Writing A To Do List That Gets Things Done: What's The Secret?

An Effective To Do List Will Make Things Happen

Remain Focused By Writing A To Do List

Photo: David Siqueira

Important are the tasks that you intended to do keeping in mind their importance in relation to the mission. Urgent are the tasks that your Boss wants you to do RIGHT NOW!

...Important is often sacrificed at the altar of urgent!

The importance of writing a to do list can be truly realized when you think about what happens when you don't do it.

While you are kept busy the entire day, many important things are pushed to the backstage: which may lead to increased stress levels.

To take just a few examples-

• You forget to reply to your Director's queries because there was this hot gossip making the rounds of the office,
• You don't get time to help with the Home Work of your third grader, because you were sucked in by the spicy-bitchy saga of the TV soap.

Writing a to do list: The Right Way

Now, having seen how important is writing a to do list, make sure to do it the right way. Else it will only serve the purpose of increasing the weight of your guilt, as you see unfinished tasks piling on top of each other.

Ultimately, you will throw away all the lists out of exasperation, and rue at the ineffectiveness of the to do lists.

How about writing a to do list that is really effective: the one that not only reminds you but impels you to take right actions at the right time? To make this happen, remember the following -

1. Do not fill up your list with mundane or recurring activities. It will only clutter your to do list, and create an imagined pressure on your mind.

2. In your to do list, only write tasks that are specific and action based. Don't confuse 'tasks' with what can best be categorized as "projects". For example, say you have to get your child admitted to a school. This is not one single task – it is a set of many tasks – you have to get his photographs, collect your address proofs, get your child's photographs, get ready his birth certificate, etc. Write only these actions points.

   Keep track of activities that will take some time by preparing a separate medium term list. So your today's to do list will consist of the task – 'get kid photographed'. Tomorrow's list will have an item called – 'get kid's birth certificate. Your medium tem list will have the item – 'Get the child admitted to the School.'

   This will keep your to do list tight and effective, and you will avoid making it bloated and unfocused.

3. There are some tasks that have to be got done today any which way. Then there are some that can be postponed till, say, tomorrow. Whether you want it or not, at the end of the day, you will have some tasks that could not be attended to.

   To avoid being in a situation where, at the end of the day, you find that some enormously important task has remained unattended, while writing a to do list, allot a priority number to each task. You may give priority number one to the least important task, and five to the most important task.

4. Don't club difficult tasks together. Follow a difficult task with one or two easy and short ones. This will keep your motivation high.

5. Avoid making your to do list too airtight – like allocating tasks to specific time slots. Many of the tasks will take either more or less time than what has been assigned to them. Wisdom lies in preparing a to do list that is do able. Spending some time filtering the activities that can be realistically got done during the day, will help you in avoiding the heart break.

After Writing A To Do List: Now Get It Done

Now, you have your very do-able, specific and realistic to- do list in your hands. How do you manage it so that most, if not all of the tasks, really get done during the day? Here are some points that you should keep in mind to make it compelling—

• Prepare your to do list in advance. Ideally it should be ready for you when you get up in the morning.

• Post some reminders at places where you just cannot avoid seeing them. Keep a list of grocery items stuck on your refrigerator. Mark important dates in your office calendar with short notes. There are so many ideas that you can use that the lists will keep on presenting themselves to you of their own!

• Make use of modern technology in a productive way – buy useful devices that help you manage your time, rather than having some fancy features that you will get tired of after some time.

• If you work on a computer, make use of 'reminders'. There are software that can help you set up reminders easily.

• Wherever it is feasible, try delegating the tasks. At home, delegate little tasks to your kids. At office delegate those tasks to your juniors that do not require your personal involvement.

Writing an effective to do list, and then following it with action, will take away much of stress and burden off your heads. Unmanaged tasks not only are in the danger of not getting done – they also create a state of anxiety, which can be easily managed just by giving some forethought in preparing an effective do list.

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Further Reading

The Real Benefits Of Time Management

Reduce Stress Levels With 10 Practical Time Saving Tips

How Procrastination And Stress Might Be Holding You Back

Know Yourself To Overcome Procrastination And Stress!

Poor Stress And Time Management Symptoms

Reduce Stress by Minimizing Distractions

The Five Causes Of Procrastination

The Importance Of Time Management

Seven Time Management Skills That You Must Have

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