To do lists are one tool many people use to manage the things that they need to do. Another recent tool is the not to do list.

Which ever tool you use ... at the end of the week do you have problems identifying what you have accomplished?

Ok so you rightly claim a set of activities produces an outcome, and yes I'll concede that, however over a week you may perform untold activities and yet not produce an outcome.

Ever had one of those weeks, flat out every day but you never got much done? We get so carried away by all those activities (planned and unplanned) and a week passes by with absolutely no outcomes.

In working with a client this week this problem was only too well highlighted, with a 60 hour week and nothing actually completed on a marketing plan or 3 other key management outcomes required to be completed.

The question my client needed to ask is ... What do I need to accomplish this week?

It could be one or more outcomes but the deal is to know ... what results do you want to produce this week? At the end of the week it is time to do a quick analysis of where you are and design what outcomes for next week are going to be.