As you check off the last thing on your list, feelings of satisfaction wash over you, and you are done with your todo list for the day! But the real question is how effective was your todo list, and did the tasks that you should have completed for the day get completed? If you are not sure, or your answer is, “I think so,” read on, there are a few things you should know about your todo list to make it simple and effective.
Content of Your “ToDo”
The content of your todo list needs to be task focused; you need to put things on it based on necessity. To best decide the content of your todo list, have two separate lists, a master list, and a daily list. The daily list will change each day, and should contain items that need be done today, while the master list will be tasks that you know about that need to get done sometime in the near future, but are not a necessity for today. Keep in mind while you are making your list, how well you will be able to handle the tasks that you assign yourself.
Length of “ToDo”
If your daily list opens up and it rolls all the way across your floor like a roll of toil paper, it’s too long! Your list needs to have a length that makes it seem conquerable each and every day, yet contains enough tasks that you are accomplishing what must be done. If the amount of tasks on your list can’t be done in a single day, move some of them to a secondary list for your week, or move them to your master list, and bring them to the daily list as you see fit. If you are feeling ambitious and you would like, you can also create a weekly or monthly list that you can add things to from the main master list. You can use your weekly or monthly list to also keep track of what you need to add to your day tomorrow and in doing this you can stay ahead of assignments and tasks, additional list can prove to be incredibly powerful tools. Remember, if the daily list is too long to handle, that’s one reason for you to avoid it, and if you avoid organization, your life becomes too chaotic.
Goals Through Tasks
A todo list is a great place for you to work towards your goals as well, it is not just for the mundane tasks of everyday life, in fact, a todo list can be a pivotal tool in the development of your goals. In order to make your list more goal oriented, think about what your goals are for the month or the year, and each day, add a couple small tasks that can be completed easily, but will help you work towards your ultimate goals. Adding goals to your list can be an incredibly powerful tool for anyone looking to improve not only their organization, but also their life.
The key to a successful person isn’t in what they do; it is in how they do it. We all have various tasks that we need to complete each and every day to be a successful person and a todo list provides us with the ability to do just that in a manageable way. With the ability to do everything from remind you to grab extra milk, to remind you take the extra step at work towards that promotion, a todo list is going to help make your life much better.