Has your working day become one long battle to wade through a to-do list?<\/p>\n
The multiple distractions of the modern workplace \u2013 digital overload, open offices and constant interruptions, to name a few \u2013 can make it near impossible to achieve your goals, or even get anything done at all.<\/p>\n
But, what if you\u2019re going about things the wrong way? Perhaps you should be thinking more about what you shouldn\u2019t be doing instead.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s one of the strategies employed by Canadian entrepreneur and investor Andrew Wilkinson, who has come up with a list of \u201canti-goals\u201d.<\/p>\n
Topsy-turvy thinking<\/p>\n
Wilkinson noticed his day (and that of his business partner) was filled with things he didn\u2019t want to do. He was feeling stretched, doing business with people he didn\u2019t like, with a schedule dictated by others, he wrote recently on Medium.<\/p>\n
He wanted to figure out how to improve his day and make it more enjoyable. So, he followed the lead of Charlie Munger, right-hand man of famed investor Warren Buffet, and a proponent of \u2018inversion\u2019 \u2013 a strategy that looks at problems in reverse, focusing on minimising the negatives instead of maximising the positives.<\/p>\n
To put it in practice, Wilkinson came up with his worst possible workday: one filled with long meetings at the office, a packed schedule dealing with people he didn\u2019t like or trust. Then he came up with his list of \u2018anti-goals,\u2019 which includes no morning meetings, no more than two hours of scheduled time per day and no dealings with people he doesn\u2019t like.<\/p>\n
These \u2018anti-goals\u2019 have made his life \u201cimmeasurably better\u201d he wrote in the blog.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think people always try to think about where they want to go. \u2018What will make me happy?\u2019 is such an open-ended question, and it\u2019s surprisingly much easier to figure out what makes you miserable,\u201d he wrote in an email to BBC Capital.<\/p>\n
What not to do<\/p>\n
Wilkinson and Munger aren\u2019t the only ones using anti-goals to help them cut out distractions and realise ambitions.<\/p>\n
Tim Ferriss, author, podcaster and investor believes in the power of a \u2018not-to-do\u2019 list. Why? \u201cThe reason is simple: What you don\u2019t do determines what you can do,\u201d he writes. On his not-to-do list? Don\u2019t let people ramble, don\u2019t agree to meetings with no clear agenda, and work shouldn\u2019t fill a void that should be filled elsewhere.<\/p>\n
Another fan? Angela Ceberano, founder of Flourish PR, a public relations firm in Melbourne, Australia. She uses the \u2018traffic light system\u2019 to list things to \u2018stop, start or continue\u2019 doing. Stopping unproductive activities is crucial for goal attainment as it allows a clearer direction, she says.<\/p>\n
Why it works<\/p>\n
Many productivity experts promote forward-looking thoughts and actions, so how can focusing on the negative work? By helping us reflect on and cut out activities that don\u2019t align with our broader goals, says Repa Patel, an Australia-based executive coach and director of leadership development firm Leading Mindfully.<\/p>\n
Anti-goals, says Maurice Schweitzer, a professor of operations, information and decisions at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, \u201cGive us a step-by-step process for thinking about things a little differently.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wilkinson\u2019s list is specific to him, says Schweitzer. They are a set of crisp, clear, guidelines that are broken down into actionable steps and, therefore, attainable. It\u2019s about prioritising that which is important.<\/p>\n
Anti-goals can give us a different perspective \u201cin a way that helps us identify an underlying issue,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
\u201cGoals narrow our focus and motivate us in a specific direction.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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