Why I Need A ‘When To Do’ List
24 February 2019
I love lists and being organised. I truly believe that organised people are more efficient, pay less money for the things and can fit more in.
It makes sense therefore that whenever I hit a spot of chaos or feel out of control, my solution is to get more organised and to put together a list or a schedule. I love a good To Do list and that’s why we’ve even designed our own to share with our community this year!
I have lots of To Do lists (in fact the more out of control I’m feeling, the more I tend to accumulate!). When used well, I think To Do lists are a vital part of thinking things through, prioritising, having a goal and getting things done (whether they are paper or digital).
It has occurred to me this week that while I’m feeling hectic, having my To Do list is not enough. You see, when I am at capacity and I have lots of equally important projects and things to get done, my To Do list doesn’t help me to prioritise. It’s not enough just to be clear on what I need to do because as I look at my week packed full of meetings and commitments, I can see that I still won’t get through it all.
So, this week, I’m working on a “When To Do List”. I conveniently already have a notepad made for this purpose (similar to this cool Typo one) that has each day spaced out with room for tasks.
I’m using this to map out the week ahead, one day at a time. I’m noting down the tasks and I’ll be setting up some corresponding calendar items to make sure that the big things have the time they need to get done. And if they don’t fit in the plan, it will be clear to me that I either need to change my goals or free up some time. I’ll also be adding in some time for admin and emails each day, as otherwise, they can quickly eat into my allocations.
I’m such a nerd, that this plan really excites me for what I’m going to achieve this week!