The Practical Power of Lists
A Book to help you unlock the practical power of lists in life, love, and work
Below is the tl;dr summary of the principles shared in the book.
My mission is to help motivated individuals accomplish their goals. If the summary is enough to help you, read no further! And if you want to dig deeper, I hope you’ll buy a copy of the book and it will give you some tools to help you accomplish your goals. And if you purchase it and it doesn’t- feel free to reach out, and I’m happy to offer a refund!
How to create & use lists
Lists can be a powerful tool to help you stay organized and accomplish your goals, but they are not a silver bullet and they need to be used effectively. A list alone will not make you more organized, but if you create an effective list, it will be a tool to help you accomplish your goals.
Lists are a group of connected items captured consecutively, and you likely see lists everywhere around you.
Most lists will contain a group of items, relevant detail and context, and subitems with more information
Often lists will need more structure to be useful and you can use context columns, nested subitems, and dependencies to provide this structure.
It can be helpful to capture the list goal, audience, and duration of use with the list for reference by anyone using the list.
Other formatting can make the list more effective to use and consume such as bulleting, numbering, sorting, filtering, and grouping.
There are 3 types of lists: Reference, Action, Decision
Reference lists are lists of static information organized and formatted to make it easier to consume and navigate. The purpose of a reference list is to organize large and/or ongoing amounts of information to make it more digestible and referenceable.
Action lists are lists of steps to execute and the tracking of when they’re completed. The purpose of an action list is to plan and organize items that need to be actioned or completed toward a specific end.
Decision lists are any list that tracks information in order to provide you insights. The purpose of a decision list is to inform your decision-making by tracking items, behaviors, and other information.
When creating your list, start by capturing your items into a list and adding contextual details off the top of your head. Then apply the POWER principles to turn your list into a powerful tool.
Once your list is created and powered up, you can use it as a tool, reference, and way to drive insights according to your goal.
You can also reuse lists and create template lists if you will need to accomplish the same goal over and over, such as a grocery list or an event planning list.
How to POWER up your list
There are 5 POWER principles you can use to improve your lists including: Purposeful, Organized, Works well, Everything captured, Right tool
To make your list Purposeful, you should have one clear, defined goal for the list, and outline the type of audience for your list.
To make your list Organized, you create the structure, hierarchy, and format that are best for its purpose.
To make your list Work well for you and your team, consider its customization, application, and use by other people.
To make your list have Everything in, capture all the details, all items, and all relationships.
To use the Right tool for your list, select a tool that is accessible and optimally structured for your type of list and your goal.
To finish your list, review all POWER principles to see if you can make it a more powerful tool, and share your list with your relevant collaborators, stakeholders, and consumers.
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