To-Do List Formula: A Stress-Free Guide To Creating To-Do Lists That Work!

by Damon Zahariades

In other words, your cognitive resources have been exhausted.

competing options.

We become less rational, less focused, and less able to control our impulses.

choose activities that offer immediate gratification over those that are arguably better for ...

suffering from decisio...

We’re inclined to choose the easy path.

To-do lists that present too many options exacerbate this problem.

increases your decision fatigue.

as “decision avoidance.”

effort. Instead, you spend valuable time checking email, visiting Facebook, and reading news headlines, all in an attempt to sidestep the act of deciding what to work on.

Your productivity plummets and your to-do items, including the important ones, go unfinished.

Reason #6: You Neglect To Add Context For Each Task

context for individual tasks.

time needed to complete

prio...

If you don’t know how long something will take to finish, how important it is, and how it contributes to your goals, how can you know whether you should work on

the purpose

to-do item without knowing its contextual details.

Reason #7: Your Tasks Are Defined Too Broadly

they’re too large in scope.

Many lack a clear starting point and ending point.

As a result, there’s no way to properly m...

This task is too broadly defined.

In other words, this broadly defined to-do item is actually a full-blown project made up of numerous tasks.

I would be inclined to procrastinate.

a narrowly-defined task implies clear starting and ending points.

Projects masquerade as tasks when they haven’t been broken down to their constituent parts.

The to-do item “study for exam” is imprecise.

The to-do item “increase department productivity” is ambiguous.

since it presents a single objective. It’s

defining tasks too broadly is detrimental to their completion.

Reason #8: Your Tasks Are Not Attached To Specific Goals

fail to associate these tasks with specific goals.

specific goal to each task on your to-do list. Know

a quick self-appraisal of your to-do list proficiency.

Assessing Your To-Do List Mastery: A Self-Appraisal

adept,

bona fide

be experiencing persistent stress as your list of tasks grows by the day.

How Negative Emotions Impair Your Productivity

When we’re unhappy, stressed, or fearful, our productivity suffers.

We eventually regain a positive outlook that allows us to snap out of our funk and get things done.

chronic stress and fear can literally change how the brain functions.

make rational decisions suffers as stress hormones, such as cortisol, accumulate.

Even if your lists are short, include deadlines, provide context, present minimal variability, and tasks are associated with specific goals, your results may be less than stellar.

Are you struggling with feelings that are siphoning

your motivation?

10 Most Popular To-Do List Systems

bird’s-eye view of several systems

#1 - The Massive, All-Inclusive List