Many of us claim ‘there are never enough hours in the day!’ If only we had more time. We stress about the number of things we have to do and how on earth we are ever going to get through them all. Well, we aren’t. Our ‘to do’ list will always extend beyond the time available to complete the tasks on it.
Once we accept this, we can focus on how to prioritise what we do spend our time on.
I love ‘to do’ lists. I love ticking tasks off as I complete them. However I also find it dispiriting to get to the end of a day and find I’ve completed less than half the things on my list. I’ve even been known to add things I’ve done to my original list retrospectively just so I can convince myself how productive I’ve been.
There are of course days when nothing goes to plan. There’s an emergency or new priority that demands our immediate attention.
For many years I had one ‘to do’ list. It would have been impossible to complete the list within six months, never mind a week or a day. This left me with a feeling that I was constantly falling short. It was like dragging an over-stuffed and heavy suitcase around.
I then attended a time management course. This has changed the way I approach managing my own workload more effectively and efficiently. Here are some of specific the tips I picked up on creating more effective ‘to do’ lists.
10 ‘To Do’ list top tips
- Have a master list with everything you need to do. From this list, create a daily ‘Today’ list as your working document.
- How many hours will you be working? In my case it’s 7.5 plus 1 hour for breaks. Convert your hours into minutes. (In my case 510 minutes).
- At the top of your list, capture repeat activities. These may be daily short meetings, breaks and unexpected interruptions. Make a note of how much time these will take. e.g. 60 minutes for breaks, 15 for daily meetings and 30 for the unexpected. Deduct this from your total minutes. What remains is the amount of time you have left for everything else.
- Account for scheduled activities (meetings, appointments) and add the times allocated for these onto your list.
- Next prioritise the most important tasks and allocate time to these. It’s easy to be over-ambitious and put too many things on your list. N.B. Check you have not exceeded your total time allocation! If you have, either remove a task/tasks from the list or reduce the time you have allocated to completing tasks. e.g. Do you need 30 minutes for a meeting or will 15 be enough?
- During the day, tick activities off as you complete them. Re-prioritise the remaining tasks as you go. You may find it helpful to set an alarm to go off at key intervals to ensure you’re keeping to time.
- Once you reach the end of your allocated minutes for the day, stop. Ask yourself which activities needed more or less time? With practice you’ll become adept at gauging how long different activities actually need.
- Then create your next day’s ‘Today’ list in the same way.
- At the end of the week, capture specific achievements. This makes it easier to discuss them with your line manager when you next meet.
- Finally, review and update your Master ‘To Do’ list before creating your next daily ‘Today’ sheet ready for the following week. Now close the office door and leave the job behind you for the weekend.
Bonus tips:
- Don’t be tempted to skip breaks- you will be more productive by taking time out. Remember your organisation isn’t paying you for your lunch break!
- Reflect your ‘To Do’ list in your calendar to reduce the likelihood of interruptions. Each interruption impacts on your ability to concentrate, making you less effective and draining your energy.
- Psychologically completing a daily list and preparing one ahead of the next day has made it easier for me to walk away from the job at the end of the day.
- Focus on ‘good enough’ rather than perfection. Striving for perfection can drain time away from other important activities.
- Download my Today List Customise it to suit your needs.
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four hours sharpening the axe.
Abraham Lincoln
