Model for what now? Geez I need to hire a title writer.

Basically, I generally suffer for aimlessness, and by suffer I mean suffer. So, I’m developing a robust framework for tasks and projects.

To my current model, the world is projects. A project might be learning the banjo, maintaining a website, or getting a job.

Projects break down into tasks. Tasks are bite-sized things to do. Your list of tasks is simply your everyday “to-do” list. Projects that don’t need to be worked on right now might not need to broken down into tasks yet (in a Getting Things Done (“GTD”) system, they might even sit in the “Someday/Maybe” basket). But for the projects you are currently working on, decide on the next steps you need to take. These become tasks, to be added to your to-do list.

Because every task fits into a project, and every project has a reason to exist (you didn’t write down a project just for the hell of it, did you?), you can be sure that every task you do has a purpose. As long as you stick to your task list, you don’t have to worry about wasting time.

Now, some tasks don’t exactly fall neatly into projects. There’s a few general things, like sleep, but often we don’t need that in a to-do list. How many times have you gotten to the morning and exclaimed, “Oh bugger, I forgot to sleep!” (Yes, it’s more than once in your life, but not as often as when you got to the morning and exclaimed “Oh bugger, I forgot to write that review!”)

Then there’s planning. When you think about the future, you might be planning, but you might also be daydreaming. Think about it. To a certain extent, it is worthwhile to daydream. It’s good for relaxation and creativity, among other things. But too much daydreaming is just silly. You might want to put “planning” down on your list of tasks. Then if you want to schedule your time, you can set aside some for planning. It takes discipline, but it is possible to hold yourself to working out the path to your goals, rather than wandering off to ponder marrying supermodels and making a speech to your high school assembly four years ago.

Focus on results. How do you get results? Complete the tasks that have meaning. The model described here is far from a comprehensive or robust guide, but I hope it helps you find your own personal system for making meaningful progress in your life.

What’s your model? Comment below.