Action Programs Video

Many of us use To-Do Lists to manage our tasks and projects. But when we have a lot on our plate, these can quickly turn into an overwhelming jumble of unresolved tasks, future goals, and daily reminders.

This is why, often, it's more effective to use an Action Program instead. These bring together short-term tasks with medium- and long-term goals and ideas. This gives you a well-organized approach for managing all of them together.

As such, Action Programs help you plan and prioritize many projects, without losing control, or forgetting any of your commitments.

To create your Action Program, make a list of all the things in your life that need resolution. Include personal goals, to-dos, projects, and reminders. Make sure you identify everything you need to do, whether urgent or not.

Your next step is to look carefully at each item you have identified. Do you really want to take action on this? If not, take it off your list.

You're now going to organize and prioritize   your list to create what's called a Project Catalog. To do this, group together all of the items that belong in larger projects. For example, repainting the office, installing blinds, and sourcing a water cooler could go into a "New Office" project.

Once you've created your Project Catalog, identify any projects or tasks that you've asked other people to do. Move these to a new list called the Delegated Actions list.

Finally, work through your high priority projects. Move the logical small actions for the ones you want to progress, onto a Next Action list.

This is now effectively a new form of your old To-Do List   . It's just that only specific short actions are outlined here, while the major projects they belong to are stored in your Project Catalog.

As you use your Action Program, you need to make sure you review and update it regularly. Delete or archive things you've completed, and move tasks from your Project Catalog to the Next Action and Delegated Actions lists when appropriate. And, add any new tasks and projects in the relevant section as they come up.

An Action Program will help you manage and progress many projects simultaneously.

Learn more about how to set one up in the article   that accompanies this video.