Your to-do list is a Ferris Wheel

How to stay on top of lots of things

I’ve heard a lot of productivity analogies over the years, but one of my favorites comes from Anne Bogel, creator of the Modern Mrs. Darcy website, and the host of the podcast “What Should I Read Next?”

When I interviewed her for my book, The New Corner Office, she mentioned that she thought of her work life as everyone’s favorite fairground staple, the Ferris Wheel. She’d have a couple long term projects going, but she’d focus on only a limited number at a time. Those were the cars at the top of the Ferris Wheel. If she addressed each in turn, and then spun the wheel forward, she would eventually spend time on everything.

The virtue of brevity

This is a very wise image, for a number of reasons. I often advise people to limit their daily to-do lists. No one is going to get through a 50-item to-do list in a day. That’s just ridiculous. Aiming for 3-5 consequential activities around your various appointments is about all you can expect. There is no virtue in putting something on a to-do list, and then not doing it.

But of course, whenever I mention the virtue of brevity, someone will point out that, hello, I have more than 3-5 things going on at any given point. How can I expect my to-do list to be so limited?

The Ferris Wheel analogy answers this question. Of course you have more than 3-5 things going on. Everyone does! But you can’t put 50 cars on top of a Ferris Wheel at the same time. That wouldn’t be much of a ride. Instead, you focus on a few each day, and then spin the wheel and focus on different ones tomorrow. You accomplish those, then spin again and focus on different ones the next day too. You limit what you’re dealing with at any given time.

Trust the process

This makes sense, but what I like most about the Ferris Wheel analogy is that it is a wheel. For some projects, to a degree, we can always be working on them. For instance, I need to create daily podcast episodes. “Daily” is…frequent. Even so, it still makes sense to limit when we’re dealing with these constant needs. I tend to write all my scripts for the week on Monday, and I record them on Tuesday or Wednesday morning. Then I don’t really think about them again until the wheel spins and they come up again. I don’t need to worry that I should be working on them at some other time. Eventually it will be Monday again and I’ll get back to it.

So as you think about your responsibilities, think about how you might focus on a few, move the wheel forward, and then focus on others. You’ll probably feel less busy, and get more done.