Introduction
If everything is going well, at this point you have:
- written down all your tasks in a to-do list,
- applied the two-minute rule,
- moved non-priority tasks into a maybe list.
Now one essential question remains:
where do you start?
To prioritize what's left, there is an extremely effective technique:
start with passive tasks.
Understand passive tasks with a simple example
Imagine you need to make pasta carbonara.
If you start by cutting the bacon, then making the sauce, and only then boiling the water, everything will happen in a linear sequence. Result: you waste time.
The right approach is to start by boiling the water.
Once started, this task progresses on its own. Meanwhile, you can cut the pork, make the sauce, grate the cheese.
Same work, half the time.
That's exactly the boomerang effect.
What a passive task is
A passive task is a task that requires a starting action, then runs on its own while you do something else.
Like a boomerang: you throw it, it comes back later.
In the pasta example, boiling the water and cooking the pasta are passive tasks. Once started, they no longer require your immediate attention.
Why you should always launch them first
If you do passive tasks after active tasks, everything takes longer.
Example:
- dropping your bike off for repair (passive task),
- grocery shopping (active task).
If you shop first and then drop the bike, you spend 40 minutes.
If you drop the bike first and shop while it's being repaired, you spend 20 minutes.
Same logic, less time.
Scheduling: a key skill
In cooking, this logic is called scheduling.
It's so important that culinary students are taught to write the task sequence in advance before they even start cooking.
In complex projects, like building construction, people talk about the critical path: the long, mandatory tasks that must be started as early as possible so the whole project doesn't get delayed.
At your scale, in your to-do list, it's exactly the same idea.
The two main categories of passive tasks
1. Delegated tasks
All delegated tasks are passive tasks.
Briefing a designer, handing a file to someone, starting a hiring process: once the request is sent, the task moves forward without you.
That's why delegating early matters, as explained in delegate, delegate, delegate.
2. Delay-based tasks
These are tasks that take time to complete after you start them.
For example:
- an administrative request,
- a trademark filing,
- a heavy download,
- preheating an oven.
Whenever you hesitate between a passive task and an active one, start with the passive one.
Fight the natural reflex
The problem is that our brains prefer staying in the comfort zone.
Active tasks often feel safer. Passive tasks require anticipation, relying on others, and stepping out of autopilot.
So yes, to apply this method, you'll sometimes have to force yourself a little.
What about the Eisenhower matrix
You may have heard about the Eisenhower matrix.
Urgent vs important, do, schedule, delegate, delete. The idea is interesting, but in reality:
- urgency and importance are very subjective,
- the system is rigid,
- few people can use it sustainably.
That's why we recommend a more concrete approach:
start with passive tasks.
Conclusion
To prioritize your to-do list effectively:
- identify passive tasks,
- start them first,
- let them move forward while you work on the rest.
It's simple, logical, and brutally effective.
And most importantly, it helps you save time without working more.
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