To do lists are great for helping you get things done. They help you not only remember what tasks you need to do, but they also allow you to prioritise them. In fact, we can say that to do lists accomplish the following:
- they help us keep track of the details relating to each task, such as what, when and with whom
- they help us remember what we need to do
- they allow us to assign a relative priority to each task
- these priorities allow us to determine what order to complete tasks
- they give us a way of remembering what has been done
The simplest to do list will detail only the tasks that you need to do. More complicated to do lists might even allow you to allocate particular times of the day to address each task. It’s up to you to find the best method for you and use that.
Here is a popular, and very simple, format for a to do list:
| Task | When | Completed |
|---|---|---|
| Wash the bathroom | Monday | Yes |
| Do the ironing | Monday | Yes |
| Fix Mum’s computer | Wednesday | |
| Buy Dave’s birthday present | Saturday | |
| Get haircut | Some time next week | |
| Find a plasterer to plaster the front room | Any time in the next twoo weeks |
You can see that timeframes differ depending on the task at hand. You can assign certain tasks to specific days, but other tasks are under the influence of too many uncontrolled variable so a timeframe of “some time in the next two weeks” is as accurate as you can be. Often you’ll find that you can get more specific with deadlines as the completion of tasks becomes more urgent.