I go back and forth on lists. As, really, I do with most things. I’ll find lists useful… until I don’t. Right now, with the chores piled up from being gone for three months, I’m operating on list mode.
Recommendations for how to use lists include:
- Using different types of lists for different projects.
- Making a daily, weekly, and monthly (long-term) variety.
- Revise daily, and limit to no more than five tasks per day.
- Delete your old lists and start over.
- And of course, try to actually use it.
The purpose of listing to-do items is to get it off your mind. According to David Allen, author of Getting Things Done, “…if it’s on your mind, your mind isn’t clear. Anything you consider unfinished in any way must be captured in a trusted system outside your mind, or what I call a collection bucket, that you know you’ll come back to regularly and sort through.”
While I generally find some way to revel in my procrastinations, my to-do list this time around has been getting checkmarks in the completed column. Here’s to keeping it up.
Michael's Musings 