Today, we’re concluding a short series on being more productive.

Most people, including myself, create a task list each day. We also call this a “to-do” list. These are things we feel we must get done.

In a world that increasingly demands our attention every second—in a world filled with ever-increasing opportunities and connections—this list seems to get longer all the time.

The antidote to all this is to create a “stop doing” list. These are things you are NOT going to do.

Here are ten suggestions:

• Stop committing to extra activities.
• Stop feeling guilty for not doing more
• Stop answering your email 15 times a day
• Stop helping everybody for free
• Stop starting new projects until you publish the current one
• Stop comparing yourself to other writers
• Stop watching the news
• Stop holding grudges
• Stop listening to people who don’t believe in you
• Stop following people on social media who irritate you

Success as a writer and creative person isn’t really a matter of doing more. It’s also a matter of eliminating the negative and unproductive things in your life so the good things can naturally start sprouting up.

Today’s Challenge: Choose one of the items I just listed and stop doing it today.