How to Make Your To Do List More Productive

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That kind of sounds like the list is going to do all the work, doesn’t it? Sorry. No magic skills here.

What I mean is that I am going to tell you how to get the things on your to do list done. And while I’m at it, I’ll help you feel a little less overwhelmed.

Cause that’s how I’m feeling about now. Overwhelmed. Like I have a to do list a mile or two long.

Christmas is coming and I still have lots to do.

And you might have noticed that ADD Moms looks a little different. Working on that. Thought I had it covered, but nope. Back to square one.

And, well, you know. We all have stuff to do.

Right now I want to move from feeling overwhelmed to getting stuff done.

Cause when it’s done, my stress level goes down.

So here’s what I’m going to do. You can do it too. It’s pretty easy.

Start with a sheet of paper and something to write with. Oh, and get your planner or calendar too.

Write down everything that you need to do in the next 2-3 weeks. Let’s say until the end of the month (and coincidentally the end of the year).

No order. Just write down things as they occur to you. I call this a dump list cause you’re basically dumping everything you’re trying to remember to do out of your head and on to that piece of paper.

Once you’re done, go through and edit. Did you list anything more than once? Hmmm… that might mean it’s extra important. Maybe you should schedule that into your calendar right now.

Hint: that’s the real key to getting things done. Taking them off the to do list and scheduling them into your day.

OK now go through and see which things you can eliminate or delegate. You know – get someone else to do it.

You still have stuff left, don’t you?

Me too.

Choose what’s most important and put them into your schedule. Now.

What if you still have stuff left over after that?

Well that was going to happen even if you didn’t do this exercise right? Cause you were just going to haphazardly attack things and hope it all got done.

And you know from experience that doesn’t work.

So do what’s important to you, farm out what you can and make peace with the rest.

And for future reference, repeat after me: “Just say no“.

Lacy Estelle

Lacy Estelle

Lacy Estelle is the writer of Lacyestelle.com and the Podcast host for An ADD Woman.

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13 Responses

  1. Making a schedule or a “to-do” list for yourself is a good idea. Looking at your list helps you keep track of what you need to do. Add new things as you get assignments, and check off things when you’ve done them. Use your list to help you decide which thing is most important to work on first.

  2. We’ve all familiar with creating a to-do list to increase our productivity. Another list which can jumpstart our productivity is the not-do list – things we shouldn’t do. By being conscious of what to avoid, it’ll automatically channel our energy into things that we want to do. Doing both hand in hand will maximize our performance.

  3. Making a schedule or a “to-do” list for yourself is a good idea. Looking at your list helps you keep track of what you need to do. Add new things as you get assignments, and check off things when you’ve done them. Use your list to help you decide which thing is most important to work on first.

  4. So I sat down last night with our original article and the two reader’s revisions as a guide, and a couple hours later finalized a new list of 30 things; which ended up being, I think, a perfect complement to the original.

  5. So I sat down last night with our original article and the two reader’s revisions as a guide, and a couple hours later finalized a new list of 30 things; which ended up being, I think, a perfect complement to the original.

  6. Your own version of customer service might be keeping in touch with contacts from year-ago projects, checking in with coworkers you don’t regularly interact with, asking questions of mentors, and just generally handling the human side of work that quickly gets lost between task list items. But do your customer service on the regular, and you’ll have a more reliable roster of helpers when the time comes.

  7. Sometimes high school seems like a necessary evil, that step between childhood and the structure of elementary school and adulthood and the freedom of college. I remember feeling like I was just ready to be done – and that was only the beginning of sophomore year. Now at the end of my college journey, I know that while I did well in high school, there are some things in particular that made high school and college easier for me. And there are still more things I could have done to make my high school experience more fun, more manageable, and more beneficial.

  8. This is not a list of things I know because I’ve figured this eating thing out — far from it. It’s a list of the things I know because of some rare moments of clarity that I remember because they felt different from everything else on the ticker tape.