Find Time for Your To Do List-Paring It Down!

The Time Finder with Paula Eder

The way you use your time is the way you live your life.

Find Time for Your To Do List-Paring It Down!

Posted on August 19, 2009, under Time Management Skills.

Finding time to manage your to do list has been our focus for the past several days and this morning we’re looking at de-cluttering your list. This is a very important and rewarding component of your process!

Prioritizing items on your to do list will help you recognize and highlight what’s most important at any given time. But even a prioritized list can be overwhelming. How many of you have lists that go on for pages? It can be daunting and discouraging to contemplate those seemingly endless tasks.

That’s why I urge you to keep several lists going, and to thoroughly de-clutter your daily list, as part of your time management process. Here are 5 things to keep in mind, as you think about managing your to do lists:

Maintain a list of “Things to Do” that is comprehensive and includes items that are not urgent but that you don’t want to forget – this can be your comprehensive list. It relieves you of trying to hold the details in your head!
As you categorize and prioritize items, move them to your other to do lists. These lists can be categorized in any way that makes sense to you and the way you work. One of your lists might focus on recurring tasks, for example, or seasonal chores. Home, work, and self care are also good categories to consider.
Once an item has been moved to a category list, you can remove it from your comprehensive list.
Include space for notes with your lists. For example, if you have a template for a seasonal chore, indicate where to find that template, next to the task.
Create a new To Do List for each new day. I advise doing this the night before. Choose items from your collection of categorized/prioritized lists. When you move an item to your daily list, if it’s a one-time task, remove it from your category list.

A key part of managing your to do list AND your energy is to be sure that what you include on your daily list can be accomplished in a day. If you put more on your plate than is doable, you will be setting yourself up to feel discouraged.

On the other hand, de-cluttering your daily tasks and giving yourself a doable to do list will leave you with a sense of accomplishment each night and will energize your planning for the coming day. Remember, this is something that you have choices about.

Do you already de-clutter your daily to do list? Are you ready to give it a try? I’d love to hear how it goes for you … so please feel invited to drop me a line!

What if you could find another hour every day? You can! You are invited to sign up and download The New Finding Time Boundary Template. It’s FREE, and when you sign up you will also receive (if you don’t already) my FREE, weekly Finding Time Tips and my FREE, monthly Award-Winning Finding Time E-zine!

Let’s explore time together …

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