Documenting Success

How to use To-do lists effectively
Published on January 22nd, 2007

A to-do list is your greatest tool in organizing your workflow and life. I can certainly attest to that myself – having first started using them a few years ago, my productivity level shot up through the roof. Nonetheless, a poorly kept to-do list can become your productivity’s biggest nemesis. In this article, I’m going to present some of the tips I developed on how to keep the to-do list your friend.

Do not split your list into categories

If you split your list into various categories, eventually you’ll notice that you tend to favor some areas over the others. For example, my “Things to-do around the house” category often got neglected to my fiancée’s dismay [Editor’s note: it still gets neglected.] Eventually I switched to having just two lists – “to-do now” and “to-do sometime”.

Do not fall into the trap of categorizing your list until it looks nice and neat! To-do list is supposed to be ugly. If you pretty it up by adding categories, levels, et cetera – eventually you’ll have a beautiful looking list that you can show to your parents. I’m sure they’ll be very impressed with how organized you are. If your list is online, you can also share it on one of those nifty social networking list-sharing sites.

Will you want to finish your tasks if they look like THIS?

The only problem is… nothing will get done! Without even realizing it, you will be reluctant to destroy this thing of beauty by crossing things off the list after completion. And if your list is ugly, subconsciously you’ll want to get rid of that monstrosity. Consequently, the only way of doing that is to…*drum roll*… do the tasks.

Make it easy to reach

By “keeping it ugly”, however, I don’t mean that you should be disgusted with it. On the contrary, if you want your list to be effective, you have to make it accessible at all times, meaning that at any time of the day, no matter where you are, you should be able to add stuff to your list. How can you, one might ask, when you’re on the run? There are many ways to do it, including smart phones, organizers and even “hipster PDA”, but I prefer a very low-tech method of just carrying my notebook everywhere I go. Whenever I think of something that needs to be done, I write it in there. I also use it to jot down my ideas for world domination and articles such as this one.

I’m still working on perfecting this system. For example, there’s no way to write anything down while I’m in the shower, where I get some of my best ideas. Of course, I could always buy a water-proof notepad and put it on the shower wall. Maybe I’ll do that one day

Actions, not abstract notions

If you are familiar with David Allen’s excellent “Getting Things Done” system, you’ll instantly recognize this one. If you put a “get a rebate for DVD player” on your to-do list, you will never do it. Your brain will get confused over the ambiguity of the task and you won’t feel motivated enough to do it. Instead, split the task into actionable items:

1) Find the receipt for DVD player

2) Find the box and cut out the UPC code

3) Find the rebate coupon and write down the address

4) Bring all of the above to the post office, buy stamps and envelope, and mail it out.

Having seen concrete instructions, your brain will not resist the task and you will not have to force yourself to complete it.

Weeding out the chaff

If despite your best efforts your to-do list is getting too big, it’s time to sit down, go through every item on the list, and ask yourself a question – do you really need to do this?

Here’s where a lesson from another excellent book, Stephen Covey’s “Seven Habits of Highly Effective People” comes into play. Think about your goals, your mission in life. If the task on your list is not going to matter in a few years, maybe it’s not worth wasting your most valuable resource – time.

For example, going through my own list, I notice a task “Arrange books on the shelf”. Do I really need to do this? Not at all. My home library is not big enough for that to be a concern. The time that I would spend doing that task would be much better spent doing something else.

If you follow this method and be really ruthless about it, by the end of the exercise your list is going to look a lot slimmer.

Don’t obsess over your to-dos

A lot of time, things on your list may not be of most importance to you at the present moment. It’s ok to spend the whole day without looking at your to-do list. I do it all the time, especially when I’m preoccupied with a project of utmost value. And for stuff that’s really important and you can’t afford to forget, I hope you set up automatic reminders, but that’s a whole another topic.

Used effectively, to-do lists can be a great tool at making our lives easier. However, when used incorrectly, they can be a source of anxiety, stress and distraction. I hope for you, it’s always the former. If you have any comments, questions, criticism or suggestions, you’re welcome to email me or post below.