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First, it will give you control over your workday. You’ll know what you need to work on and what can be put on the back burner. A good task management system will make your workday less chaotic.
A solid to-do list will reveal the day’s top priorities based on their importance and urgency. It will show you instantly where you should devote your time and attention.
your task list will show you what you need to work on based on each item’s urgency.
Your task list removes the emotion so you can make good decisions that maximize your productivity.
being productive isn’t about completing a long list of tasks. It’s not about staying busy. It’s about focusing on high-value activities that help you to accomplish your goals.
41% of to-do items are never completed.
50% of completed to-do items are done within a day.
18% of completed to-do items are done w...
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10% of completed to-do items are done wi...
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more than 40% of tasks are never finished. The implication is that the items are carried over to the following day, postponed indefinitely, or dropped altogether. These are not the signs of an effective task management system.
people tend to pick tasks that appear easy to do. The problem with this approach is that it fails to address task priority.
According to a survey by LinkedIn, nearly 90% of professionals admit to not getting through their task lists on a regular basis.
By writing them down, you’ll collect them in one place and gain a bird’s-eye view of your biggest priorities.
a solid to-do list will focus your attention on the right work and prevent you from getting sidelined by less-critical items.
Your task list isn’t a tool for getting everything done. Rather, it’s a tool that will ensure you get the right things done.
A to-do list without deadlines is a wish list. Nothing more. Without deadlines, we lean toward inaction.
They help us to prioritize tasks and projects based on the amount of time we have to complete them.
Without deadlines, there’s little impetus to act. Without an impetus, nothing gets done. This is the reason so many to-do lists spiral out of control, growing longer and longer by the day as tasks go unfinished.
Deadlines are the enemy of procrastination. They motivate us to take action and finish tasks.
Parkinson’s Law: “Work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion.”
Lists that are too long eventually reach a point at which they become unmanageable.
finish each day realizing that you failed to complete the day’s list of tasks. This outcome, experienced over and over, can be devastating to your motivation.
failing to complete your to-do items day after day, you train your mind to accept that outcome.
Many people do a brain dump of every task they need or want to get done. They record everything on a single list. The problem is, they neglect to categorize these tasks and put them on separate lists according to context, priority, and urgency.
Items that will take three minutes to complete are listed next to items that will take three weeks. High-priority tasks are listed next to low-priority tasks that can be put on the back burner indefinitely.
The more options we have, the less capable we are to decide between them and the more anxiety we experience as a result.
A second consequence of having too much variability in your task lists is that you take longer to get things done.
too much variability in your to-do lists increases your stress levels.
Items are written down without any indication about the time needed to complete them, their priority, and the roles they play in achieving specific goals.
to-do lists that offer no task-level context are ineffective. In fact, they do more harm than good.
When you create a list of tasks without context, you end up with options that are difficult to choose from.
Our goals spur us to take action. We’re less inclined to procrastinate when we’re able to predict the positive result of completing a specific task.
Tally your points after you answer the questions and find out how skilled you truly are at creating effective to-do lists!
Do you understand the primary role to-do lists serve in a task management system?
Do you assign deadlines - a specific date rather than “by the end of the month” - to each to-do item?
Do you limit the number of items on your to-do lists to 10? (If so, give yourself three points.) Do you limit the number to seven? (If so, give yourself five points.)
Do you create your to-do lists with minimal variability? Focus on the time needed to complete each task as well as each task’s priority.
Do your to-do lists limit your options concerning what you should spend your time on?
Do you include context for each to-do item so you’ll know whether it’s a high-value or low-value task, and the time commitment involved?
Do you define your tasks narrowly and with specificity so you can quickly identify when they’ve been completed?
Do you associate each task with a specific goal?
scored between 32 and 40 points, consider yourself a to-do list ninja.
scored between 19 and 31, you’re doing reasonably well, but could stand to improve select areas of your task management strategy.
scored 18 or fewer points, you need to rethink your approach to how you create your to-do lists.
Studies show that chronic stress and fear can literally change how the brain functions. Our ability to process thoughts and make rational decisions suffers as stress hormones, such as cortisol, accumulate. Neuroscientists have discovered that, over time, this state can damage the brain, hampering our decision-making ability.
pinpoint the reasons you’re experiencing these feelings. For example, do you feel guilty and depressed because you’ve missed important deadlines at your job?
Once you’ve identified whatever is triggering your negativity, you can take steps to change your circumstances and relieve the pressure.
your emotional state plays a significant role in how successfully you work from your lists.
your to-do list is there to help you organize tasks according to their importance and priority, and identify where to best spend your limited time. You won’t be able to do that effective...
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There’s nothing elegant about this strategy. It is essentially a brain dump. You write down every task you can think of onto a single list.
