Organize Me
Tip: Three Types of “To Do” Lists
Plus 7 Tips to Help You Remember
By Jamie Novak www.JamieNovak.com
You need to reevaluate your “to do” list if any of the following apply:
First, there’s the traditional, daily “to do” list. This list consists only of the 5 to 10 tasks that you actually intend on accomplishing that day before you go to bed. The first trick is to keep this “to do” list realistic. We each only have so many hours in the day. Just writing a task on the list does not ensure there is actually going to be time to get to it. To accomplish all you set out to do, be reasonable. Items like picking up the kids from daycare and calling to make a doctors’ appointment are perfect examples of what belongs on this daily “to do” list.
You need to prioritize your daily “to do” list in a way that works for you. You can give each item a letter, A, B or C, or a number, 1, 2, or 3. A or 1 would be the most important task, and C or 3, the least important. Or you can simply group your “to do” list items by categories: to call, to buy and more.
Before adding an item to your daily “to do” list, ask yourself, “Does this need to be done?” And if so, also ask, “Does this need to be done by me?” The answer to both may be yes. But in some cases, you’ll be able to simplify the task, delegate it, hire it out or perhaps even skip the task completely. And remember: The unexpected sometimes happens and you may not get to everything on your list. That’s okay; you’re human. Praise yourself for what you did get done instead of beating yourself up about what you didn’t.
One last thought on your daily “to do” list; keep the list handy. You won’t be able to cross off completed items or add new ones if you can’t find your list. It’s helpful to have your “to do” list be the first page in your organizer, or you may choose to have your list on a separate pad. A spiral one works well, you won’t lose pages. Or if you’re using an electronic organizer, you may choose to keep your “to do” list there.
7 Tips to Help You Remember
1. Write it down.
2. Use sticky notes (Example: note on bathroom mirror).
3. Keep it together (spiral notebook).
4. Call your own phone and leave yourself a voice mail message.
5. Record yourself on a mini-tape recorder (takes some getting used to).
6. E-mail yourself.
7. Set timer/alarm.
The second type is the “wish I had time to do” list. This is a running list of all the things you want to get to eventually. This wish “to do” list usually includes tasks like clean the gutters, hem a skirt, get together with a friend for coffee, and so on. Everything that comes to mind -- from a vacation in Florida to landscaping the front yard -- belongs on your wish “to do” list.
These tasks should get added to your daily “to do” list on the day you actually plan to do them. It makes no sense to have daily tasks and wish to do tasks on the same list, you will never have enough time in one day to get to them all. You’d just be setting yourself up to fail. You might as well set yourself up for success by keeping two lists and learning how to manage them.
A great way to move closer to accomplishing a large item on the second list is to break it up into smaller more doable tasks. Say you’d like to take a trip to Florida; you might open a vacation bank account and that task would go on the daily “to do” list the day you actually plan to do it. The trip would be on your wish “to do” list.
Then there is the third and last list, which is usually the most popular of the three. It’s the “not to do” list. This list usually has such “not to do” tasks as:
By Jamie Novak www.JamieNovak.com
You need to reevaluate your “to do” list if any of the following apply:
- You don’t have a list.
- Your list is in your head.
- You just saw your list a minute ago; hang on, you’ll find it there somewhere.
- Your list is so long it would take you days to write it all down.
First, there’s the traditional, daily “to do” list. This list consists only of the 5 to 10 tasks that you actually intend on accomplishing that day before you go to bed. The first trick is to keep this “to do” list realistic. We each only have so many hours in the day. Just writing a task on the list does not ensure there is actually going to be time to get to it. To accomplish all you set out to do, be reasonable. Items like picking up the kids from daycare and calling to make a doctors’ appointment are perfect examples of what belongs on this daily “to do” list.
You need to prioritize your daily “to do” list in a way that works for you. You can give each item a letter, A, B or C, or a number, 1, 2, or 3. A or 1 would be the most important task, and C or 3, the least important. Or you can simply group your “to do” list items by categories: to call, to buy and more.
Before adding an item to your daily “to do” list, ask yourself, “Does this need to be done?” And if so, also ask, “Does this need to be done by me?” The answer to both may be yes. But in some cases, you’ll be able to simplify the task, delegate it, hire it out or perhaps even skip the task completely. And remember: The unexpected sometimes happens and you may not get to everything on your list. That’s okay; you’re human. Praise yourself for what you did get done instead of beating yourself up about what you didn’t.
One last thought on your daily “to do” list; keep the list handy. You won’t be able to cross off completed items or add new ones if you can’t find your list. It’s helpful to have your “to do” list be the first page in your organizer, or you may choose to have your list on a separate pad. A spiral one works well, you won’t lose pages. Or if you’re using an electronic organizer, you may choose to keep your “to do” list there.
7 Tips to Help You Remember
1. Write it down.
2. Use sticky notes (Example: note on bathroom mirror).
3. Keep it together (spiral notebook).
4. Call your own phone and leave yourself a voice mail message.
5. Record yourself on a mini-tape recorder (takes some getting used to).
6. E-mail yourself.
7. Set timer/alarm.
The second type is the “wish I had time to do” list. This is a running list of all the things you want to get to eventually. This wish “to do” list usually includes tasks like clean the gutters, hem a skirt, get together with a friend for coffee, and so on. Everything that comes to mind -- from a vacation in Florida to landscaping the front yard -- belongs on your wish “to do” list.
These tasks should get added to your daily “to do” list on the day you actually plan to do them. It makes no sense to have daily tasks and wish to do tasks on the same list, you will never have enough time in one day to get to them all. You’d just be setting yourself up to fail. You might as well set yourself up for success by keeping two lists and learning how to manage them.
A great way to move closer to accomplishing a large item on the second list is to break it up into smaller more doable tasks. Say you’d like to take a trip to Florida; you might open a vacation bank account and that task would go on the daily “to do” list the day you actually plan to do it. The trip would be on your wish “to do” list.
Then there is the third and last list, which is usually the most popular of the three. It’s the “not to do” list. This list usually has such “not to do” tasks as:
- Don’t answer the phone but let the machine screen the calls
- Don’t make the bed everyday; let it breathe once in awhile.
- Don’t watch the news; it’s energy draining and sucks up valuable time.