastination a mental rest. Both of these are needed.
Restraining human weakness with ‘law’ will never work. A To Not do list can basically become a device that is shooting for a target that is too big for it. It might help with self discipline but it will never be able to solve the root problem here. Only grace can do that.
I would warn you to be aware of your personality type and character. For some people, having a list will provide a new tyranny and set of failure standards in their lives. Having a list of things to not do will make it a much bigger problem for them if they do something on the list. The result therefore is not to improve self discipline but to introduce another rod for your back. This just leads to shame, guilt and in the extreme – self deprecation and self loathing.
So with those thoughts in mind, I put the question to you – The ‘To Not Do’ List – helpful tool or a waste of time? What do you think? Do you have this? Has it helped you? Has it not helped? Why?
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.
