Organize More

We all have them… exhaustive lists of tasks that need to be accomplished. Some of us keep them on legal tablets, many in our heads, some on the backs of envelopes, a few on spreadsheets, MS Outlook, or other software programs. Most often they are long, disorganized, almost encrypted notes to ourselves to remember to do things. For many of us, they get longer instead of shorter. For most of us, they become frustrating task masters unable to clearly articulate the intended tasks.

Managing your to-do list is the first step in getting control of a seemingly uncontrollable life.

As I see it, there are two problems with most to-do lists:

1) they don’t contain enough information and,

2) they are not integrated with our calendars (learn more about using a calendar by reading Keep One Calendar. 

These same two problems exist whether we use paper and pen, smart phones, or computers. It is not the technology that gets in the way; it’s the way that we use it, or don’t use it. I admit to being a bit of a techno snob and I, personally, gave up paper long ago; but a well constructed list (paper or otherwise) incorporated into a calendar or datebook works just as well as a high tech software program (sometimes even better). The trick is not in how the list is kept, but rather, in how the list is organized and distributed.

The first thing we need to understand is the fundamental difference between a project and a task. To-do lists are for tasks. Usually projects are made up of many tasks. You don’t want to list something like: “plan Susan’s baby shower” on a to-do list. Planning a shower is a project. Instead you want to list the tasks involved in planning the shower, ie. buy invitations and postage , develop address list for invitations, and order the cake. By listing individual tasks, we can actually see some progress made in the project as we cross off the completed tasks. This is good for momentum and helps us to continue moving forward productively.

When listing tasks, we need to include adequate information to complete the task. Many times, a person will list something like “call the pediatrician” on their to-do list. When they get to that item, and go to make the call, they have to stop to look up the phone number, and spend a moment trying to remember exactly why they are calling. A better way to list the task is “call Dr. Smith to make a wellness appt. for Jason, 123-456-7890.” When all of the information is listed, there is a better chance that the task gets completed quickly.

Once we have drawn up a to-do list with adequate information for all of our tasks, we need to prioritize the tasks. I usually separate phone calls from other tasks, and then prioritize each list. Once prioritized, the tasks need to be inserted into our calendars. Don’t be afraid to have a huge list. Your to-do list should contain everything that you can think of. It is very freeing to get all of those tasks out of your head and into a usable format. We are now going to take that giant monster list and break it down.

At this point, it is good to look at a full week of our calendar. Plug tasks into free space on the calendar as is appropriate. For some of you it may be better to look at two weeks or a full month. There is no right way or wrong way, except of course, for not calendarizing our lists at all. It has been proven very efficient to group phone calls and emailing into blocks of time spread throughout the day (blocks of 30-45 minutes). Go through the tasks on your to do list systematically until they all have a place on your calendar. Your calendar is your tool for planning and recording everything in your life. Your calendar should cover all of the time between when you wake up and when you go to bed at night.

It is important to remember that setting up this process is a one-time event. Once you set it up, you will notice two things happening:

1) tasks actually get completed and crossed off making the list smaller and easier to manage and,

2) new tasks get plugged right into an appropriate place on your calendar as a matter of habit, and they also get completed and crossed off the list quickly.

Congratulations, you are now managing your to-do list… it is not managing you!