When you look at your TODO list, what do you see?
If you’re like me, you see the same darn things that were there last week, and even the month before that. sigh…
Luckily, Merlin Mann in coming to our rescue on the May 21 episode of Spark. Merlin has already blogged about “Cringe-busting your TODO list” on his website, 43Folders. Tomorrow we’ll record an interview with Merlin where he gives us some new tricks to wrestle your list to the ground.
Do you have a tip or tool that helps you stay on top of things? Maybe a website that helps you stay organized?
Leave a note in the comments, and we’d love to use your idea on the show.
1. Don’t bite off more than you can chew. Be realistic about your time and your abilities. If at all possible, give yourself plenty of lead-time and don’t be afraid to call in help. Remember: Calling in help and succeeding is always preferable to going it alone and failing!
2. A journey of a thousand miles starts with one step. Break complex tasks down into less daunting and more manageable pieces. Small tasks seem less overwhelming and the more of them you complete the more you will develop good time management skills into good time management habits.
3. When your only tool is a hammer, every problem looks like a nail. Spend some time looking for tools that will help you get things done and complement/supplement your abilities. A calendar can help you schedule tasks but a calendar that provides reminders can keep you on task. Project Management applications can help organize complex tasks but might be too much if you just need to pick up the dry cleaning. Find the right tools for you and your list(s).
Obviously there are a lot more tips and tricks out there but these are some of my ‘fundamentals’.
Sorry this sounds like a commercial but I do like Tudomo…
http://www.tudumo.com/
The ultimate to-do list
Instead of having one static list of things to do, or many lists scattered all over your computer, Tudumo has one list but gives you many ways to look at it, depending on what’s important to you now.
You can filter by date, by one or more tags, by the state of your tasks or by the heading they’re under. Together, these filters give unrivalled freedom in a really sexy user interface!
Tudumo’s lists are also printable – so you choose the view and print just what you want to see.
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If you use Getting Things Done® (GTD) or you just need a seriously powerful to-do list,
you need to try Tudumo!
http://www.davidco.com/
On the leading edge of the Baby Boomer generation, I am starting to notice the effects of aging on my older friends and acquaintances. One of the major differences is noticing my active/involved friends’ fears about forgetting things. When I question them, gently, about their daily lives, I often find that when they are most stressed, tired, physically inactive, and careless about their dietary/sleep habits, is when they seem to have problems remembering things. I try to be reassuring to them that their momentary lapses are just temporary, and that a good night’s sleep will do wonders for their ability to recall important “to do” items.
1. Only put it on the list if it can be done. ie, get groceries is not a to do, it is a project, make list is a to do. (David’s best tip)
2. Look at the list regularly
3. Do it!
I find that most people I work with on time/task management fall down when they stop looking at the list, they stop looking because they are not doing the things on the list.
On the last episode, you had asked for memory prosthetics–I assume this post is for collecting those?
It’s not exactly a memory extension, but I happened to recently have written about a memory hack I use:
“What’s my trick? I convert the number to hockey players. As you know, each player gets assigned a more-or-less permanent number. Because I’m a hockey fan, I know the numbers of many of the players in the league. I also remember the numbers of a lot of older, retired players. I haven’t tried to memorize these numbers–it’s just happened osmotically over 15 or 20 years of watching sports.”
Some commenters that my approach was ridiculously baroque, but it works for me. The whole post is here:
http://tinyurl.com/4bkcts
As a constantly tired young mother home on maternity leave I kept a pen and pencil ToDo list. When I accomplished a task I drew a line though it. At the end of the day, even if the only things I had manage to accomplish were, get dressed and wash the breakfast dishes, I could see I had done something worthwhile because it was on my ToDo list.
ps today I still keep similar ToDo lists although their content has grown up along with my life.
my todo list, and the way i stay organized as a freelance designer, is ridiculously simple. i use one long, tall post-it note, and i write things from highest priority to lowest priority from top to bottom, and i stick it to my laptop keyboard.
anything i don’t get done that day, i recopy to a new list the next morning, which helps me clear my head and start my day.
take THAT, PDAs!
@Vikki–
I think the prioritzing thing is really important, especially when it comes to daily work tasks that really have to get done. I do that too.
Also, this may sound a bit odd, but when I have to commit something to memory, I try to have a sense of my physical location. I find that if I can recall what I was doing, what my stance was, and so on, it’s easier to remember.
I like to use creative procrastination. If you have enough projects on the go, as a deadline approaches you procrastinate on that project by working on another project. So you might not get done immediately what has to get done, but you’re still getting things done.
I have to have it on paper….I have a daytimer that I take everywhere. I keep a running list at the back of it “To do” (leaving about 6 pages for the year’s total!) and a page of “things heard/music to get/books to read”. I try to refer to the list often – not as often as I should. And yes some of these are “Projects” not “to do” by Daryl’s definitions. I cross them out as I do them. If they are really old, I either cross off (no longer need to do) or highlight so I see they need to be done. If I have a day where I know I will have time on my hands, I copy the things I choose to do onto a post-it note and put it on the front of the daytimer ( I have to SEE it to do it!). Doesn’t always work – I get distracted easily: try working in a home, with no place that’s an office, and having ADD! I now have a Blackberry, which I can attach to me, adn take everywhere, but now I have to REMEMBER to look at a new “to DO” list….but I don’t lose it!
I’ve been a very active, busy people with about 100 projects on the go.
And have struggled with the ability give things done many many times in my life. So I’ve tried Palm devices, countless TODO software for my many palm devices. I’ve used desktop apps as well. And fought to try to keep it all in sync.
Years ago I came across Life Balance. (If your interested google it) I’ve always preferred freeware and after the (short) 30 day trial, would ditch it. I came back to it many times. The problem I found for myself was Life Balance really ended up taking me a several weeks to really see how to use it.
Life Balance works by taking the priorising out of things, which is why it took me so long to get it, as 30 days wasn’t enough time for me to the changes it was making for me at the time of trial. But it works via 4 main forms: And outline, the todo list, places and balance
You enter items in your outline. The todo list tells you what to do, the places sections defines places and situations for your todo lists and the balance section allows you to easily set balance to your Top Level Outline items.
While I found it slow to get into and see results and I personally found it rather expensive, I ended up purchasing it after toying with it for 7+ years Had I just purchased it and started using it 6 years ago…. who knows how much that would have helped me out.
Just my thoughts from ~20 years of PIM use.
Think the show is great.
ChriS
For me having a priority based on importance AND urgency is key and only showing the top things to do. I’ve been working on todo list software for a few years now and am about to embark on a complete rewrite. Any suggestions very welcome at the website link below.
How do I deal with my to-do list?
It’s easy.
I don’t make one up in the first place.
True, even though most of my assignments and tasks all seem to be due around the same time, but that is the beauty of university: you can sacrifice the quality of some for the extra few per cents on the other.