A simple recipe for your to-do list

Tasks for today:

Develop my to-do list system

I’ve used some form or another of a to-do list since high school, and I’ve spent years actively refining the system I use to track daily tasks. Today, I have two primary to-do lists, one for daily to-dos during the work week, and one I use on the weekend for projects and chores around the house. And yet, my system is still constantly evolving to account for changes in my work and home responsibilities and schedules. 

The beauty of the to-do list is that there is no “one size fits all” approach. If someone claims to tell you they have the perfect to-do list system for you...beware! Your to-do list and task tracking system need to accommodate the unique aspects of your work, your life, your workstyle and your preferences. So, your to-do list should be wonderfully and uniquely specialized for you. 

The shadow side to this is that you are likely the only person who can design the perfect system for yourself which will take a bit of work. And yet, I recommend you make the investment because I can guarantee that the time you invest to create a strong daily task tracking system will come back to you ten-fold in the amount you’ll be able to get done and the peace of mind from having an organized system. 

Just as it should be unique to you, your to-do list should also be specific to the job you need it to do. For me, I need my to-do list to organize my daily tasks and priorities, track what I accomplish, track where I spend my time, and help me optimize how much I accomplish and where I spend my time. And so, the system I’ve developed to do this (more details to come in a future post) is designed to accomplish those three goals. If you’re not using any to-do list system today, I encourage you to try one out to see the benefit of proactively planning your day vs. reactively responding to needs that arise. If you’re already using a to-do list, ask yourself what job your to-do list is meant to do and how it can become more useful for you. In either case, ask yourself:

  • What do I need to know?

  • How might I improve the way I work?

  • What am I trying to accomplish?

Use the answers to these questions as your guiding principles in designing a better to-do list system for yourself. 

To get you started, the below recipe can help you build your to-do list and power it up.

To-Do List:

  • Name: Daily to-do list

  • Purpose: Organize and prioritize tasks and track progress

  • Prep Time: 10-15 minutes

  • Use Time: 1 Day

  • Audience: Personal

  • Recommended Tools: Notebook or Task management tool

Ingredients:

  • Primary item: Tasks

  • Optional ingredients:

    • Estimated/Actual time (15 minute increments)

    • Category of work

    • Priority

    • Details

Instructions:

For building the list:

  • Write out list of tasks, then add in detail for each, including:

    • Note how long each task should take

    • Note the priority of each task (high priority, medium, low)

    • Note which category of work this falls into

  • Sort the list by priority and then by category or number the items based on the order you’ll tackle them

  • Add one, very easy task to the top of the list

For using the list:

  • Start working on the tasks from the top down

  • Cross off each task as you complete it

  • At the end of the day, review what you accomplished and circle any tasks that didn’t get finished so you can consider adding them to tomorrow’s to-do list. 

  • Repeat each day 

Recommendations:

  • For all tasks under 15 minutes, consider grouping them into buckets and tackle them with similar items (i.e. all email-related tasks together)

  • If you need to take your to-do list on the go, consider using a tool that has a mobile app or a way to access the list on the go. If you prefer an analog to-do list, consider using a small notebook that can fit in your pocket or purse so you always have it with you. 

  • Another tool you can consider using for to-do lists is time blocking. With this method, you block times for different categories of work. During each time block, you should focus on the tasks on your list that fall in the category. Start with the tasks that take the longest if you have a large focus block of time, or focus on the shortest first if you only have an abbreviated time to focus. 

  • Make sure you have all of the information you’ll need to complete each task. If you don’t, consider gathering this information while you are making the list, or break down the items into smaller components so you can tackle only the first step today and continue working on it tomorrow. 

  • Make sure each task is specific and actionable to what you can complete today. Instead of including something like “Write blog post”, consider breaking it down into “Finalize blog topic”, “write outline for post”, “research information for blog post”, “write first 1,000 words of blog post”, “finish draft of blog post”, “edit blog post”, “publish blog post”. Then decide which of these sub-items is reasonable to complete today and add those to your to-do list. 

Lists, Work management, Life managementKaite ChambersWork