Ditch Your To-Do List and Do This Instead | Sam Corcos | The Tim Ferriss Show

Sam Corcos is the CEO and Co-founder of Levels, an a16z-backed startup that shows you how food affects your health using continuous glucose monitors and other biosensors.

Tim Ferriss is one of Fast Company’s “Most Innovative Business People” and an early-stage tech investor/advisor in Uber, Facebook, Twitter, Shopify, Duolingo, Alibaba, and 50+ other companies. He is also the author of five #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestsellers: The 4-Hour Workweek, The 4-Hour Body, The 4-Hour Chef, Tools of Titans and Tribe of Mentors. The Observer and other media have named him “the Oprah of audio” due to the influence of his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, which has exceeded 900 million downloads and been selected for “Best of Apple Podcasts” three years running.

[angellight]

It's not just time. It's energy. Not all hours are equal because some hours you're very alert and some you're tired and get less done in that time slot.

[MTheory]

I can’t imagine living a life where everyday is scheduled and structured like this. Why this endless chase for being the most productive person in the world. I love you Tim. I’ve been around since you wrote 4 hour work week but after waking up one morning losing my vision in one eye the way you see the world changes (ha see what I did there) I’m still about 75% blind in one eye and it makes my day to day life very difficult but I’ve never been at more peace than I am now. I don’t care about politics, religion, sports, pop culture, television, and really society as a whole and it’s unbelievably liberating. Again, no disrespect towards Tim and his guests but people jump off the rat wheel. Being more busy, and having more money won’t make your life more fulfilling. Your time and peace are the only thing of true value. Please don’t wait for life to teach you this the hard lesson such as it did me. Slow down and enjoy the ride. The ride is short.

[Levi_Allen]

Love this approach. It is shocking how wrong I can be with ADHD about how long things will take

[tomcotter]

"The calendar is the to-do list."

That's a very interesting point. It makes me think of how, when I was in college, I never felt particularly stressed about getting all of my work done, even though I didn't have an elaborate time-management system in place. However, once I entered the workforce, I began to feel much more stressed about getting all of my work done, even though it's not a particularly large amount of work. I always chalked this difference up to the fact that the stakes are higher in the workplace than they are in the classroom. If I forget to do an assignment, I get an average grade. If I forget to do my work, I get fired.

Now, after listening to this, I think it was relatively easy to manage my school assignments because I simply followed the syllabus for each class--the calendar was the to-do list. The syllabus lists every assignment for the class and when each is due, and I had a pretty good sense of how long it would take me to read a chapter of the textbook or solve a problem set or write a paper. So I never needed a time-management system for school because I could just look at the syllabus, see when a task needed to be done by, estimate how long it would take, and block off some time to do it in my mind.

Great insight!

[mukeshdhakal]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation:

00:00 🗓️ Replace your long to-do list with scheduled calendar tasks.
00:28 🕒 Use your finite time wisely; your calendar is the real constraint.
01:38 🗓️ Aim for about 50% open space in your daily schedule.
02:44 📅 It's easier to pull tasks forward than deal with a cascading scheduling problem.
03:11 🏭 Slack in your schedule is essential for effective operations.
04:32 🚫 Skip the to-do list and schedule tasks directly in your calendar.
05:15 📧 Avoid using your email as a to-do list; schedule email tasks.
06:36 📅 Use your calendar to manage time-sensitive tasks and reduce stress.

Made with HARPA AI

[wagenna]

I have borderline personality disorder and simply using my calender as my to do list has decreased my anxiety levels so much. I have been doing this for half a year now and it is incredibly helpful and made me become way more productive while also dropping fewer balls. Great interview!

[yellowsun]

Absolutely, the idea of "The calendar is the to-do list" is more effective for those with static schedules. For those involved in a dynamic environment with frequent changes, impromptu calls, and shifting priorities, to-do apps with integrated calendars are invaluable. They offer the flexibility to adjust tasks based on the ever-changing nature of meetings, ensuring tasks are not overshadowed by unpredictable schedules.

[SteveCarby-ii]

This approach encourages the approach of being in motion... rather than taking action. Following what he describes may cause users to spend more time planning than actually getting the task done. I use a similar approach but not to the degree of putting everything in my calendar. MS Quick Steps is your friend. "Triage" your inbox and only perform the following actions. 1. Do it now (reply now) 2. Do later (Urgent) 3. Do later 4.Archive/Delete

This quickly clears your triage inbox allowing you the time to then work on the Urgent (do it later) and other (do it later). If deem necessary you can schedule time in calendar with specific emails.

The other thing we should consider (depending on job role) is our work day schedule should not be determined by what and how many emails we get. I usually start the day with initiatives I have and actions I need to take before looking at what others need from me.

Each to their own...

[LewisCapaldi-]

I recently came into some inheritance money, and I'm at a bit of a crossroads. Any advice on how to best invest it?

[rebecademiguel]

For years I’ve complained that to do lists don’t take time into account and are therefore very misleading if used to measure actual workload. This approach solves the issue in an understandable, easy to implement manner. All you need is consistency and, as it’s the case with habit forming, a few weeks of conscious changes. I’m doing it!

[teachingtotechcareer]

I’ve been working under this method for about 6 months and there really is no substitute for the clarity it provides. I wish I didn’t have to use a 3 tool stack to do it but at least it works!! Great insights here

[kymber.r]

I love what he said about blocking off slack time to allow for (inevitable) disruptors. And instead of having to shift the "I didn't finish" tasks forward all the time, instead pull the future tasks to today when in a good workflow. I'll try it this way. Thank you!

[kdevine]

What I struggle most with when I look at the things i have to do is that it is more of a differential calculus equation than a succinct task list where many things are interrelated and have varying outcomes depending on previous hard to define steps. There is no clear path to achieving any of them and spending time understanding which levers move the most is where most of my time goes. This also results in analysis paralysis.

[carolinaandrade]

I absolutely love this. The calendar as a to-do list is not new for me, however marking an email as done and putting it in the calendar is going to be a challenge. I organize my e-mails in folders and sub-folders, and all undone tasks stay in the inbox until solved. Always worked for me but it can be overwhelming for some people. I also keep an overall status list, updating as necessary - Daily or weekly - depends on the deadlines. Usually is written in a email, updated and sent to the team or just for myself. The important message is: find what works for you and keep improving it so you can spend time in what really matter.

[RobertPlank]

I really liked the advice on finding a balance between things I have planned and surprises that pop up. Setting aside certain times for checking emails, instead of just going through them as they come, was a smart tip. I never thought about adding some extra time in my plan for things I didn't expect, but now I see how helpful that can be. Thanks for sharing these straightforward steps-- they've inspired me to change the way I organize my day!

[michelmc]

I have long supported and defended the use of "buffer" space in the calendar. There will 'always' be extra time needed for already scheduled time blocks 'or' a place to add unexpected meetings or obligations. This was an excellent conversation. I plan to watch/listen again.

[tomdanielsofficial]

I wonder what you'd be doing if you can't work on the things you scheduled for today. Do you manually have to move and reschedule everything? How do you make sure you don't forget stuff? In a todo list these tasks would be marked as overdue, but not so in a calendar

[bishopbanner]

The fact that managers allow people to send tasks to their employees is the problem. Control the flow of information in and out of your department like a North Korean dictator. Destroy anyone publicly that tries to usurp your power by telling your employee to do something (or worse, disguises it as a favor) that isn't on the weekly plan you give your staff Monday morning. Never tell your staff that "the CEO or customer is angry because we are behind." They work for you and do not need to be concerned with pleasing anyone but you. Lastly, don't betray your staff's trust. If you are going to be the protector of your tribe, step out in front and block them from the stones of invading humanoids. There isn't a single business on the planet that can't plan for a week of work and just get it done because the behavior you reward is the behavior you receive. People are rewarding looking busy over getting it done.

[NewenF]

As many others have mentioned, the "your calendar is your to-do list" is a nice mentality. But it falls apart if you're not good at estimating how long something will take.

[alxj]

Tim you inspired me long ago to measure my time in great detail, 24/7 - and this taught me how long stuff takes. This method menthioned here doesn't work for me - tasks need setup time, and need rescheduling - and have interconnections if involving many projects. This method only works for certain sized tasks - if tasks are bigger, and have dependencies, or involve other teams, it's hard to find the 'linked' task in the Calendar method. But agree a linear to-do list doens't work also - work must be scheduled