You are not alone! Harsh truth...it will NEVER ALL BE DONE! There will always, always, always be an infinite number of things we need/want to do, but there is a FINITE number of hours in a day…
Chasing the idea of getting it all done is a bit like chasing rainbows…
A to-do list is a brilliant tool for emptying your poor, cluttered mind, but DON’T allow it to make you feel that you have failed when you don’t manage to tick it all off!
Here are some top tips to manage it….
BE REALISTIC – look at the time you have available and choose ONLY one, two or three things off that list that you’re going to achieve in the time. (Remember to allow time for at least one curveball in that time!) And if you manage to achieve all of them, BOOM. You can choose either to tick one more off the list, OR you can choose to put your feet up with a cuppa for 10 mins instead.
BREAK IT DOWN – break big, daunting tasks into smaller, manageable mini tasks, otherwise you will never do them. (I have just discovered an awesome app called Goblin Tools which uses AI to break down a task into mini steps – SO useful). Steps so tiny that you can’t not do them!
BATCH tasks together (eg Phonecalls to make, To-Buy list, Emails, Errands, Things to research etc) – this will help maintain focus and avoid too much task-switching.
PRIORITISE – I find this hard, as an awful lot of things on my list seem to be equally important.. so I try and break my list into categories (Work/Family/House/Coaching etc), prioritise tasks within that mini category, and then try and keep on top of the top task or two in each category.
EISENHOWER MATRIX – Google it if you don’t know that this is. The idea is to draw a matrix and categorise your list into: Urgent and Important: Do these tasks first.Important but Not Urgent: Schedule these.Urgent but Not Important: Delegate these tasks if possible.Neither Urgent nor Important: Consider eliminating or deferring these.
1,2,3 METHOD: Write 1, 2 or 3 for each to each task based on priority:1: Must-do today.2: Should do but not critical.3: Nice to do, but not urgent.
DIARISE IT – try allocating a date and time for a task and putting it into your calendar. If something else comes up, be sure to reschedule the task and put it back into the calendar. Then when the time arrives, put your phone away, set a timer and DO IT!
CONSIDER USING AN APP – there are lots of apps out there – I use Microsoft To Do which allows me to put things into my phone as soon as I think of them (before they fly straight out of my brain again), and organise them into lists/sub-lists etc. It’s brilliant. I find having a place to dump my tasks straight into the app really helps reduce the cognitive load of carrying the To-Do list around in my head.
2 MINUTE RULE: If it will take less than 2 mins, try and do it straight away, rather than cluttering up your To-Do list even more!
BRAIN-DUMP – I do an enormous brain-dump onto paper from time to time when my head feels really cluttered. Ideally I’d then go through and put it all into the app I use, and/or into my calendar for specific tasks. But often just the act of getting it all out there makes me feel a lot less overwhelmed, and I find that it somehow allows the most important tasks to rise to the top of my mind, and they magically get done…
How do you manage your To-Do list? If you'd like some support with reducing feelings of overwhelm, get in touch for a free chat about how I might be able to help.
Jules.X
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