Journal logo

The To-do List Technique That Actually Works

What is today's to-do list, if not yesterday's to-do list persevering?

By AVPublished 3 years ago 4 min read
2
The To-do List Technique That Actually Works
Photo by Glenn Carstens-Peters on Unsplash

I’m a huge fan of lists as much as the next organisation freak. Moving apartment? To-do list. Packing? To-do list. Life goals? To-do list. Hotel? Trivago. However, how often do these *actually* work?

Lists are not just made for work but can be made to brain dump all aspects of life. I’ve literally written a list now of what I have to include in this article. There’s nothing wrong with not doing everything on your to-do list, since something more urgent may come up and that’s life. However, if this slowly builds and builds into an everyday occurrence then nothing will get done.

Has anyone actually seen the end of a to-do list? Well, has anyone actually finished a vaseline tin? I doubt it.

You need to prioritise your list they say. However, how can you prioritise when literally everything needs to be done right now?

I’ve recently started using the 1-3-5 prioritisation technique which has now revolutionised my to-do list. I use this for work but even for tasks in my personal life too. Let’s face it, we all want to get *so* much done on the weekend, and then we blink, and it’s Sunday evening already.

Here’s how it works, write down three headings:

1 Big Task

3 Medium Tasks

5 Small Tasks

Fill in your tasks under each heading accordingly. Your big tasks must be done today, even if it is the only one you complete. When this is complete, only then work through your medium tasks (you can prioritise them within the heading if you wish) and so on. What this means is that even if you only completed one today (I got out of bed 🌟) then a bloomin’ well done to you! Move all the uncompleted tasks over to the next day, but do this beforehand. You don’t want ‘make to-do list’ on your to-do.

This does leave only 9 tasks available in your day, which can seem far too few for some people. Fear not, you can make it your own. If you prefer 2 Big Tasks, 5 Medium Tasks, and unlimited small tasks then you do what works for you and your life schedule. However, I’ve found that severely limiting the content of my to-do list gives me smaller chunks to focus on and makes me much less overwhelmed.

Here are some examples for a typical workday:

1 Big Task – If there’s one thing you want to complete, what will it be?

  • Prepare for a presentation (I know, I know, I don't like them either)
  • Important tasks you’ve been putting off
  • Tasks with a deadline fast approaching like a dragon breathing down your neck

3 Medium Tasks – Important tasks that don’t need to be done as soon as the big task

  • Tackle bottlenecks in the project – do you need to call someone? Arrange a meeting? Chase up someone? Don't literally chase them, you know what I mean

5 Small Tasks – Would be nice to get done today, but these should have a minimum urgency

  • Reviewing notes from a meeting
  • Researching for a project
  • Organising files & folders (no one has ever found inner peace with a chaotic file system)
  • General administrative tasks that you can do whilst grooving along to your favourite playlist

The 1-3-5 is the prioritisation technique that has worked incredibly well for me. On most days, I will complete at least all the big and medium tasks and my to-do list just feels more manageable. This is a huge step up from before where my list would just send me into a spiral of anxiety. Human beings are creatures of habit and we need to reward ourselves when our habits are going in the right direction. If I manage a whole week completing my big and medium tasks every single day, I then treat myself.

This technique takes it one day at a time and is easy to transfer tasks from one day to the next. Maybe try this method to plan your goals not just for the day but for the whole week or month.

I’ve stuck to the old pen and paper for this prioritisation to-do list, but if you prefer an online notepad then set it up with your own template. With my to-do list in front of me on paper, it’s always clear and visible. This reminds me every second to stick to my goals.

There you have it! I hope you find this to-do list re-vamp useful to help improve yourself and your life as you get a fresh start in spring. Now enjoy this gif of a good boy completing his own to-do list.

workflow
2

About the Creator

AV

A whole lot of thoughts structured into blog posts

Instagram: @_instashika

Reader insights

Be the first to share your insights about this piece.

How does it work?

Add your insights

Comments

There are no comments for this story

Be the first to respond and start the conversation.

Sign in to comment

    Find us on social media

    Miscellaneous links

    • Explore
    • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms of Use
    • Support

    © 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.