Dylan Axelrod

My Anti-To-Do List: (the things I want to avoid on a daily basis) 1. Do not complain about anything. If the thing is within your control, then go do something about it. If the thing is out of your control, then it's just a waste of energy to complain about it. 2. Do not allow negative people to steal your energy. Stop avoiding difficult conversations. Growth requires discomfort. Maintain a growth mindset in all of your relationships and embrace the need to remove toxicity from your life. 3. Do not allow more than 2 hours of inactivity. Get up and go for a walk. Do a few pushups or lunges. Move your body and feel the rush of new energy and creativity. 4. Do not "graze" on low-value tasks. Parkinson's Law says that work expands to fill the time allotted for its completion. When you don't set fixed windows for managing low-value tasks (like email), you end up "grazing" on them (spending all day doing them slowly and inefficiently). Create short, discrete windows for processing low importance tasks. 5. Do not become an ostrich. An ostrich will bury its head in the sand to avoid danger. A lot of humans behave the same way when they encounter new information that challenges their existing beliefs or views. They care more about being right than finding the truth. Embrace new information that forces you to change your mind. 6. Do not have your phone out when your kid is trying to play with you. When you are working, work hard. When you are playing, play hard. Strive to bring present, focused energy in all areas of life. Never let your phone come between you and your kid. Note to Self: Focus on this, as it's the one you struggle with the most! 7. Do not hit the snooze button. It's not about sleep, it's about stacking evidence that you are the captain of your ship. 8. Do not say yes to things under the assumption of having more time for them in the future. You won't have more time in the future. If you wouldn't want to do the thing tomorrow, don't say yes to doing it a month from now. 9. Do not take calls or video meetings without a clear purpose. Calls or video meetings without any clear agenda or purpose are where your joy and energy go to die. If it can be an email, it should be an email. Note to Self: Embrace in-person meetings without a clear purpose, as these end up being some of the most interesting discussions. 10. Do not check your phone within the first 15 minutes of waking up (or the last 15 minutes before going to bed). We have enough technology addiction in our lives. Create space—give yourself a few fixed windows of intentional tech avoidance to breathe. 11. Do not allow comparison, envy, or jealousy to enter your headspace. When you feel it creeping in, default to curiosity instead: Ask what that person is doing that you can learn from. 12. Do not fall victim to the algorithm vortex. The algorithm will encourage you to create content exclusively for its pleasure, but if you lose the soul in the work along the way, you'll never be able to stay in the game long enough to win. Create things you would want to consume and avoid checking metrics for 24 hours. 13. Do not text or check social media throughout the course of the day. Establish fixed windows when you will read and reply to messages. Put your phone on Do Not Disturb mode. Turn on Grayscale Mode to make the icons and notifications less appealing for the "just a quick check" during the course of the day. *** To create your Anti-To-Do list, sit down and write down the things you are struggling with personally and professionally. Use my list as a spark to get the ideas flowing, but make changes, additions, or subtractions as necessary. The list is intended to be dynamic, so don't worry too much about the starting point. It can be as few as 3-5 high-priority items. Just as you have your To-Do List in front of you during the course of the day, I would recommend having your Anti-To-Do List in front of you as well. As you avoid the daily actions on the list, check them off. There will be good days and bad days, that's just part of the game. Every day you achieve 100% compliance with your Anti-To-Do List, give yourself a moment to appreciate the win. Remember: Each day is an opportunity to stack new evidence in favor of the person you want to become.