The Psychology Behind Making a To-Do List
And why it’ll boost your creativity, reliability, and results.
Send that email, finish that article, follow up on that client, read that book, tidy the house, do the shopping. Some people do these things with ease and without prior planning.
But for most of us, when we have hundreds of things to do today, we often struggle to keep on top of and get things done. As humans, it’s only natural for us to feel overwhelmed and forget things when we have a mountain of tasks to do.
It’s no surprise, then, that according to research undergone by Microsoft, that up to 76% of US citizens are reliant on To-Do lists to navigate their day to day lives. The age-old system allows us to identify what needs to be done early on and commit to it by setting a reminder and not dismissing it until it’s done.
According to Dr. David Cohen, there are three key reasons we should all live by To-Do lists:
- They reduce anxiety.
- They provide us with a rigid structure.
- They are proof that we have achieved our goals for the day.
The benefits are clear. But what would life look like without them? Could we manage and function as we normally do without lists, or would our life and creativity…
