This article is going to give you 17 to-do list strategies, which are incredibly simple, and yet extremely effective.
Here is what you are going to learn:
- Why to-do lists are so important
- 17 to-do list strategies (to create the ideal to-do list system for you)
Why To-Do Lists Are Important
There are several benefits of to-do lists (if setup right):
- Recording: Makes sure you don’t lose track of things.
- Planning: Helps you plan and prioritize your goals.
- Organizing: Structures your day so you are more likely to follow through with your plans.
- Accountability: Ideally, if you set it up right, your to-do list will hold you accountable for doing what you need to do
If your to-do list system accounts for these components, you will be in a much better position to execute your goals.
The to-do list strategies I am going to cover are going to help address each of these areas.
Now, let’s get to the strategies!
Keep in mind these are general guidelines. Feel free to tweak as needed given your specific circumstances.
17 To-Do List Strategies
1. Choose the Right Organizational Tool for You
To-do lists are very personal in some ways. And tools even more so.
Therefore, there isn’t a universal approach to recommend.
Some like having a calendar view of things, some make an Excel spreadsheet, and a surprising number of people still stick to old fashioned pen and paper.
For me, I couldn’t live without my note-taking app.
The key is to think about the PROS and CONS of each method and choose the one which you are most likely to STICK to.
If you won’t regularly use it in practice, it’s not helpful.
For example, there is no point in having a fancy project management program if it’s so complex you never get the hang of it and stop using it.
There are several keys to keep in mind when choosing the right tool for you:
- Simplicity: How easy it is to use
- Agility: How quickly you can reference older notes/lists, ease of re-prioritizing items on your list
- Flexibility: Ability to tailor to your specific needs
- Features: Capability to add pictures/video, calendar views, etc.
- Cost: Some are free and some cost money
Your main types of tools to choose from are:
- Note-taking app
- Pros: agility, simplicity, cost (usually free or inexpensive)
- Sometimes pros/sometimes cons: flexibility, features (some apps are text-based, but others have many functions)
- Project management software
- Pros: features, agility
- Cons: simplicity, cost (often)
- Sometimes pro/sometimes con: flexibility
- Notepad (pen and paper)
- Pros: simplicity, flexibility, cost
- Cons: agility (no ability to quickly search through older lists), features
- Designing your own system in Excel (or another software)
- Pros: flexibility, cost
- Cons: features
- Sometimes pros/sometimes cons: simplicity, agility (depends how you design your specific system)
It all comes down to what works best for you.
Of course, these pros and cons may vary depending on which specific tool you use (which app, which project management software, etc.)
2. CRITICAL To-Do List Strategy: Don’t Constantly Change Tools/Systems
Once you find a system that works for you, stick with it.
Sure, it’s fine to experiment a bit when first determining what tool to use and how to organize your tasks.
But at some point you have to settle down on one system and consistently use it.
So many people are constantly jumping from system to system, chasing the next greatest thing.
But that’s what’s causing them to fail.
You aren’t going to see real dramatic returns on your to-do list until you’ve stuck with one system for a substantial period of time.
I’m not saying you can NEVER adjust the way you do things.
Just don’t CONSTANTLY tweak.
3. Write Everything Down
Well, maybe not LITERALLY everything.
But when it comes to anything that you need to GET DONE, or any great IDEA you have, make sure to add it to your to-do list.
Otherwise it will very likely disappear into the ether never to be thought of again.
Writing down your plans also helps with accountability. That’s because it gets you more COMMITTED to follow through with your ideas.
Whether it’s a project you have to do at work, an errand you need to run, or a fitness class you want to take – make sure to write it down.
4. Writing Down Tasks Which Are Habits is Optional
There is one exception for noting every task in your to-do list:
Writing down things which are habits is optional.
According to James Clear, habits are “the small decisions you make and actions you perform every day.”
Habits are the things that you do without even thinking about them.
Examples of habits include:
- Brushing your teeth
- Showering
- Or drinking a protein shake before workouts
When you are first forming a habit, make sure to write it down.
But once you have a well-established habit, you may want to avoid clogging up your to-do list.
In order to make it look less overwhelming.
Of course, if you prefer to keep them on your list, that is totally fine too.
If you are at all uncertain you will do something, the default should be to include it.
5. CRITICAL To-Do List Strategy: Break Goals into Small Tasks
Whenever you have a new goal, it’s a lot easier to reach it when you break things into small, easily achievable tasks.
Therefore, when you are adding that goal to your to-do list, you want to write down specific components of that goal, not just the broad goal itself.
To take a personal example, let’s say you want to write a blog.
You don’t want to just write “blog” on your to-do list. If you do, when you see it you will have no clue what specifically to do.
Plus, it’s a task that will take a long time to do, so you need to break it down into smaller components.
That way you can distribute the components across different days.
Instead, what you should do is first research how to reach your goal. Then, write out the major components you need.
Continuing with the blog example, your tasks might look something like:
- Determine focus/niche
- Figure out target audience
- Design/brand the site
- Get web hosting
- Make site secure
- Write articles
- Promote articles
- Etc.
There’s more to it than that, but keep in mind this is just an example.
If things are still looking fairly big, break them down further. Into EVEN smaller tasks.
For instance, perhaps I might break “design/brand the site” into:
- Name site
- Design logo
- Write tagline
- Etc.
Keep repeating this process until the tasks get small enough that they only take a short time to complete.
In most cases I try to make sure the tasks are no more than four hours long and sometimes as short as 5 minutes.
Recommended Article: How to Break Down Goals Into Steps
6. Keep a Daily Task List
I highly recommend having a Daily Task List where you list out every day separately and then write down what you need to get done for each day.
It could be a on a text-based app, within a calendar view, or via pen and paper. Whatever you prefer.
The key is to list WHAT DAY you are planning to get each task on your list done.
You don’t want to just have a gigantic list of tasks and not have any plan for when to do them.
If you do that, you are bound to never get around to certain items.
Your Daily Task List may look something like this:
Monday:
- Upper body workout
- Meditate
- Work project
- 12-1pm: Work meeting
- Write paper
- Grocery store
- Dinner: Grill burgers
- Read book
Tuesday:
- Lower body workout
- Study
- 10-11am: Doctor appointment
- 2-3pm: Work meeting
- Practice guitar
- Dinner: Make spaghetti
- Laundry
And so on and so forth.
Note, adding the time is optional.
I usually don’t unless I have a specific appointment. But you certainly can if you’d like.
7. Add Items to Your Daily Task List Immediately
Some people like to have a separate master list, and then transfer those items to their Daily Task List when they are ready to take them on.
I prefer to add items to my Daily Task List IMMEDIATELY, whenever possible. That helps me avoid putting things off.
If something comes up that I know I won’t be able to get to for a while, I simply put that on a day much farther in the future.
Occasionally I have a lower priority item or very long-run project that I’m not ready to start and I’ll add that to my Back-Burner List (more on that later).
But if possible, I prefer to put items on my Daily Task List as soon as they come up, since that increases the likelihood they get done.
8. Keep Separate Lists for In-Depth Projects
Now, while most of the time I like to transfer new items to my Daily Task List immediately, there are some exceptions.
Let’s say you have a long-run project which has 50 steps within it.
And not only are there a lot of steps, but some of the steps involve things which are out of your control.
Like having to wait on a co-worker to get back to you before you can proceed.
In this scenario, having a separate Project-Specific List is my preferred approach.
9. Note Your Project-Specific Lists on Your Daily Task List
When you have a Project-Specific List, I suggest including a note within your Daily Task List indicating when you are going to work on that list.
Otherwise, things may get lost or procrastinated.
For example, I have a gigantic Project-Specific List of things to do for this blog.
But within my Daily Task List, I have notes on certain days of the week saying, “Blog List.”
That lets me know I need to work on my blog list during those times.
Additionally, I will sometimes transfer SPECIFIC items from my Project-Specific Lists BACK to my Daily Task List when I am ready to take them on.
10. Have a Separate Back-Burner List
A Back-Burner List contains all items which are either lower priority or which you are not ready to move into your Daily Task List.
Move your back-burners into the Daily Task List during times when you are less busy or when you are ready to take those items on.
11. Don’t Back-Burner Your Back-Burners Forever
It’s okay to back-burner tasks, but make sure not to forget about the Back-Burner List entirely or you’ll never get to it.
If there are items you have had on there for years, you may want to assess whether you truly want or need to do them.
If you don’t, remove them from the list and keep it cleaner.
You don’t want to let tons of things pile up. It can create an overwhelming situation where you feel like you have no hope of getting anything done.
On the other hand, if there are back-burner items which are super important to you, try to move them into your Daily Task List every so often.
That way they don’t sit on the back-burner forever.
12. CRITICAL To-Do List Strategy: Be Careful About Using Multiple To-Do List Systems
A lot of people use multiple to-do list systems for different areas of their life.
For example:
- Listing errands on sticky notes on the refrigerator.
- Putting down work items on an Excel spreadsheet.
- And putting other stuff on a to-do list app.
While this may work for some people, having separate to-do list systems that don’t speak to each other has some downsides.
- Prioritization becomes harder, because it’s harder to compare items on different list.
- Items can get lost or misplaced, since keeping track of multiple to-do list systems can be confusing.
- And it’s harder to make sticking to your lists into a habit. That’s because you need to do things repeatedly to wire them into your brain. And the more lists you have the less time you can devote to each.
If you choose to use multiple to-do list systems, just be aware of the downsides.
And make sure you have a plan to minimize them.
In my system, I use three types of lists, which are all integrated together:
- Daily Task List: This list shows each upcoming day with the tasks I aim to accomplish on those days.
- Project-Specific Lists: Lists for specific, in-depth projects I am working on.
- Back-Burner List: A log of all items I am not ready to move into my Daily Task List yet.
These lists are connected both technology-wise and process-wise.
- Technologically, I store all of these lists in the same note-taking app. So it’s very easy to transfer items from one list to the other as needed.
- Process-wise, these lists also integrate together. Times where I plan to work on the Project-Specific Lists are noted within the Daily Task List. And I regularly review items from the Back-Burner List, and add them to the Daily Task List when I’m ready to take them on.
Of course, you don’t have to use this exact system.
But I highly recommend you either:
- (A) Use a single system which is connected
- Or (B) Be careful to avoid the downsides that multiple systems can lead to
13. Schedule in Fun Things OR Save Fun Things Until Your List is Complete For the Day
What about fun things? Should you add them to the list?
There are two options you can go with when it comes to fun:
- Schedule fun things into your list at specific times
- Wait to do the fun things until you finish everything else on your list for the day
I generally prefer the latter – I like to reward myself with fun when I get everything else done on my list.
This helps hold me accountable.
I’ll only schedule a fun thing in the list if it is something I have to do at a specific time (going to an event, seeing a movie at the theater, etc.)
That said, feel free to do whatever works best for you.
Just don’t do the fun things and NOT the productive things on your list :-).
14. If Your To-Do List Gets Overwhelming, Narrow Your Focus
One of the biggest issues people have with to-do lists is that they put tons of items on their list, but then have trouble completing them.
Sometimes, the list can start piling up, and it can lead to an overwhelming feeling.
That feeling can be so paralyzing it leads many people to give up on to-do lists entirely.
But instead of giving up when you’re overwhelmed, narrow your focus.
How do you narrow your focus?
You need to reduce the number of items you have on your list to make it manageable to get through.
There are a few ways to do this (I’m also including the pros and cons of each approach)
- Eliminate Goals: Remove lower priority goals from your list entirely
- Pros: Biggest reduction in how overwhelming your list seems
- Cons: You may have to cut goals which are important to you
- Move Tasks Forward: Move tasks to a later date on your Daily Task List
- Pros: Buys you more time to get through more pressing items if you are in a particularly busy period
- Cons: Can lead to piling up of tasks and even more overwhelming feelings later
- Back-Burner Items: Transfer items from your Daily Task List to your Back-Burner List
- Pros: Reduces your current workload while keeping track of goals you eventually want to pursue
- Cons: If your Back-Burner List grows too large it can get intimidating and lead to the same overwhelming feeling you are trying to avoid
Which method should you use?
There is no one answer. I have used all these approaches depending on my specific situation.
Feel free to experiment with each of these to see which works best for you.
Keep in mind though, the best way to prevent your to-do list from becoming overwhelming, is to keep it reasonable from the outset.
Understandably, in real life that isn’t always possible. But it’s a good thing to strive for.
15. Prioritize Your Tasks
Speaking of preventing your to-do list from getting overwhelming, the best way to do that is to prioritize effectively.
There are three key questions you need to think about to help you prioritize each task on your plate:
- Is it mandatory? If it’s not, then make it a lower priority.
- When does it need to get done? The sooner, the higher priority.
- How big is the payoff you will get from the task? The bigger the payoff, the higher the priority.
Of course, there will be some tasks where there are tradeoffs involved.
For example, you may be deciding whether to give higher priority to the following tasks:
- Task A: Small payoff, urgent
- Task B: Big payoff, not urgent
In that case, you must look carefully at JUST how urgent Task A is and JUST how big the payoff Task B is. That will help you determine which to prioritize.
No doubt, there may still be some close calls. But asking yourself these questions will help make your decisions easier.
And once you make those decisions, you can distribute these tasks within your to-do list based on their priority.
16. Re-Organize Your List as Needed
Every so often, you are going to have to re-organize your to-do list.
There are a few ways to approach this:
- Adjust at specific times (e.g., every Monday morning)
- Continuously adjust as new tasks come up
I prefer a mix of BOTH these approaches.
- As new tasks come up, I insert them into the list quickly where I think they fit.
- Then, every so often, I do a more thorough review of my Daily Task List for the week ahead. Organizing, adjusting, and re-prioritizing as needed.
17. Follow Through
After you come up with a great to-do list system, now comes the most important part.
Following through with your list!
If you don’t knock off the items on your to-do list, your list is useless.
Side note – If you want more suggestions on how to FOLLOW THROUGH with your goals, check out these resources on how to build self-discipline.
Conclusion
To-do lists are incredibly important for planning, organizing, and ultimately executing your goals.
I hope these to-do list strategies help you make a to-do list which works best for YOU.
Want more? These To-Do List Strategies Are Only Going to be Effective if You Develop the Self-Discipline to Follow Through With Them
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