What To Do With Your To-Do List
“I have a to do list, but I don’t know where to start. Everything on there feels important.”
This is a common complaint I hear from my clients. After you’ve written down your list of things you need to do, then what? Your To Do list is intended to help you know what you need to do next. If it’s not doing that, then odds are you’ve done a great job making a list, but it’s not yet Your To-Do List.
Most of my clients write down a long list of everything they need to do. At first, that leaves them feeling better. But then as they look at that long list of things, they still have no idea what to do with it. It’s just a very long list. As the oft-repeated quote above expresses, you're still overwhelmed.
“I propose they think of [their To-Do list] ...like a report you might receive at work.....You scan it, going to the columns and data points that give you the vital information. What Is the vital information you want out of your to-do list?”
First, it needs to become more than a list.
I have begun challenging my clients to think of their to-do list as more than a laundry list. Instead, I propose they think of it as a document meant to give them vital information, like a report you might receive at work. You don’t read every item on those reports, do you? You scan it, going to the columns and data points that give you the vital information. What Is the vital information you want out of your to-do list?
There are many ways to organize your to-do list. If you take a moment to reflect you will realize you do some of these techniques organically. If you have a large block of time, you may scan your list for items that need a large block of time. If you have low energy, you may look at your list for low-hanging fruit. Of course, sometimes we have to prioritize our list in the straightforward manner of “what is the biggest fire”, but our goal is to try and minimize those events by learning to utilize our to-do lists better.
The important thing is that you need to be structuring your To Do list to be giving you this information. You need to decide what information you want it to provide you with and design it to do that. Some people use tags or categories or personalized coding systems. It doesn’t matter how you do it, but that you do it.
After sharing this idea with one of my clients he added a category to his To-Do List called “SUL”- Spousal Upset Level. He knew there were items on his to-do list that didn’t register as important when he scanned it, but revealed themselves to be very important when considered on the SUL scale. This allowed him to prioritize his tasks more efficiently with the goal of a happier marriage.
If you relate to the quote that started this article most likely you aren’t done with the creation of your to do list. You have a wonderful list, but now you need to figure out what you want that list to tell you? How long each task will take? If it has a deadline? In general how important it feels to you? If the task is location oriented? (In the car, on the phone, at desk? With family?) Once you can identify what you want your ToDo List to tell you, then you can create a way to have your list give you that information with an app, a spreadsheet, or a notebook. Then you will be on your way to having a to do list that will helps you discern importance and know what to do next.