Lesson: How to Get Things Done!

Conversation

Answer the following questions. You might be asked to write them down or answer them out loud.

1. Are you a forgetful person? How forgetful are you?
2. What do you do to remember all your daily/weekly tasks?
3. Do you trust your brain?
4. Do you feel angry when people forget things?
5. Have you ever forgotten an important meeting or event because you didn't write it down? What was it?
6. Are to do lists necessary? Why? Why not?
7. What type of gadget/program/list do you recommend for a person that wants to get more organized?
8. Are you a determined person? When does determination become stubbornness?
9. How committed are you to your personal tasks? Do you try to do them as quickly as possible?
10. How committed are you to your professional tasks? Do you ever procrastinate?
11. What do you do when you forget things you should have done?

Vocabulary

Look at the vocabulary below. Take time to explore the links for their definitions in English and their translations to Portuguese. When you are done, make a sentence with each word. Ask your teacher if you should write them down or say them out loud.

DT   brain

DT   store

DT   project

DT   practice

DT   task

DT   random

DT   clutter

DT   tip

DT   dump

DT   piece

DT   overall

DT   whenever

DT   knock out

Video

Watch the following video but DON'T read the transcript yet.

After watching the video do this listening exercise.

Reading practice

Read the following transcript then do the associated reading comprehension exercise.

ExpandTranscript:

All the things that you need to get done are stored all over. In your email inbox, on random pieces of paper or in your brain. You often forget to do things. You get overwhelmed by big tasks and overall your mind feels clutter. If you want to be a ninja at getting things done, you need a system. Here are some tips: first collect everything you have to do in one place, this is a big brain dump where you can write down any task that comes to mind. Whenever you think of something you have to do, don’t store it in your prefrontal cortex, write it down. We call this your inbox. Next, put things from your inbox into a place you know you’ll look at, at the right time. This might be your calendar, a shopping list or in a project's folder. Speaking of projects, if a task can’t be done without a series of steps, then you need to turn that task into a project by brainstorming every individual step required to complete that project. Start practicing these simple things and you’ll find your mind is clear and you’re knocking out tasks one at a time.

Writing practice

Write a couple of paragraphs talking about yourself and how organized or disorganized you are, maybe share a story of something that happened to you in the past where forgetting to do things created a problem or resulted in a funny situation. Make sure to use words you learned from the text and try to make it as long as you can.

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