Tips & Tricks On Writing the Perfect To-Do List

Introduction – Tips & Tricks On Writing the Perfect To-Do List

Since its inception by Charles Schwab in the early 1900s, the to-do list has been a productivity tool millions use worldwide.

As with many productivity concepts, there is not a one-size-fits-all. Instead, there are dozens of different ways to create a to-do list.

However, some tips and tricks make for a great to-do list and help you stay focused and productive.

Whether you are a seasoned productivity ninja or just starting out, read on for advice on creating the perfect to-do list.

What is a to-do list?

Simply put, a to-do list is a written list of actionable tasks you must complete daily, weekly or monthly. A to-do list can be handwritten on paper, created in a dedicated app or put on your calendar. Some people like to make a detailed list, while others prefer only to list the main tasks. A to-do list is personal to you, your lifestyle, and how your brain works.

Checkify defines a to-do list as follows:

What is a To-do List? The definition is a simple one. It’s a list of tasks you need to complete or things that you want to do.

Why have a To-do list?

Life was more straightforward in the early parts of the 20^th Century. Our grandparents and parents didn’t have as many distractions or things to do or check off daily. With our distracted lives, it is so easy to feel completely overwhelmed by everything we have on our plates. A to-do list can help you stay focused and reduce stress levels. Rather than feel you must do everything and remember everything, with a well-written to-do list, you do what truly matters and moves your life forward. You will feel in control of your time and tasks.

Checkify Blog in an article, ‘What is a To-do List? Simple tool to organise everything@ ask their readers some questions and explain that if the answer is yes to any of them, a to-do list will help:

Do any of the following seem familiar?

• You often feel completely overwhelmed with the amount of work you’ve got to do?
• You sometimes forget to do things that are important
• People have to chase you to get things done
• You find it a struggle to keep to deadlines

How to create the perfect to-do list?

We have established what a to-do list is and have demonstrated that a to-do list can help you be less stressed and more productive. But why do many people start a to-do list, use it for a day or two and then give up? Why do so many people fail to be less stressed and overwhelmed? There might be several reasons.

If you’re struggling to stay focused at work and complete tasks that move you forward, a good place to start is with a properly written To-do list.

According to life coach, Rachida Benamar (otherwise known as The Coaching Diva) people mistakenly believe this just involves jotting down everything you have to do in one long list and ticking them off one by one. The trouble with this technique is that the initial list we’re working from is often overwhelming and unfocused and therefore doesn’t actually bolster our efficiency at all. (How To Write A To Do List That You’ll Actually Stick To)

I will outline below several tips and tricks to help you create a better to-do list that you will stick with for the weeks and months ahead.

Write Everything Down

Write down any thought or idea that comes into your head to review later. This is known as a brain dump and could be either on paper or electronically in your To-do list app.

This concept is derived from David Allen’s Getting Things Done methodology. (Check out my blog post on GTD here). Allen suggests the brain is for having ideas, not holding them: “Your mind is for having ideas, not holding them.”

Writing everything down in a brain dump allows you to retain essential ideas but not interrupt your workflow by dealing with them immediately.

Make Your To-Do’s Actionable

Make sure all the items on your to-do list are actionable. Anything that is not actionable should be deleted.

Don’t put stuff like bring peace on earth or abolish the monarchy. Neither of these is actionable. Instead, put things like Join local peace group, take out the trash, write an email. You get the drift.

Vague ideas should be stored in a notes app to be reviewed at a later date and turned into actionable projects or deleted permanently.

Start Each To-do with an Action Verb

Your future self must understand the action required from a written task when creating your to-do. Therefore, your written tasks need to be precise and contain action verbs.

Don’t write something like Jess Shakespeare or living room. Instead, write. Book theatre tickets to see Shakespeare with Jess; Clean the living room.

Keep it short

Have a curated and concise to-do list. One of the mistakes I see on many people’s to-do list is that it contains everything and anything and is way too long to be helpful.

If you wake up in the morning and find 30+ items on your to-do list, you will immediately feel overwhelmed and stressed. Your to-do list will not align with your goals or move your life forward in the right direction. Think carefully about what you need to do on a specific day. Then, add only that and not everything you would like to do sometime.

There are things you do daily, but you don’t need reminding. For example, when you get up in the morning, you will most likely automatically clean your teeth and have a shower. You do this on autopilot every morning, so there is no need to write this down on your to-do list.

Prioritise

Not all tasks are created equal. After you have created goals and priorities for the year ahead, make sure your to-dos align with them. Never have more than three essential daily tasks you need to do, no matter what.

To give you a concrete example, if you go on a business trip to give a presentation on Wednesday, Tuesday’s to-do list should contain packing and finishing the presentation as your top to-do. Of course, you might also like to clean your office or read a book chapter, but that is not that important.

Add Do Dates

Assign do-dates to all your tasks. Some tasks might be time-sensitive, such as finishing an assignment before the deadline or shopping before the dinner party. Other tasks might not be, but you will procrastinate if you don’t schedule them for a specific day.

Create your to-do list in tandem with your calendar

Allow yourself enough time when you pencil in to-dos for a specific day. Don’t pencil in writing the first draft of an article on a day you have a 4-hour meeting. Working in tandem with your calendar ensures you leave enough time for tasks, create a healthy work-life balance and don’t overcommit.

Time Estimate

Put time estimates on all your to-dos. This way, you ensure that tasks don’t take too long and leave you procrastinating.

Batch similar tasks together

Batch similar tasks together by theming your day or creating a primary task with sub-tasks. I theme my days to work on my admin one day and my social media the other. This doesn’t work for everyone, as some people like to switch things up a bit.

Another option is to work on time blogs with one main task and several subtasks. For example, have Emails as your main task and then divide this into writing a newsletter, responding to Jo, etc.

It is proven that switching activities often is not productive. Therefore, batching similar tasks will make you focus better and increase efficiency.

Conclusion – Tips & Tricks On Writing the Perfect To-Do List

I hope the above has given you some inspiration on how to create the perfect to-do list. There are, of course, other suggestions. Find what works for you.

Last but not least, I always get asked whether you should use a to-do app or a written list. Some studies have shown that writing things in long hand allows for better retention. On the other hand, having an app allows for recurring tasks to be input only once. It’s a matter of choice. There is no right or wrong.