Transforming ideas into actionable tasks. The secret recipe to make 100x more things in your life

We all have good ideas.

We all think of doing things.

We all take resolutions.

We are all happy to help.

We all want to learn things.

We all want thinks.

But we're all absorbed in the life vortex: kids, housekeeping, work, commuting, administrative things, TV, social media, Candy Crush, etc.

Result is that we skip things most of the things we think of. We don't renounce, abandon, refuse. We just skip things, we forget them.

We skip, we forget because we're disorganized. 

It's like a car without transmission and gearbox.

We have a motor (ideas), wheels (the capacity and envy to act) but a very poor transmission between these 2 things.

It's not a question of courage or strength, it's a question of organization and methodology.

My top advice to transform an idea into an action: Note it and make it actionable.

Note: You can note it on an idea paper or a mobile app, but don't trust your capacity to remember things. Note all ideas you have.

Actionable: What does make it actionable means? It means transform your idea into a simple task easy to do.

Examples: 

if your idea is "buy book X", nothing to do. It is already actionable, you just need to Amazon it. If the book is a rare one the action will be "find a bookstore selling it".

If it's "change my job", you need to transform it. It will be: check jobs on LinkedIn to refine what interest you or discuss it with X.

If it's "cook a boeuf bourguignon", you'll transform it into: find a good recipe on the web.

If it's "read more", it can be: read 15mins per day (you can put a recurring daily task if you use an app).

If it's register to Paris Marathon, it will be, think of it for a week (yes, doing nothing for a determined time is a task too).

Then when you do the action listed, determine a new task.

Always be precise and create small tasks. 

If your task is too vague or big, be sure your brain will not proceed. It's an unconscious process. We're just coded to skip pain.

Examples:

For changing job, step 2 is update LinkedIn profile (don't add + update resume + create a microsite, otherwise you'll skip it)

For the boeuf bourguignon, it's buy 2 carrots 1kg beef 4 potatoes at Safeway. (not just "buy ingredients", it's too vague and you'll postpone it...)

For the Marathon, step 2 is check the website and decide to purchase registration.

Review tasks every day and if you're not sure about a next actionable items, just postpone the task and think of it again in a week or a month. The goal is not to leave under pressure and be the dictator of your life.

Moreover an idea is sometimes just a temporary envy which naturally goes or, on the other way, something which needs maturation.

That's all. That's how I work and live. My todo rythm my life.