Your To-Do List

Everyone enjoys checking things off a to-do list. It’s so satisfying to pick up your pen and make that checkmark, knowing that you’ve managed to complete one more task. You’re so pleased with yourself that you give yourself permission to take a break and bask in the glory of your accomplishment.

Several hours later, when you’re still scrolling through your phone or playing with the cat, you realize that the day is almost over. Your list is nothing but a wrinkled piece of trash to be thrown away. Now you feel worse than before you started. Your intentions were commendable, but we all know that the road that’s paved with good intentions is not a good one.

It’s obvious that you’re not getting any value out of your list. Simply jotting things down one after another doesn’t work. An effective list requires organization, prioritization, and motivation.

Don’t panic. The good news is that there are actionable guidelines to make a to-do list work more efficiently.

Make Your To-Do List Work

Here are a few rules to help you make your to-do list work.

Categorize

Studies have shown that your brain gets overwhelmed when it’s presented with too many options. The solution to this is to work from different lists. Separate your lists into different categories with each list having not more than 7 or 8 tasks.

A few examples of categorized lists are project lists, follow-up lists, and don’t-forget lists. For instance, if you’re moving, categorize your lists based on which items will go into which rooms and which items will be placed in self storage. With items you’re putting in storage, you can narrow your lists to things like moving to a new home, keeping in storage, and donating to charity.

The point is to find whatever works best for you. Simply remember to break down your lists so that your mind is not overloaded with 100 different tasks under one category.

Estimate

In order to plan your lists effectively, estimate the time it will take to perform each task. For example, if you’re planning a wedding, one of the categories may be the guest list. Under this category, you might have, decide on guests, address wedding invitations, and plan seating arrangements. To get a timeframe for addressing invitations, it’s easy to address one and see how long it takes.

If you’re having difficulty estimating your other tasks accurately, practice on a daily basis. Guess the time it will take you to cook dinner or get ready for work and then compare the actual times to your estimates.

You’ll be surprised at how quickly your estimating skills will improve.

Prioritize

It’s important to be able to prioritize your tasks. Urgent and important tasks are typically your first priority but don’t neglect other areas. According to LifeHack, the best way to divide your tasks it:

• Important and urgent
• Not urgent but important
• Not important but urgent
• Not important or urgent

Here are some guidelines to get you started if your lists involve moving.

• Important and urgent – hire the right moving company
• Not urgent but important – start packing
• Not important but urgent – Clean closets and drawers and discard or donate items
• Not important or urgent – Send new address to friends and family

Review

There is no point in having your to-do list only as a means of recording the things that you need to do. It should be a part of a bigger time management plan.

In other words, at the end of every week, you should review your list and use it as a tool to plan the coming week. Decide what you want to work on by considering priority and time and then schedule these items into your calendar.
To keep from being swamped, don’t schedule more than 75% percent of your time.

Final Thoughts

Creating to-do lists can be helpful, but if you don’t do it strategically, you could end up more frustrated and anxious than when you started. It’s like having a filing system: the thought behind it is great, but if you just put papers away without any order, it will be a disaster. The same goes for lists: spending the time and energy to create one is pointless if it’s not done correctly.