Ebiz Snap

Tried and True To Do

Once you’ve prioritized your tasks in order from high priority to low priority, you can turn these list into your to do list. (Refer back to Tip #1 for advice on prioritizing your goals so that you can create a to do list.)

Chances are, you’ll probably create a pretty long list. This list might include tasks you need to do this month, this week and even today. And it will probably include both personal and professional goals (which you should rank in order of importance so you can attach a high, medium or low priority to each task).

Here are the keys to making a good to do list that will keep you on track and help you avoid getting overwhelmed:

1. Break up your overall list into mini-lists. How many mini lists you create really depends on how many tasks you have on your overall list as well as how long it will take to complete those tasks. At a minimum you should have a daily, weekly and monthly to do list.

2. Break up your big tasks into smaller, manageable tasks. Your monthly to do list might include some pretty big tasks. But when you create your weekly and daily to do lists, you should break these big tasks into smaller “bite size” chunks. (This is especially important when you’re creating your daily to do lists.)

Let me give you a few examples…

Example #1: Let’s suppose you wanted to write a report or a short book. Your monthly to-do list might simply include the entry, “Write a short book about eco-friendly travel.” Your weekly to-do list might include entries like, “Write the first three chapters of the book.” But your daily to do list should be broken up into manageable mini tasks such as: outline chapter 1; write the introduction for chapter 1; research chapter 1… and so on.

Example #2: Now let me give you a personal example. Let’s suppose you want to clean and organize your house from top to bottom. While your weekly to do lists might include big tasks like clean the living room, your daily to do lists should break this big task into smaller steps. For example: shampoo the carpet; wash the curtains; clean the blinds; dust the shelves… and so on.

Tags: Time Management

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