The 5-Bucket To-Do Mind Map
I start every day with a Todo Mind Map that lays out all my tasks by focus area so I know how each action ties to the bigger picture. This is the essence of Intentional Productivity and serves as the backbone for the Life Sprint framework .
That’s why I was so delighted when Mario Corrado, an Epiphany reader, replied to my article Slow Down to Speed Up (hint: it’s about reflection and improving our future trajectory), with his creative spin that takes the daily to-do mind map to new heights. Here’s what he shared with us:
I have always used Mindmaps since I read Tony Buzan book at the University, in the 90’s but I never used them so productively as after following your Youtube videos.
I want to share my method. Every morning, as I get to the office, I prepare a map with 5 nodes
1) MD [Must Do]: these are the critical things I absolutely need to do today. If unfinished, I will not go home. Calls, meetings, tasks with deadline today and not later than today
2) SD [Should Do]: these are important things I really should do no. The “hot topics” of the moment. But, if for any reason I cannot do them today the world will not end.
3) WT [Want To]: these are things that are important to me that I would like to progress on. They are important but not urgent task. Or things I like to do.
4) CD [Could Do]: not urgent, if I have spare time, they could be done. If I do not have time, no problem at all (e.g. tidy my desk, reply to the old not urgent email).
5) SH [Shit Happens (!)]: unplanned urgent things that land on my desk. The colleague who involve you in an urgent call. The requests from your boss that take priority over anything else.
This helps me to capture everything I must do and to prioritie them. If I have not completed the MD task, I would not start any SD task. SH can take priority etc.
As I complete tasks, I simply highlight them with a coloured highlighter.
This is what I mean:
I especially like the SH (Shit Happens!) node because things almost never go according to plan. New realizations and obligations pop up all the time. This is why I’m conservative with my task time estimates by rounding up the hour rather than down and build buffer time into my day in case things bleed over.
Furthermore, if we finish all our SD (Should Do) tasks, then we’re guaranteed to wake away from the day feeling accomplished. Having all this laid out in front of us really helps with visualizing how we want our day to unfold.
Now it’s your turn. How do you plan out your day? Do you use a mind map, or do you have another technique that keeps you focused and intentional? Share your thoughts, tweet or DM at me on Twitter / Instagram @shengsilver. Let’s continue the conversation on how we can all become masters of our own intentional productivity.
🤔 What I’m Mapping
What won’t change?
In an era where everything changes so quickly, especially with AI advancements, the question I often turn to is: what will not change? I found it fascinating then that Open AI CEO Sam Altman shared similar thoughts during his interview with Reid Hoffman:
“The things that people cared about 50,000 years ago is more likely to be the stuff people care about a 100 years from now than a 100 years ago.”
These include: interaction with other people, having fun because reward systems of our brain will be the same, the drive to create new things, competing for status, and forming families.
This also tells me that wisdom from the ancients will remain relevant to deal with all these timeless elements, some of which I’ve previously detailed in 7 Strategies for Uncertain Times .
Accelerate your growth with the 85% Rule.
During my preparation for MMN’s 2 Week Sprint Masterclass, I came across the 85% Rule for Optimal Learning from Andrew Huberman’s talk on the science of goal setting . According to a study, the 85% Rule suggests that for optimal growth, we should set our goals in a way that we fail ~15% of the time. If the failure rate is much higher, say 40%, then the task is too hard and may hinder progress (not to mention mindset).
I use this concept to stretch myself during Sprints where I set weekly and daily tasks just beyond my normal time estimate. For example, if everything in my Daily Todo Map takes 10 hours and my typical productivity threshold is 8 hours, then I feel the pressure to finish more in a shorter amount of time. At the end of 14 days of doing this, I probably won’t hit all my marks (it’s a stretch for a reason!), but I’ll have accomplished a lot more than if I stayed within my comfort zone.
More productivity ≠ more free time.
Speaking of things that won’t change with AI, Bill Gates wrote a piece about how AI will revolutionize everything . There’s one passage that stuck out to me:
“When productivity goes up, society benefits because people are freed up to do other things, at work and at home…the demand for people who help other people will never go away. The rise of AI will free people up to do things that software never will—teaching, caring for patients, and supporting the elderly, for example.”
This seems to be the promise of technology at large since the industrial age, but hasn’t materialized as I wrote in Two Day Work Weeks :
“The economist John Maynard Keynes in 1930 predicted his grandkids would work just 15 hours a week thanks to the rate of productivity growth and automation.
‘I would predict that the standard of life in progressive countries one hundred years hence will be between four and eight times as high as it is today. There would be nothing surprising in this even in the light of our present knowledge. It would not be foolish to contemplate the possibility of a far greater progress still.’
Based on his projections, by now we should all be enjoying 5-day weekends. We’ve in fact surpassed this. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) the average American worker productivity has increased 430% since 1950. Therefore, it should take either less than 10 hours per week to afford the same standard of living as someone in 1950 or our standard of living should be 4x higher.”
This obviously isn’t the case today. Why does Gates think it will change this time? Will AI simply make us more productive so that we will continue to produce and consume more ?
Food for thought.
Make the most of your mind maps
Thanks for reading this article. If you found it useful, you can get a new mind map in your inbox every week. Epiphany is your dose of structured thinking and ordered chaos.
