To-do lists, ugh! There’s always something new to add when you’ve barely crossed anything else off. You just have this long list, with no rhyme or reason, no specific deadlines or instructions, no idea how you’re going to get it done.
What you need is some organizational skills, which I’m sure you already have, but damn these to-do lists! They just make you crazy.
So, how about I show you a great way to create your to-do lists so they are organized, deadline driven, and guaranteed to be crossed the eff off? I know your answer is yes, because that’s why you’re here, so let’s get on with it…
You can go about this any way you desire, but post-it notes can come in really handy. Write the main task or project on the post-it and then the tasks/subtasks on additional post-its to group together. This gives you a highly visible way to organize everything you want to get done.
1
Start by writing down everything you need to do. (This is where the post-its come in)
Writing everything down gets it out of your head. Once the tasks are on paper, you don’t have to think about it again until you start to work on it.
2
Add Subtasks to each item on the list.
Similar to step one, the subtasks allow you to again get out of your head. This will also help you out in step 4. Plus, breaking down the main tasks into subtasks helps you avoid unexpected steps and wasting time on things that are unnecessary. If you don’t know exactly what the steps are to complete the task, just write down what you can think of for now and come back to it when you begin work on that particular task.
3
Order your tasks by due date, then give the subtasks due dates.
Due dates keep you accountable. You can also add expected lengths to each task and subtask so you don’t spend too much time on one task over another (there’s a trend here of getting out of your head!).
4
Create a daily to-do list.
Another reason due dates and subtasks are so important! If you have figured out how long a task will take and when it’s due, then you can easily plan out your day. This will also give you a good idea of what needs to be done to meet the due date of your main objective and whether there’s any risk of having to push the deadline.
If you aren’t sure how long a task will take, give it a set amount of time anyway. Challenging yourself to complete something in a particular amount of time can be effective. If you don’t have results at the end of the time limit, take a break and come back to it later.
If you have an overwhelming daily list, consider spreading things out. Who set the deadlines anyway? I’m guessing that was you, huh? Commit to only 3 or 4 main tasks to complete per day, depending on how much time you’re going to give to it.
