Special offer

Everybody has a To Do List - Do You Have a TO NOT DO List?

By
Real Estate Agent with Harvest Realty

No doubt a To Do list is a valuable part of anybody's personal productivity.  And yes, a to do list can be quite long if you include some of those long range plans and dreams.  But maybe just as important to a person's productivity is a To Not Do list.  Experience can be a great teacher if we don't keep making the same mistakes.

A To Not Do list can be a running list of lessons learned and mistakes to not make.  And the great part of this is that it doesn't need to be all our own mistakes.  We can learn from the mistakes of others as well as our own.  (It sounds much less painful to learn from the mistakes of others than our own.)  People often outline mistakes that they'd rather not repeat right in their Active Rain posts.

A To Not Do list should be customized for our own individual circumstances.  A non-smoker doesn't need to add Do Not Smoke to his To Not Do list, but might need to add something about other areas of challenge, for instance, health, fitness, personal productivity or business success.

 

One thing that home buyers should not do, is to ignore the opportunity in the current real estate market with unbelievably low interest rates and a wide variety of homes available. For information about Carmel Indiana Real Estate visit my website or contact me on my direct number 317-709-2537

Rob D. Shepherd
RETIRED - Florence, OR
RETIRED

I won't allow buyers to take pictures inside occupied homes, that one cost me some money and heart ache that won't happen again.

Oct 09, 2010 02:57 AM
Meredith Welsh
RE/MAX Space Center- Clear Lake - League City, TX

Very good point- if we don't learn from mistakes me make as well as others we are not growing or moving forward!

Oct 09, 2010 02:57 AM
Margaret Rome Baltimore 410-530-2400
HomeRome Realty 410-530-2400 - Pikesville, MD
Sell Your Home With Margaret Rome

Not a to do list, not a not to do list but a  'To Done' List

Margaret

Oct 09, 2010 02:59 AM
Karen Crowson
Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage - Rancho Bernardo, CA
Your Agent for Change

Dan, the To Do's are sometimes hard to remember.  The Not To Do's are usually hard to forget ;)

Oct 09, 2010 04:02 AM
Song San
Coldwell Banker Dynasty - Rosemead, CA
Broker, MBA

 Good point. I have a big spreadsheet that I update multiple times a day with new notes, issues & workaround, links, etc. that I would reorganize every month. Been doing it the last 8 years and it really helped me learn faster and don't need to remember most information while being able to quickly search for anything.

Oct 09, 2010 04:15 AM
Dan Rosenberger
Harvest Realty - Westfield, IN

Rob - Interesting.  I am sure there is a story behind that one.

Merdith - It is so easy to repeat mistakes.  That's why a to NOT do list could help us to not repeat them.

Margaret - That is an interesting twist - A To Done List.  That could be a way to look back on progress made.  But it is not replacing the To Do and the To Not Do lists.

Karen - I agree on the first part.  On the second part, it is easy to repeat mistakes unless we make a determined effort to identify them.

Oct 09, 2010 04:17 AM
Dan Rosenberger
Harvest Realty - Westfield, IN

Song San - Wow. I really like spreadsheets. It sounds like you use them in a very interesting way.

Oct 09, 2010 05:29 AM
Shar Sitter
Rooms With Style - Minneapolis, MN
Home Staging and Redesign Minneapolis/ St. Paul, M

A blog to make you think Dan. I am a big maker of "to do" lists. I probably should make a "Don't Do" list and would be a better person.

Oct 09, 2010 09:01 AM
Dan Rosenberger
Harvest Realty - Westfield, IN

Hi Shar - And sometimes the two lists are very relevant.  I might not get something done on my To Do list because I am busy doing something that should be on my Don't Do list.

Oct 09, 2010 09:41 AM
Scott Hayes
(512) 786-8300 - Austin, TX
Realty Austin, Broker Associate

Not to do list....hmmm, I think I like that idea Dan

Oct 10, 2010 05:42 PM
Dan Rosenberger
Harvest Realty - Westfield, IN

Hi Scott - Your posts make me think.  It sounds like I have made you think on one of mine.  Since we only have 24 hours in a day, the to not do list can help our productivity as much as or more than a to do list.

Oct 11, 2010 08:30 AM
Mario Gattavara
Coldwell Banker Lifestyle Properties - Oroville, CA
(Lake Oroville Area)

A to not do list... Nice!

I would say the to not do, were the have been moments.

Great learning experiences that make you a better person.

Live & learn right?

Good luck & success to you Dan!

Oct 12, 2010 05:53 AM
Stephen Sainte-Martin
Realty Direct Boston - Boston, MA

Dan:

This sets new boundaries in the world of get it done.  Let me think about this one, It could be a little disarming. But challenging commentary however, thanks for posting.

Stephen

Oct 14, 2010 09:44 AM
Dan Rosenberger
Harvest Realty - Westfield, IN

Mario - Live and learn is a good idea.  Sometimes we Live and Not Learn or Live and Repeat Mistakes.

Stephen - If in the middle of the month, we were to each plan one day to reflect on the prior month and plan the next one, we would be able to incorporate some of these lessons learned and our get it done process would improve.  As you think over this topic, be sure to share what you have concluded.

Oct 16, 2010 03:04 AM