Thanks once again Merlin for a great set of posts. I especially liked the idea of using verbs to help you think about getting a particular item done on your to do list. I mostly do this, but until I looked at today’s list did I realize I only do it haphazardly.

Another couple of things that I like to do that readers might find useful: I try to estimate the amount of time a particular task will take. This helps me prioritize at the beginning of each day the tasks before me. And it helps me be a little bit more reasonable in terms of what I try ot accomplish.

That said, at the end of each day, I like to figure out (percentage-wise) how much I actually got done. (I jot the number down in my Moleskine pocket calendar along the top of the week.) While this might be a little um… anal for most of us, my feeling is that if I don’t get at least 80% of my tasks done, I’m not making progress toward my goals. That said, I also understand there are going to be days when my productivity is low, interruptions are unavoidable and I’m just not going to make 80%. So, I don’t beat myself up unless I have a string of those without a reason.

Any thoughts?