Are you one of those people who love having a to do list for everything?
Having a to do list can be really helpful to get things done. It is the the simplest way to organize your thoughts and things you need to get done for the day. But what if your to do list isn’t getting you anywhere?
This means you need to get your list organized so it can work for you. Today on my blog I’m giving you 5 tips to organize your to do list.
1. List 5 things you need to do for the day
The key here is that you need to keep it simple. You need to check which tasks need high levels of prioritization and would give you a bigger impact for your business or work. The rest of the tasks will involve smaller projects or things you can move on later in the day.
2. Schedule your to do list the night before
Planning and scheduling your to do list for the next day is the ideal thing to do. Having a schedule in place in advance will provide you the right direction. It also allows you to focus on the to do list you created. Productivity will increase as well if you plan in advance.
3. Work on the biggest task first!
So you have done your list and have placed your top 5 action items for the day, now you have to work on the most important task in your list. Complete that and then move down the list. Make it a point to put yourself and your goals your top priority. This starts with completing the most strategic and high level action item first.
4. Create a brain dump list
This brain dump list serves as your list of things you have to do after your main list has been completed. This may be a list of items that you can do in a later time. A brain dump list serves as your release, if at times your mind wanders off and reminds you of the things you have to do that is unrelated to your goals.
5. Also work on some of your smaller tasks
It could be things that you have been procrastinating doing for a long time. These small tasks haunt us and makes us very distracted. So if this is the case, you need to add it to your to do list the next day. This would allow you to get it over with.
I would love to hear your thoughts about your to do list! Comment below!
Elaine Fernando is a Professional Organizer, a member of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO) and a member of APPO (Association of Personal Photo Organizers). Elaine may be reached at 908-630-8995 or [email protected]
