Key to Being…

“Don’t agonize, organize.”
~Florynce Kennedy

I love to-do lists.  I used to be addicted to them (and let them dominate my day).  I’d sit there and watch my little list turn into a big, hairy monster with every item whining to be top priority.  So I decided to take control – and so can you.  Take advantage of the organized beauty of a simple to-do list, but don’t let it take advantage of you (and your organized beauty).

7 Tips for Simple To-Do Lists

1. Short - Seeing 30 items on your list is hard on the eyes (and nerves).  Keep it manageable and realistic.  One dozen items is fair, anything more and you either need to re-evaluate your priorities, create category lists (see below) or get a secretary. 
2. Concise – Leave out the details and extraneous words.  You should be able to quickly and easily skim your list.  Abbreviate and use acronyms.
3. Ordered – Mark your most important items with a star, asterisk, number, whatever makes you happy and makes the item stand out.  It’s useful to put the most important items at the top.  
4. Short-term vs long-term – I like short-term lists, but if you must, make one short-term list you can get done in a day or two, and one long-term list for ongoing items or items that will take more than a few days.
5. Category lists - For work, I have several to-do lists.  One for each project or category of work.  If you have enough items, it makes sense to have a separate to-do list for each.  Like-items grouped with each other are easier to find and keep things organized.  Then I have a separate category of ‘home’, which lists all items that are non-work related.
6. No dates and times – Dates and times don’t belong on a to-do list since items need to be done as soon as possible.  Use your calendar/cell phone/other nifty techno-geek gadget to remind yourself.  Some exceptions can be made for long-term lists.
7. Paper or electronic – For years I used the pen and paper approach for my list (nothing beats the satisfaction of crossing out an item with my pen, leaving an indent in the paper), but now I moved to a simple excel file.  An alternative is to try an online to-do list tool– they range from extremely simple to ones with more than you need bells & whistles. Try a few approaches and see what works for you.

To-do lists don’t have to add to your stress.  They are meant to reduce it and increase productivity.  Organize your list and your day using the above, and you’ll be surprised how much more you get done!