Do you frequently get overwhelmed by the tasks you have to do? The confusion, urgency and the necessity of doing it all scares you so much you wish you are just somewhere else or someone else? Don’t worry. You are not alone. Almost everybody have experienced this at one time or the other.

Tasks are unavoidable. They are a necessary part of our lives. In fact, without doing some tasks, we’ll live a very meaningless and painful life. Or can we imagine not visiting the dentist when we are having a recurrent toothache just because visiting the dentist is “another task”? It’s simply unimaginable!

However, getting our tasks identified, organized and reviewed is an efficient way of managing them before, during and after their execution. This is the major reason for creating a to-do list. Unfortunately, many people suck in this area too. They create a to-do list so poor and ineffective that the list itself becomes another humongous task on its own!

This shouldn’t be so.

A good to-do list should enable you to manage your tasks properly without being too cumbersome on its own. It should be an honest document that won’t scare you of what you are about to do or underestimate the works before you.

A 2011 Journal of Personality and Social Psychology study found that writing down what we want to do makes us more likely to do it.^[1] But this is just a formal conclusion arrived at after a rigorous academic study. Creating to-do lists have been saving time, energy, careers and even sanity since the dawn of writing!

Learning to create a proper to-do list can add more efficiency to the use of your time and energy and it can save you from a lot of anxiety and overwhelming confusion experienced during everyday tasks.

Here we are. This is how to create a very effective to-do list:

Before Writing the To-do List:

1. Plan for Only a Single Day Task

Do not use your to do list as a form of torture on yourself.

Your To-do list is meant to help you, not frighten you. It is made to help you keep track of the activity you need to get done, not to make you wish you can change 24 hours to 48 hours!

The mistake many of us make is creating a To-do list we clearly know we cannot follow up in a single day. Of course, writing your next tasks down might take a lot off your mind, even if it’s many pages long, but breaking it down into manageable daily cache of tasks is more sensible.

A more realistic and efficient to-do is the one you write daily. Or at least one broken down to tasks that are achievable within a single day.

Your 50 items to-do list probably makes you feel tortured when you realized you are still on item 5! So why create a list that makes you feel overwhelmed and doesn’t applaud your achievement so far? It’s best to break your lists down into the maximum tasks that can be achieved in a day.

2. Decide What Medium Works Best for You – Paper/Screen

Traditionally, to-do lists are created on everything other than a screen. They are most especially written on paper.

But with the advent of portable electrical devices like our phones, laptops and even some digital clock/watches, to-do lists can now be created in more varied ways. Choose what works best for you and your situation. Although one method works better above the rest. But we are getting to that…

3. The Old-Fashioned Way Is the Best

Writing your To-do list by hand is still the best. Doing it engages your mind and hand at the same time and will make you more likely to remember the content.

Studies have also found that people actually remember things better when they write them down on paper, rather than when they type them on a laptop (or other electronic medium that requires typing).^[2]

4. Use Small Post It Notes or Lined Index Cards

In our opinion, these are the best mediums for creating a to-do list because of their ubiquity, durability and resilience . They also don’t use any form of power.

Small pieces of paper like these will also physically prevent you from writing a long to-do list.^[3]

5. Keep Your List Accessible

What can be more frustrating than taking time to create a perfect list then losing it? This can frequently occur when the battery on our devices gets drained or the device itself is attacked by a malicious virus. This is the reason why we advocate writing our to-do list down on paper. It’s safer, portable and more accessible that way.

While Writing the List:

1. Writing Absolutely Everything Down

Do not omit any detail vital to your task because you want to save space. Even if your paper is not enough, try to write in tiny print. The goal is to write every important details necessary to your task. Your to-do list would have become self-defeating if you forget to execute an important aspect of your task because you failed to include it in your to-do list earlier on.

2. Keep It Simple

Of course, “Writing Absolutely Everything Down” doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep it simple. Mind your expressions especially – You should stay away from writing any ambiguous terms so you wouldn’t be confused when you are reading it later.

3. Be Specific

As much as possible, call everything in your to-do list by its own name. Avoid using generalized terms. For example, “Buy Apples” can be better written as “Buy Apples for Sophia, Jake and me”.

4. Keep It Short

The objective is to have a clear picture on what you have to do, and can do today. Tomorrow is another day, and you don’t need to have those tasks of tomorrow in today’s field of vision.^[4]

5. List According to Priority:

You might need to prioritize your tasks. Write the most important and urgent tasks at the top, followed by others according to their level of priority.

Alternatively, you can begin the list with tasks that are easier or takes lesser time to do. This will free you more energy and time to attend to the harder tasks that that will be at the bottom of your list.

6. Categorize

Among the best kind of to-do lists are those where the list is categorized according to groups of tasks that have something in common. For example, within a single list, you can create categories like “Home list” for tasks you want to remember to do at home, “School list” and “Workplace list” for tasks to do at school and at the workplace respectively.

7. Make a Balanced List

Don’t let the fear of the greater tasks make you forget the less important tasks. Your list should contain both the important and the less important tasks. The less important ones can be sometimes necessary for successful accomplishment of the important ones.

8. Make It According to Your Personality

If you are a slow worker or an impatient go-getter, take note of this while making your list. Your list should reflect your structure of work and even your temperament. If you are the impatient type for example, it will be good if you place tasks that demand patience at the bottom of your list.

What You Should Do Before Signing Off Your To-Do List:

Note: Always make sure your To-do list is close to you while executing the tasks you have outlined.

1. Make Sure You Are Equipped for The Tasks At Hand

Double check to make sure you are equipped for all the tasks you have outlined in your to-do list. Is there enough fuel in your car?  Will the Ketchup be enough? Have you made those necessary print-outs before going to the clerk? Make sure you are fully equipped for your tasks before you sign off your list.

2. Set Reminders or Deadlines

For greater efficiency and to forestall procrastination, set reminders and deadlines for every one (or most) of your tasks. This enable you to be more conscious of time and also help prepare you for the next tasks on your list.

3. Make It Public: Let Them Watch Over You

You might show your to-do list to friends and family if you fear you might be indolent with it if it’s known only to you alone. Tell them to prod you and remind you of what you have to do in case you slip into laziness.

4. Have Plan B for Every Task

Check out for tasks whose outcome is not certain and assign alternative solutions to getting them done right there. This will prevent you from getting abruptly cut off while doing it and stave off the consequent discouragement and painful disappointments.

4. You Might Make It Collaborative

Before you sign off your To-do list, consider collaborating with others in some of the tasks you might have done alone. This may help you work faster and share the burden of remembering to do it on you and your partner(s).

5. Appreciate and Love Your List

Have a positive outlook on what you have written. Don’t feel weighed down by the task ahead. Think of it just as another set of tasks to be conquered for the day!

What You Should Do While Using Your To-Do List

Your To-do list is now an active document. Take note of these while using it:

1. Focus Only On One Thing At A Time

Multitasking might appear like it allows you to get things done faster, but research suggests that it actually causes the brain to slow down overall.^[5] Avoid Multitasking while doing the tasks in your to-do list. It will get you disorganized at best, and make you do a sloppy job at worst. Give every task its due attention so you can move to the next with full peace of mind, calm and confidence.

2. Take Note of Recurring Tasks

As soon as you start using your to-do list as a guide, it is inevitable that you will start noticing some tasks overlap in some aspects. Take note of tasks like these. It will help you to prepare a more streamlined to-do list on another day.

3. Start Eliminating Potentially Redundant Tasks

You will start noticing some later tasks may actually be redundant once you start executing the initial ones. For example, you may realize getting groceries at Jame’s place can be accomplished on your way to dropping flowers for Jane. This gives a good feeling of relief.

4. Have Certainty About What You Want To Do

Doubting doing some items on your list at this point is counter-productive. If there is any item you suddenly start experiencing doubts about, skip it and move to the next item.

5. Don’t Be Overly Optimistic

Execute the items on your list with calm and caution. Disappointments are inevitable at times though, so don’t be prematurely joyous or raise your expectations too high about each task.

Disappointments are a normal part of life. If some items you have done on your list doesn’t turn out as you expected even despite all preparations, accept it as fate. You have done your best. Move to the next item on your list!

6. Write And Rewrite

Don’t be shy to rewrite some items as you are executing tasks from your To-do list. It is absolutely normal to see things in better light even after the list is made, and is getting executed. Rewrite tasks to your taste as new realities dawn.

It’s no big deal if you even add other items to your list, or insert new items between existing ones. Your to-do list must be flexible. Just make sure the items doesn’t exceed what you can do in a day. The goal is to make your to-do list an effective one for doing your tasks, not for it to be so rigid that it becomes the master and you become the helpless slave!

7. Check If You Can Delegate Some Tasks

Now is the time to critically check if you can delegate some tasks. Understand you can’t do it all alone at times. You can write a “D” besides tasks that you think is possible to be delegated. This will take your mind off it for a while and enable you to concentrate on other tasks at hand.

There is always an erroneous impression that comes with to-do lists: It is the feeling that “all-these-tasks-are-for-me”. This is an erroneous impression caused by our individualistic perceptions of things. Take this impression off your mind and force yourself to delegate some tasks (if needed).

The goal is to get things done and be happy.

The quicker and easier items get marked off your to-do list, the more encouraged you will be to create another list on another day. Get ease for yourself by delegating some tasks to others when needed.

What You Should Do After Executing All Items on Your To-Do List

Evaluate and Review

Although this may not be necessary at all times, it can help you to appreciate how far you have gone for the day and the lessons learned from the list. You should be able to create even a more effective list later if you learned from the lessons of the last one. Evaluation and review are good in all our activities, and they shouldn’t be left out in your to-do list too!

We wish you a more effective To-do list ahead!

References

 1.          These To-do List Methods Will Help You Finally Get Organized –

These To-Do List Methods Will Help You Finally Get Organized

(Retrieved 21-4-2019)

 2.          7 to-do list hacks that’ll help you be more productive every

day – https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/7-to-do-list-hacks-thatll-help-you-be-more-productive-every-day (Retrieved 21-4-2019)

 3.          How to Write an Effective To-do List – https://psychcentral.com/blog/how-to-write-an-effective-to-do-list/k (Retrieved 21-4-2019)

 4.          5 Practical Ways to Make Your To-do List Work –  https://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/5-practical-ways-make-your-list-work.html)  (Retrieved 21-4-2019)

5. How to Improve Your Memory – https://m.wikihow.com/Improve-Your-Memory  (Retrieved 9-3-2019)