What Should Be on the Top of Your To-Do List and 5 Simple Tips

Here is the top lesson I learned in 2021 to improve my life, and I hope it will help you improve yours drastically.

The Top of My To-Do List

It comes from the blog by Paul Graham; It originally comes from the book the top 5 regrets of dying by Bronnie Ware (Amazon affiliate link). Here are the top 5 regrets of dying:

i) I wish I hadn’t worked so hard

ii) I wish I’d had the courage to live the life true to myself

iii) I wish I’d let myself be happier

iv) I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings

v) I wish I’d kept in touch with my friends

As per the book by Bronnie Ware, these are the top regret people have when they are on their deathbed. Paul Graham also says in his blog, that are the mistakes people make by default.

So the question is how to avoid making these mistakes when they are by default.

What I did to transform my life, as Paul suggested, I simply put the following 5 commands on my top to-do list to not regret on my deathbed. The top 5 commands are:

i) Don’t ignore your dreams

ii) Don’t work too much

iii) Say what you think

iv) Cultivate friendship

v) Be happy

Personally, I have put these commands on the top of my to-do list since 2021.

A solid to-do list is essential for personal productivity. It's such a relief to find a task-management program and technique that works for you. Checking tasks off your list provides you with a sense of success and is an integral part of being organized. A dependable to-do list makes life easier and less stressful.

Here are the 5 simple tips for a great To-Do list.

#5 Choose the best App

This is the first step to managing your to-do list proactively. I use Due, which is only available on iPhone. There are plenty of options available in the market to choose from. Here is a trick try a couple of them first!

#4 Prioritize your list

I do not choose more than 3 things to do per day. People sometimes say that you do this because you're afraid to forget. In contrast, I just want to focus on one thing at a time. You can add more later in you want to.

#3 Hardest task first

Focus on the most challenging task first thing in the morning. I usually ick the hardest or the assignment I least want to do. It helps me get the thing done before I lose energy and motivation for the day.

#2 Due Date

Always assign a deadline to each task, and stick to the plan to avoid stress. Try to complete the task as soon as the App or your to-do system tells you to do.

#1 Review your To-Do-List

Make sure to revise/edit your to-do list each night before going to bed if you have too many tasks (more than 3), reschedule, and focus on the most challenging or the due ones.

Thank you for reading! I wish you a healthy and happy life.

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Disclaimer: Please note that this article is just an advice. It is for information purposes only. The content reflects my review of credible sources from scientific papers. The original story was published on another platform.