PDT Part 2: On PDT’s i.e. Prioritized Daily Tasklists

This week’s learning draws inspiration from ‘The Ten Natural Laws to Successful Time and Life Management’ by Hyrum W Smith.

Smith tells us a poignant story..

Jake, one of Hyrum’s clients had come to meet him. Jake shared with him how he had gone back home after a workshop from Hyrum two years ago and actually, for the first time, thought about his governing values.

He realized ‘Family and the well being of my son’ was a value but yet, it never found it’s way to his daily ‘To-Do’ list.

So, from that moment on, Jake began ensuring he had ‘1-on-1’ time with his son. Over the next few months, Jake and his son spent lots of time playing baseball together, watching movies, taking walks in the park etc.
A year later, his son was diagnosed with cancer and he lost his fight to the deadly illness within two months.

Both Jake and Hyrum, at this point, had tears in their eyes. Then, Jake said simply – ‘ Hyrum, all I can say is that if it wasn’t for you, I might have drowned myself in regret. But, atleast now, I have the satisfaction that I did all I could.. And that made all the difference in the world’

We often associate ‘getting organized’ to just being more efficient, when it is actually a lot more than that. When done right, it is a way of life that is a path to happiness..

Hyrum’s powerful method of thinking of PDT’s or Prioritized Daily Task Lists involves us considering the pyramid above.. And planning with our values in mind. For example – if ‘Growth’ is a key value, then an example long term task could be to read 15 books in the year which could in turn mean 30 minutes of book reading every day, and so on. And, just to help you along, here is my learning from Hyrum on writing down my governing values.

Here’s to creating value based ‘prioritized daily task lists’ this week! :)