10 Tips To Making The Best To-Do List

To-Do Lists are essential if you’re going to beat work overload. When you don’t use them effectively, you’ll appear unfocused and unreliable to the people around you. By keeping such a list, you make sure that your tasks are written down all in one place so you don’t forget anything important. To-Do Lists are particularly useful when you have a small number of tasks that you need to complete. However, they can become cumbersome when you have too many items on them, or when you need to progress multiple projects.

Here’s how you can attain the best To-Do list for a much more easier lifestyle.

1. Set an Expiration Date – You want to use Due Dates when you have a task that must be done on a specific day – e.g. it’s an appointment, event, or it’s an important deadline. It is  recommended that you to set a reminder for all such tasks.

2. Focus on bigger Goals- Having a goal written down with a set date for accomplishment gives you something to plan and work for. A written goal is an external representation of your inner desires; its a constant reminder of what you need to accomplish.

3. Batch Your Tasks- Organizing your workflow so that similar small tasks are batched together is a fantastic way to maximize your creative energy and do more.

4. Maintain One Master List- Write down every single task, both mundane and critical, that you need to accomplish. Don’t rank the items at this point. Be sure to include routine duties. Neglecting to schedule the humdrum to-do items can topple your well-intentioned time-block schedule.

5. Repeat this process each day- It should be routine. Sometimes you may put off a task for the next day. Just make sure that you re-valuate items you’ve put off.

6. Write it the night before-  When you take a few minutes to write your to-do list the night before, you can hit the ground running the next morning.

7. Outline your tasks- Write down all of the tasks that you need to complete. If they’re large tasks, break out the first action step, and write this down with the larger task.

8. Keep it simple-  Sometimes what we put on our list can be realistic and we end up feeling overwhelmed and ineffective. Our lists should be derived from our larger goals and include tasks that move us toward those big-picture endeavors

9. Prioritize important tasks-  Prioritizing daily tasks is key to successful time management. When you prioritize, you make sure you accomplish the most important tasks first.