How to Create a Not-To-Do List

A to-do list tells you what to accomplish. A not-to-do list tells you what to stop doing. The second list is more valuable because eliminating low-value activities frees time and energy for high-value ones without requiring you to find extra hours in the day. Tim Ferriss, Warren Buffett, and Jim Collins all advocate for the not-to-do list as a primary productivity tool.

How to Build Your Not-To-Do List

Spend one week tracking every activity that consumes your time. At the end of the week, categorize each activity as high-value (directly advances your goals), necessary (maintenance required to function but not goal-advancing), or low-value (neither advances goals nor is strictly necessary).

Your not-to-do list comes from the low-value category, plus any necessary items that can be delegated or automated. Common entries include checking email more than 3 times per day, attending meetings without a clear agenda, saying yes to every social invitation, scrolling social media during work hours, perfectionist revision of work that is already good enough, doing tasks that could be delegated to someone else, and over-researching decisions that are easily reversible.

The Buffett 25/5 Method

Warren Buffett reportedly advised his pilot to write down his top 25 career goals, circle the top 5, and treat the remaining 20 as the “avoid at all cost” list. Those 20 goals feel important, which is why they are dangerous. They are attractive enough to consume time and energy but not important enough to be worth the opportunity cost.

Your not-to-do list is the same concept applied to daily and weekly activities. The items on it are not necessarily bad. They are just not as valuable as what you could be doing instead.

Categories of Not-To-Do Items

Time vampires: Activities that consume disproportionate time relative to their value. Common examples: unnecessary meetings (ask “what decision will this meeting produce?” and decline if the answer is nothing), perfecting low-stakes work (an internal email does not need three drafts), and comparison shopping for minor purchases (spending 30 minutes saving $5 is a $10/hour wage).

Energy drains: Interactions and commitments that leave you depleted rather than energized. Toxic relationships, obligatory social events you dread, and news consumption beyond what is needed to stay informed.

Default behaviors: Things you do out of habit rather than intention. Checking the phone every 5 minutes, opening social media when bored, eating at your desk instead of taking a real break, and responding to every email within 5 minutes regardless of urgency.

Enforcing the List

Write the not-to-do list on a card and keep it visible at your workspace. Review it every morning as part of your daily planning. When you catch yourself doing something on the list, stop immediately and redirect to a high-value task.

The list is not permanent. Review and update it monthly. Some items may fall off as habits change; new time wasters may emerge and need to be added.

The Annual Not-To-Do Audit

Once a year, conduct a comprehensive not-to-do audit. Review your calendar, email patterns, and daily habits from the past 12 months. Identify any new time vampires that have crept in and add them to the list. Remove items that are no longer relevant (perhaps you already eliminated a bad habit).

The audit also serves as a celebration of progress. Comparing this year’s not-to-do list to last year’s reveals concrete evidence of improved time management and priority alignment.

The Professional Not-To-Do List

Create a separate not-to-do list specifically for work. Common entries include attending meetings without a clear purpose, responding to emails within 5 minutes regardless of urgency, checking Slack continuously during deep work, saying yes to projects outside your core responsibility, and preparing slide decks when a simple email would suffice. Share this list with your manager during a one-on-one to align on priorities and protect your focused work time.

Bottom Line

Track your activities for a week, identify the low-value ones, and write them on a not-to-do list. Review the list daily. The items on it feel productive or socially obligatory, which is why they persist. Eliminating them frees hours each week for work that actually moves the needle on your goals.