Building a choice architecture is a lot about building visibility. The simple premise is this – if you can’t see it, you can’t make a choice on it. So in my quest to get more things done, I had to change the way I list out the things to be done.

To put everything on just one list, I use to have a few nested list within the same list. For example:

• Improve workflows
  

  • Create a better list
    

    • read Getting Things Done again.

This is in the structure of:

• Areas of focus
  

  • Projects
    

    • Next action

The list became pretty long and with all the nesting going on in there, it was hard to see which one should be getting my attention. In the end, none of them did (get my attention) because I have grown immune to it. There were just too many things going on in there.

No more nesting in lists

So I end up making a “one-trick-pony” list. On my next actions list, I will only be able to see “read that book”. I won’t be able to see why would I want to read that book, as I have already made a choice to read that book. The reason for reading that book shouldn’t be debated during the “reading phase”. It should be debated when I “review the why phase”. And this phase has a different list.

In short, I have all these “nested stuff” separated into a list on its own, so that each list now only shows what needs to be shown.

I have a list for the very next actions. I have a list for the projects I intend to do, which I use to decide what next actions are there. I have a list on the roles I play as a person, to decide which projects should I be focused on. I have a list on the values I hold true to heart, to decide on the priorities I place on the projects I do. And most importantly, I review each of these lists separately, because each list requires a different frame of mind.

What you don’t see

By making items on these lists more visible, I am able to make my choices more easily between the different items. To put it differently, what you don’t see is actually as important as what you see. I’ve removed what I don’t want to see, to see what I want to see. See? :)