10 Tips on How to Create Effective To-Do Lists for All Occasions
If you think that this article is irrelevant to you, don’t hurry to close it! We will prove to you that writing task lists is not only helpful but even essential to reach ANY goal with the best to-do list apps!
Proven Benefits of To-Do Lists
Before we start, here are several facts proving the effectiveness of such planning. Fresh research by I Done This reveals that 41% of tasks from to-do lists are usually never completed, 50% of them are completed within one day, 18% — within an hour, and 10 — within a minute!
Also, there is a psychological phenomenon called the “Zeigarnik effect” which was discovered by Bluma Zeigarnik. This effect suggests that a person remembers incomplete actions better than completed ones. Once we’re done with a task, our brain forgets it to free up space for new ones. You might wonder why do we have to create all these to-do lists then, if we remember tasks we haven’t done yet anyway. The point is, those unfinished tasks limit our attention and memory. We just can’t focus on several things at once and keep a long task list in our head. And having a written list somewhere helps to unload some of your brain capacity. So, writing to-do lists helps people to both better remember and realise the scope of work, besides you create a note to which you can go back to from time to time and make sure that nothing is missed.
Tips to Get the Most from the To-Do Lists
1. Have a Task List Always With You
It’s a great idea to have your notes at hand anytime you need them. We rarely carry a notebook and a pen in our bags but everyone has a phone in a pocket with the best to-do list apps! Digital notetaking can be convenient and there are even best to-do list apps and templates designed for your convenience. For example, Collabio Spaces offers ready-to-use templates of the task lists for those who want to start at once and not waste time on designing documents.
2. Add New Tasks ASAP
Whenever you have an idea of what you need do next, put it down to make sure you won’t forget about it. Nowadays, we have so many external stimuli around us that it’s very easy to lose brilliant ideas under a layer of other, less significant thoughts.
So, not to miss anything important, write them down right away.
3. Be Brief and Concise
To make the most of using to-do lists, the points on it need to be easily scannable. Try to fit the whole task in 5–6 words. The less is the better.
This will help you get a quick grasp of what to do by a brief glance at the list. They say time is money. :)
4. Limit the Number of Tasks
All of us have a limited charge of energy per day. Of course, there are periods when we are inspired and extremely motivated and it seems we can do everything in a couple of hours! Is it true? We doubt it, your good mood can help but it’s not a guarantee that you won’t get exhausted and stressed out after several hours of non-stop work.
Usually, 3–5 moderately difficult or 7–8 simple tasks per day is an ideal number. Such an approach helps you to stay:
- focused,
- motivated,
- attentive,
- creative!
Also, discover your personal limits! If you manage to do more without any harm to your health, do more. ;) However, keep in mind the concept of “Everything in moderation”!
5. Don’t Include Goals to Your To-Do Lists
It’s a good practice to outline goals and objectives in a separate space in your best to-do list app. They are usually long-term and can be achieved in several steps. So, the steps are the ones to be included in a task list. If you merge these concepts, this will only disengage you, as those goals will be hanging on the to-do list for quite a long time, before you finally get to check them off. Also, some goals are hard to quantify, while measuring the success using closed tasks is much clearer.
6. Set Deadlines
Setting due dates helps you assess the scale of any task and prioritise them. Find out which ones you need to handle as soon as possible, which ones can be postponed and whether you have enough time to meet the deadlines.
Also, this helps your time management, as you’ll see when it’s better to tackle these tasks.
7. Revise Lists Every Day
As we’ve recommended in one of our articles, it is better to update your to-do list in the morning, before getting to work. Analyse:
- Will you have enough time to handle the full scope of work planned for today?
- Will you have time for breaks to get some rest?
- What should be added, replaced or removed?
If you overestimate your abilities and put too many tasks on the list, you’re likely to fail. This leads to demotivation and feeling that you’re always super busy with work, which can cause an early burnout.
8. Add Gamification Elements
Games are not only for kids. We all love pleasant surprises and joyful trivialities. Reward yourself for every set of tasks you complete. It could be a brownie or a piece of cake for several successful activities or buying something of your wish-list for completing a working week with no delays. You have done a lot of work, now there is a reason to reward yourself!
Rewards make the process more fun by transforming people from consumers and shopaholics into motivated and productive workers. You can even add these rewards to your task list to track the time of having fun.
9. Divide Your Lists into “To-Do” and “Done”
Having an extra note where you keep all your achievements motivates as well. When you feel tired or work and can’t decide where to start, look at what you have done already and get inspired. If you have done all that, so you are able to do more!
Also, you will feel some satisfaction, when you transfer another task into the “Done” list! Positive emotions are never superfluous!
10. Rely on Several Lists
We don’t recommend mixing everything in one document. Mess in notes usually leads to chaos in your head. Feel free to decide what to sort your to-do lists by:
- Time-frames — daily, weekly, monthly list, etc.
- Spheres of life — work, education, hobbies, household lists, and so on.
- Priorities — both urgent and important, just urgent or just important things, and everything you can do someday.
- A specific approach, for example, the GTD (Get Things Done) method we covered earlier.
