Many avoid them, others swear by them…
As much as ‘to-do’ lists work for some, and not for others, there’s an element about them that is unmistakably effective…and that is, that once on paper – your mind is free to focus on what matters now, and
not on the million things you need to get done today, this week, this year!.
I can guarantee you that if you ask 5 people that you consider to be
successful, how they start their day – the likelihood of them writing a to-do list would be
high up there!
Here are some ‘To do List ’ tips, with the aim of helping you not only write it all down but to learn
to prioritize too:
To Do List Tips:
l Start your day with
getting out a piece of paper/ opening a new word document.
l Write a list of all
that you need to accomplish today
l Read through your list
again and highlight all that HAS to be accomplished today
(not tomorrow).
l Put the highlighted
items in order of importance (we are usually most vigilant and less distracted in the morning,
so prioritizing time to get the important things done first will save you time
later in the day for more menial tasks), leave the remainder of things to do (this week) at the bottom of the list.
l Give each item a time limit and ensure they are measureable. (ie: Do minutes
for AGM. = Type out minutes for AGM and send off to board members by 11am)
l Give the remaining
items a deadline. (Take the dog for
its injections - by Wednesday).
l Once your list is
complete – schedule in breaks.
(Yes, it is legal to have scheduled breaks in
your work day).
Only you know when you are most likely to start procrastinating, so set
time aside to do whatever it is you do, while procrastinating. Keep it to a
maximum of 15minutes, as that way you can have numerous breaks throughout the
day. Once that time is set into your day, you’ll find you are less
likely to demand of time scheduled for other things.
Be realistic: ONLY you
know how much you can really accomplish in one day!!
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