How to Go From Busy to Accomplished

How Completion-Centric Planning to refocuses you on completion of projects as the central organizing principle.

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If you are productive without having an intense desire for completion, you end up just being busy.

We all know the feeling.

You work all day off of your to-do list. Everything is organized. Everything is scheduled. Yet, still, months pass with no important projects getting accomplished.

Scott Young presents a simple system that will help you cultivate your own completion obsession.

It‘s called Completion-Centric Planning.

It works as follows:

#1 Construct a Project Page

Open a word processor (Google Docs, for example), and do the following:

1. Make an Active Projects List: list 6 – 12 of the most important projects in your life from all three relevant spheres - professional (e.g., school or work-related); personal (e.g., home, family, fitness); and extra (e.g., big projects like blogging, writing a book, starting a club)

2. Label Each Project With A Completion Criteria: next to each project type a concise description of what action must be completed for the project to be complete

3. Label the Bottom Half of the Page as a “Holding Pen”: this is where you can jot down new projects that enter your life while you’re working on the active projects. They can be stored here until you complete the current batch

Here‘s an example of Scott‘s list:

#2 Using the System: The Daily Check-In

Each morning, look at your project page and ask: “What’s the most progress I can make toward completing this list today?” Your biggest goal should be to complete projects. If you see a way to do it (even if it requires a big push, perhaps working late) go for it. If you can’t finish one, think of the single thing you could do that would get you closest to this goal over the next few days. Harbor an obsession for killing this list!

Your goal here is to make as much progress on your projects as possible despite the other responsibilities you have each day.

#3 Finishing: Rest and Reload

Don’t start new projects until you’ve finished the projects on your current project page.

If you come up with new project ideas before you complete the currently active projects, simply jot them down in your holding pen.

Work as hard as possible to finish your projects as fast as possible.

Once done, take a break. For at least a week.

Try to do a minimum of work during this time. Recharge.

Then, once you’re ready, build a new project page and start over again.

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