Getting Your To-Do List Under Control

This week’s challenge is a pretty generic one that applies to everyone.  It’s about getting your to-do list under control. Now, I know a lot of you out there are going to deny it at first, but you’re probably running your to-do list out of your email account (I know it’s true).  And I actually fall into this trap all the time.  Instead of just writing out all that I need to do, I just keep it all in my inbox, and when I’m done, I archive it. Tip #1: Get separate to-do list software My first tip for you is to get a separate to-do list software. Don’t run everything through your email!  A great one I can recommend is OmniFocus.  If you have a Mac, OmniFocus is sort of the cream of the crop, the high level to-do list manager.  If you want something that’s free, though, you can use something like Wunderlist, which is great because it syncs between all of your devices.   Tip #2: Use a cloud-based application The second tip for getting all of your to-do’s under control is to use an application that is cloud-based.  By cloud-based, I don’t mean that it necessarily has to run from your web browser, but I do mean that it has to sync somewhere in the cloud.  Even if the application is on your computer, it still needs to be able to go to your phone, your tablet, and any computers that you use for work.  That way everything syncs and is in one spot. When you’re checking off a project, you want to make sure that it’s showing up on every single device to keep track of everything easily. Tip #3: Contextualise everything My third tip for getting your to-do list under control is to contextualise everything. What do I mean by ‘contextualise’?  Phone calls, errands, face-to-face meetings – make sure that everything has some kind of context around it.  Additionally, if it’s something that you actually have to do in your physical office at home, make sure that you list that out as well. This is going to help you save time overall so that you’re not running back and forth between things. So if you’re on the bus, you have a free fifteen minutes, have WiFi available to you, and a list of emails to send off, you can just pull up your list, contextualise the emails, and get everything done all at once.