Very fabulous old-fashioned to do list
Written by Julia Bickerstaff // June 3, 2013 // Daily Juice // 1 Comment
I do love a to-do list. I’ve got a few to-do list apps on my phone. Oh, just counted them. More than a few: eleven. Who needs eleven to-do apps?!
More on the apps at the bottom of the post because there is *one* fabulous one. But first, I thought I’d share with you my fave todo list EVER for getting important business stuff done.
It’s a 3×5 index card!
Honestly, who needs fancy apps and stuff when this works better than anything.
Every night before I go to bed I write down on the card the three things most important (business) things I must do the next day.
And that’s it!
It’s really fabulous and makes me super-efficient because:
1. When I make the list the night before I’m not swayed by what I feel like doing. When I make a list in the morning I find it much harder to be disciplined about doing the tough-but-important stuff.
2. Picking just three things forces me to prioritise my big list. I do tend to be someone who thinks she can do more in a day than she actually can (I mentioned this last week) so picking just three things makes me focus on the really important ones.
3. Doing the list the night before means I don’t waste good ‘morning time’ doing it. I’m such a morning person – it’s when I’m at my best – so I need to do the super-important stuff first thing. I quite like making lists so I do it later when I’m a bit worn out.
4. Starting the day with a list stops me getting distracted. As I’ve mentioned before, I can easily waste a few hours faffing about. So now I don’t let myself check email, facebook, tidy up etc…. until I’ve got the first task done.
What do you think? Could a daily index card help you?
Finally, those to-do apps! These are the ones currently on my phone: Teux Deux, Reminders (Apple), Tomorrow, Awesome note, Wunderlist, Workflowy, todo, reQuall, Clear, Tasks (Gmail) Evernote. They’ve all been good in their own little ways but I’ve discovered I’m best with really simple apps. So while I enjoyed categorising my tasks, setting deadlines, linking tasks to locations (if you please!) the very best one for me is Teux Deux. It’s a simple list. You can pop things into specific days or into ‘someday’. and that’s it. I put everything in there (stuff for kids, home, work) that I need to do. I guess this works for me because I don’t have a clear delineation between home and work – it’s all just stuff that needs doing!
Do you use a todo app? Fancy telling us? We’d love to know. Tips always welcome!
Fancy getting a weekly Snack of sweet stuff for your small business? Just pop your details in below.
One Comment on "Very fabulous old-fashioned to do list"
Trackbacks for this post