The Magic of to do lists
In this article, let’s talk about lists and look in particular at the ‘to-do’ lists. I have lists for pretty much everything; meetings to make sure I don’t forget things, lists for goals of the week, goals for each day etc. So, why would you use lists? Well, if your memory is like most people - prone to error, lists will help you stay on track and feel you are accomplishing things.
The trick with good list-keeping is, to still have an organised system that makes sense to you, rather than having lists everywhere without follow up or a specific purpose.
Here are some guidelines:
Have a messy book, to write down ideas prior to listing them and prioritising.
Refresh your lists regularly, throw the original list out and start again, it keeps things neat and it prevents important things from getting missed.
If a project exists out of several small steps, have one page with the overall project and then have smaller categories.
Divide and conquer, base this on how you think and when you do things. I actually have two weekly to-do lists; one for at work and one for my personal errands and aims. It works for me as I am in totally different mental spaces when I read through them.
Have a working list for the key people you work with, all non-urgent items can be address at a regular meeting time.
Divide tasks into a specific time of the day. For me this means concentrated work early in the morning and the easier tasks later in the afternoon. All these things tie in with knowing how you work and when you can work on peak performance.
Regularly check your bigger goals to make sure you don’t get buried in the mundane tasks but also work towards and achieve your bigger aims.
Should you go digital or stay paper based? I think that is a story for another time, if you are interested check out the Paperbased Course.
Like this topic?
You’ll love any of the Organising books.
