Boosting Productivity — How to Use a To-Do List…Correctly
Introduction
Introduction
To-Do lists are outstanding, especially for school. They help us prioritise dreary tasks we need to do during the day. However, most people are using To-Do lists wholly wrong and it makes the day harder to get through. This is why I’ve piled a few essential tricks and methods to create the ideal To-Do list for school or in general.
The purpose of a To-Do list
Everything when it comes to time management or productivity has a purpose and the purpose of a To-Do list is; to write, organise and reprioritise tasks efficiently. These are the three key points of a To-Do list. However, the common to Do list doesn’t hit all three points… At least not effectively.
The common To-Do list is a piece of paper with a list of tasks from highest priority to least priority and a box next to each Task to tick off later. This is great, it will give you a visual understanding of what needs to get done and how quickly too. Yet the only reason it's so great is that it shows priorities which is why it is ineffective compared to a more advanced To-Do list that we can create and use without any hassle.
The ideal To-Do list
The ideal To-Do list should allow you to write, organise and reprioritise but also understand the time/effort needed to complete the task. A great way to do all this is to use a digital To-Do list/Task management app. I recommend Trello as it can meet all needs of a To-Do list as well as having limitless customizability. However, any Task management app will be sufficient as long as you can copy and paste and set deadlines. There are a few methods and tricks you can use to make your To-Do list more effective.
To-Do list Tricks
There are three Tricks you must know before creating a To-Do list otherwise it will just cause more disorganization. The three Tricks are Timelines, Delegating and Grouping…
Timelines — not on the past but tasks
Timelines about history are used to show different events during a certain period. All timelines have a beginning and an end and so should your To-Do list Tasks. Timelines (in To-Do lists) are a way of saying a beginning, an end and small events between.
Beginning and end
Every main Task needs a Beginning and an End. This is because we don't want to do Dreary tasks so when we give ourselves a time slot we find it easier to get it done. Even when it comes to Blogging, I love writing these posts on studying, productivity and more in my free time but I like many would rather watch Netflix or anime. So when I set a start time I do whatever I need until then and once the time arrives I start.
Small events in between
Once you create your Task make sure you break it up into fewer than four small tasks, which I call minis. By doing this you can see what is the first thing To-Do so that you can cross off this task and limit procrastinating the task. When doing this I make it into usually three but four minis at the maximum. This could be for anything I make sure to just make a small step towards completing the Task. It helps to break things down and make marginal gains towards the end goal.
Delegating — not to others but yourself
Delegating is considered an indirect form of procrastination by many but it’s not related to procrastination instead it's a time management tool. Delegating to others is a way of making time for more important things. However, Delegating to your future self is a way of making sure you can get the job done.
The way to postpone a task is not just saying or thinking “I’ll do it tomorrow,” and then saying that every day until the deadline, but by setting an exact time and date that you know is possible like a rain check. The reason you should do this is that; if a task is not a high priority we don't think to complete the task. So postponing the task allows us to do two productive things. Firstly, it allows us to make time for anything between now and whenever we postponed it. Secondly, it allows us to want to do the task and complete it without postponing it again as it is now of higher priority. So delegating allows us to have a better mental state of mind is done right.
Grouping Tasks — not together though
Grouping tasks is a simple way to Save time and work effectively. Grouping Tasks is simply breaking down two or more tasks and doing them at the same time. We group tasks daily just by using our common sense…
If place dishes in the dishwasher and we have to complete an assignment we wouldn't wait until the dishes are done and then unload them and after all that, we begin the assignment. Instead, while the dishes are being cleaned we would do the assignment and logically save time. Grouping with a To-Do list is almost the same but we have to make sure the tasks are de-groupable as well. Only group tasks if you have more than 7–10 major tasks and 3–5 minor tasks. Another key tip is to not group two major tasks as you will confuse yourself.
Conclusion
To conclude Task lists are a great way to stay productive but if we don't use any tricks we will cause more hassle. Timelines allow us to allocate time for what we want to do and delegating keeps us on track with priorities. Grouping breaks down tasks making us work steadily towards the end goal.
