Generate a stop-doing list, not just a to-do list for next year
What you stop doing next year is as important as what you start.
Key takeaways
- What it is: What you stop doing next year is as important as what you start.
- Why it works: The annual review commonly produces a list of new commitments for next year, added on top of existing ones. Without identifying things to stop, the new commitments compete with persistent old ones for the same finite time and attention. A stop-doing list creates the capacity for the new commitments by explicitly retiring activities, obligations, or relationships that no longer serve.
- Evidence: Backed by observational / correlational evidence.
- Avoid: Treating the stop-doing list as theoretical (naming things to stop without a concrete mechanism for actually stopping them), which leaves the commitments on the calendar.
Why it works
The annual review commonly produces a list of new commitments for next year, added on top of existing ones. Without identifying things to stop, the new commitments compete with persistent old ones for the same finite time and attention. A stop-doing list creates the capacity for the new commitments by explicitly retiring activities, obligations, or relationships that no longer serve.
How to do it
- 1Review the "what did not go well" list and ask: which activities, habits, or obligations contributed to those outcomes?
- 2List any commitments you have continued out of inertia, obligation, or sunk-cost reasoning rather than genuine value.
- 3For each stop-doing item, identify the specific mechanism for stopping (decline renewals, set an end date, have a conversation).
- 4Schedule the stopping, not just the starting.
What the evidence says
ObservationalResource depletion and goal-conflict research supports the value of eliminating competing commitments when adding new goals. Sunk-cost reasoning is well documented as a driver of continued investment in low-value activities.
Honest caveat: The stop-doing list is a practitioner tool; the underlying mechanisms (goal conflict, resource depletion) are empirically grounded.
Common mistake
Treating the stop-doing list as theoretical (naming things to stop without a concrete mechanism for actually stopping them), which leaves the commitments on the calendar.
IX Coach tracks whether items on your stop-doing list have actually been eliminated over the following months, not just named at the annual review.
Practice this with IX Coach →