How I Do 'To Do' Lists

I love To Do Lists. Since discovering them they have helped me be productive within the space of a deadline. Many people probably use To Do Lists but I have my own way of doing them that I think might be helpful to share. There will be multiple lists made to get to the final and most helpful list. This process takes longer than a standard list but overall I find it makes life easier.

This guide is for a daily To Do List.

Step 1 - Pen to Paper

Work out everything you need to do and write them down as you think of them.

Step 2 - Priorities (Part One)

Put them in order of when they need to be done by.

(The first two steps can be made easier by writing deadlines into a diary or on a calendar.)

Step 3 - Time Management

Work out how long each activity will take. If you can't do that by time do it by tasks. Separate each subsection of all your activities. For example if you are cooking a roast you will need to prepare the vegetables, prepare the meat, prepare the oven etc.
Do this for everything that needs to be done.

Step 4 - Be Realistic

Make sure your To Do List is manageable. If it is unlikely you will finish a certain task don't write on your list that you must finish today. For example if an essay has three sections that need to be written, take that into account. It is unlikely that all three sections can be completed in one go. Work out what you need and can realistically do for today and keep the rest for you to do another day (or if you finish the list and have time later to do the left over things).

Step 5 - Priorities (Part 2)

Now you know what you need to do and what you can realistically achieve in one day, you can now put them into order. Out of the reduced list you have work out what needs to be done most urgently. Also bear in mind that if a long task is due later than a short task you may still want to do a bit of work on the long task. By the time the long task is due you may have spent all your time on short tasks and then have to rush the long task because of it.

Tip:
Don't be disheartened if you don't tick everything on your To Do List. Circumstances change often and sometimes it is just not possible to do everything on your list. Just try to do a bit of what you set out to do and if you have spent the time to make your list realistic then it shouldn't be too difficult to do a little bit.

xx