For the third post in the Accelerated Learning series on getting things done, following the importance of being organized and using the right level of planning, it’s time to talk about your basic, daily go-to tool for organizing and planning: the daily to-do list. Two important rules for anyone’s to-do list are:
1. Write down what you want to accomplish today
2. Keep the list in a place where you’ll see it frequently throughout the day
Life is full of distractions. You might make plans to do something but then get distracted by one thing, then another, and next thing you know, there’s no time left for what you originally wanted or needed to get done. If you write down what you want to do and keep the list in front of you, most things on your to-do list won’t be that hard once you actually start them.
Feeling unmotivated to do anything on your list? On your daily lists, write a reminder to yourself to just try working on one or two items for just fifteen minutes each. Set a timer to reassure yourself that fifteen minutes will pass by soon. Then, get as much of your task done as you can for 15 minutes. Sometimes, you’ll be ready to stop when the timer sounds. But other times, you’ll find that working for fifteen minutes got you into a rhythm and now you want to keep going!
To-do lists can help you with several things – in addition to the list below, can you think of any reasons why a to-do list can be useful? A to-do list helps you:
- Stay focused and better resist distractions
- Reprioritize and be flexible as things change
- Figure out if you need an outline for your goal or a more detailed plan
- Ensure daily actions support your larger, longer-term goals
- Understand what’s really important to you – that’s how you spend your time
Don’t feel bad when you only get half of your list done by the end of the day – that’s normal. Even successful people do that fairly often. Those people aren't successful because they’re perfect, they’re successful because they do what they can today and then they keep on going tomorrow. Besides, you still get more done by accomplishing half of your to-do list than you would have gotten done without a list at all.
It's simple. Just get a piece of paper and something to write with and write down what you want to do today (or tomorrow if it’s already evening). For your first month, write down one or two easy things to do each day so that you can build the habit of writing a daily to-do list and acting on it. Choose things that you know take less than five minutes. The most important thing when starting this is to build the habit, not to accomplish big things. Then, when you’re more uncomfortable not writing a daily to-do list than you are writing one, that’s when you’ve ingrained the habit enough to use it for more ambitious tasks.
One last thing: use a sticky note on your bathroom mirror or a similar daily reminder to make your to-do list, especially when it’s not something you’re eager to do each day yet. If you don’t have a reminder to help you get into the habit every day, it’s easy to forget for a few days and then start forgetting altogether.
Writing a daily to-do list will help you get more done – a lot more. You’ll think more about how you’re spending your time and what activities are really important to you. A to-do list is your daily exercise in staying organized, clear, focused, and productive to get results.
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