Cap Your To-Do List at Three Things Every Day

When you get clear on what matters, you weed out what doesn’t

Michael Thompson
Forge
Published in
3 min readOct 16, 2019

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Photo: Hero Images / Getty

TTell me if this sounds familiar: You wake up thinking about all the things you have to do. But after working like mad all day, you manage to complete only half the tasks on your list. You spend the rest of the evening feeling annoyed.

There’s a way to remedy this common feeling of overwhelm: Cap your to-do list at three things every day.

The advice comes from Dan Sullivan, founder of Strategic Coach. Unsurprisingly, he gets a lot of pushback whenever he suggests it — high-performing entrepreneurs tell him that three tasks a day just isn’t enough to be successful.

But after trying it myself, I suggest giving it a shot. If you’re like me, it may even help you to achieve your biggest goals.

Capping your daily to-do list at three items forces you to ask yourself: What actually matters most today? What truly moves your needle? Is posting multiple times a day on social media really taking your business to the next level? Or would spending time honing your craft be a better long-term investment? When you get clear on what matters, you naturally weed out what doesn’t.

It’s also simply good for your mental well-being. If each day you complete all…

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Michael Thompson
Michael Thompson

Written by Michael Thompson

Co-creator of two cool kids • Storytelling Coach •.Fast Co., Insider, Forbes • Free storytelling guide here: https://bit.ly/3h1KZeT