The Annoying-Fulfilling, Long-Short Brand New To-Do List
More productivity bullshit from Julian!
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SHOWS:
Suggested Friends @ Near Me Theater. Sat June 15th. 8:30pm.
Summertime Stand Up @ The Hollywood Comedy. Fri June 21st. 7:30pm.
Furthur @ Manda’s Studio. Fri June 21st. 8pm. (Free! Echo Park!)
Fair Trade @ Durty Nelly’s OC. Sat June 22nd. 7pm. (free!)
IRL Show @ The Crow. Fri June 28. 8pm. This show is open to middle and high schoolers, so if you know a Westside youth or want to watch me flounder in front of them, send em over!
The Hollywood Comedy. Friday July 12th. 7:30pm.
Pizza Party @ The Crow. July 22nd.
Hello Sternal Journalists!
Welcome back to your regular schedule. If you liked last week’s Stern Journal (which actually came out yesterday), I’m going to round out the weekend with a bit more from the Julian-tricking-himself-into-working-and-achieving-goals toolbox.
This week, THE STERNAL JOURNAL GRAPHIC TO-DO LIST.
I’m allllways looking for new ways to write to-do lists in hopes of getting me to actually do the damned to-do list. Oftentimes, this reworking is just a waste of time and form of procrastination, but every now and then, I come up with an idea that is helpful at achieving goals other than the goal of “distract myself from my goals.”
And my new system is this graphic to-do list:
When I actually do it, I jot it down in a notebook, but the pictures I take of notebook paper with my iPhone 8 look terrible, so I mocked one up.
As you can see, we have two axes:
The Long-Short axis. This is fairly self-explanatory. How long does the task take? The longer it is, the higher up on the Y-axis it goes. The shorter, the further down.
The Annoying-Fulfilling axis. I put these as the separate ends of the X-axis because, while “annoying” and “fulfilling” are not direct opposites, I think they are the worst case and best case scenarios for anything that could be on your to-do list. But essentially, the more annoying the thing is—the more it’s something you wish you didn’t have to do at all—the further left it goes. The more it’s something that you’ll feel nice about having done, the further right it goes.
And pretty much everything should fall somewhere on this graph. Once it’s filled out, you can see where everything falls. Short and annoying? Might as well get it out of the way because it won’t take long. Long and annoying? Maybe try to knock out a couple “Short and fulfillings” before you punish yourself with that. Et cetera et cetera.
The other nice thing is that it keeps you honest about the fact that all to-dos are not created equal. If you’re only knocking out the “short and fulfilling,” you can see that and recognize when you need to do something you’re a little less excited about.
If this resonates with you, lemme know or leave a comment! I’ve been doing it for two days and enjoy it. I will report back next week on whether I still think it doesn’t suck.
But now!
Recommendations!
Four Thousand Weeks. Book. I’ve recommended in the past, but I am re-recommending because I don’t want anyone to walk away from the past two SternJourns thinking I’m someone who is all about optimization, which this book lays out some great arguments against.
Rock Yo Hips. Song. Rediscovered this Crime Mob banger today, and boy do I love it. Second only to “Stilettos (Pumps).”
Dan Licata: For The Boys. Stand Up Special. I’m only halfway through, but this special that was filmed in front of a half-full audience of high school boys at Licata’s former high school has funny jokes, and the insane concept is executed very well.
The Music of John Barry. Compilation Album. Loootta great classic James Bond songs on here. Highly recommend starting your week off on a suave note with it.
The Funny Thing About A Panic Attack. Show. If you’re in LA, go check out my dear friend Ben Kassoy’s Hollywood Fringe show, The Funny Thing About a Panic Attack. It’s a poetry show, which is not the same as a poetry reading. Not to knock poetry readings, but this has more dance and laughs and narrative tension. It’s intense and fun and nice and heartfelt. There are four more dates!
Okay, that’s all! Much love! And wishing you all a crowded bottom-right hand corner of your Sternal Journal Graphic To-Do List this week! I’ll write some funny cultural criticism peace next week, I promise!
Julian!
Normally, I use this area to say that you can upgrade to paid if you’re rich. I hugely appreciate those of you who have, but nobody should ever feel pressured to! (Although huge thanks to my recent new paid subscribers! You have made it slightly easier to do this!) AAAAALSO though, if you’re the type to hit a like or leave a comment and you just haven’t thought of doing it on the SternJourn yet, come on in! Lemme know if you love or hate the recs! All engagement unfortunately is good engagement. But if you do not have time, get outta here and don’t worry about it! I’ll see ya next week!
To be recommended in the same section as Crime Mob is perhaps the greatest accomplishment of my career.
Thank you.
Willie Wonka wanna pay me!