Sure, this might sound like common sense. Writing down lists and prioritizing what’s on them is pretty standard getting things done 101. It’s what most people do. So here’s a twist on one that I think helps my lists. It’s a Warren Buffet rule, so you can assume it’s quite handy. I’m going to paste the story it is attributed to below:
The Story of Mike Flint
Mike Flint was Buffett’s personal airplane pilot for 10 years. (Flint has also flown four US Presidents, so I think we can safely say he is good at his job.) According to Flint, he was talking about his career priorities with Buffett when his boss asked the pilot to go through a 3-step exercise.
Here’s how it works…
STEP 1: Buffett started by asking Flint to write down his top 25 career goals. So, Flint took some time and wrote them down. (Note: you could also complete this exercise with goals for a shorter timeline. For example, write down the top 25 things you want to accomplish this week.)
STEP 2: Then, Buffett asked Flint to review his list and circle his top 5 goals. Again, Flint took some time, made his way through the list, and eventually decided on his 5 most important goals.
Note: If you’re following along at home, pause right now and do these first two steps before moving on to Step 3.
STEP 3: At this point, Flint had two lists. The 5 items he had circled were List A and the 20 items he had not circled were List B.
Flint confirmed that he would start working on his top 5 goals right away. And that’s when Buffett asked him about the second list, “And what about the ones you didn’t circle?”
Flint replied, “Well, the top 5 are my primary focus, but the other 20 come in a close second. They are still important so I’ll work on those intermittently as I see fit. They are not as urgent, but I still plan to give them a dedicated effort.”
To which Buffett replied, “No. You’ve got it wrong, Mike. Everything you didn’t circle just became your Avoid-At-All-Cost list. No matter what, these things get no attention from you until you’ve succeeded with your top 5.”
The simplicity behind this is what drives it. Lots of people have lots of different ambitions, and are driven to succeed at them. The power of simplicity and minimalism comes from focus and elimination of extra work. It’s easy to spend time on things you think are going to help, while avoiding the really essential work that needs to get done. It’s easy to spend time on things you enjoy doing, even when those are the especially dangerous time traps. What isn’t easy is what sounds the most simple; by constantly eliminating extra tasks, while focusing on the ones that matter, you will get the most done.