We all have things to do. Some of us have lots of things to do. Frankly, I’m one of those people that if I don’t write down what I need to get done, it simply doesn’t get done. That is why I rely on to-do lists so much. I talked last week about how Calendars should be used for appointments, and Todo lists should be used for tasks. While That is my belief, I feel like I should expand on why it is that everyone should have a to-do list.
They are a way to focus your thoughts
Whenever I’m starting a new project, I know that there are usually a million things that I have to do. The problem is that I don’t know what half of them are. I like using my to-do lists to jot down anything and everything that I need (or think I need) to do to get a project done. Sure there will be times when I’m writing things down, and I come back to it later and think to myself, “I don’t need to do that!” and delete it. I would rather have it on my list and not need it than not have it on my list and skip a step that I may need later.
They are a way to visualize your project
One of the things the I love about Wunderlist (which is the Todo List app that I use) is that it allows me a bunch of different options for each of my items on my list. I like that fact that I can use my to-do lists to not only make notes about the things that I have to do, but I can also assign dates that I have to get the tasks done in so that It gives it a sort of order. With the Dates in place, I don’t have to look at the whole to-do list per se, just the things that are happening today or later this week. I don’t know about you, but when I look at the massive list of things that I have to do for a big project, I get easily overwhelmed with everything that I have to get done. Having everything in a list allows me a way to see everything that I may have to do to get it done. Todo lists have the added benefit of adding and quickly ditching the tasks that I determine that I don’t need.
They are a way to keep track of what you’ve done
One of the side benefits of to-do lists is that they can be a quick and easy way to track your progress. I don’t know about you, but when I get into a project, I do the tasks that are in front of me. Once they get done, I tend to forget about them (as they are done) and move onto the next thing. I can track my completed tasks as well as I can the tasks, I have yet to accomplish. The advantage of this is two-fold; firstly, I can confirm that I have done a job, which gives me peace of mind knowing that it’s done. Second, and most importantly, I get a big ego boost from seeing the (hopefully) long list of things that I have done to achieve my goal.
For sure, when you’re starting a big project, you want to make a list of all the stuff you want to get done. I understand that. It makes total sense to me. I feel that “big projects” are not the only thing that you should be using to-do lists for. We are all such busy people, and there is so much that we have to do in our lives that it can be challenging to keep track if it’s not put down somewhere. The reason I like my to-do lists for all of my tasks, even in my day to day life, is because ticking things off gives me a sense of accomplishment. Without that, It is just a day after day, task after task, and no sense of how far along you’ve come. Using your to-do list allows you to mark your accomplishments, and know that when you go to bed at night, you got something done.
Would you use a to-do lists in your day to day life?
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