Setup Your Task List System
Once you have chosen a platform to hold your tasks you simply need to fill it with the things you need to do. Start with 15 minutes or an hour. Take time to gather all the various things you are using to currently organize your to do list.
This is not the time to evaluate your tasks, you are simply collecting them. Don’t worry about when you will do these tasks, for this exercise it is ok to set all the due dates for “today” or you can decide that you will evaluate everything on Monday and enter that as the due date for all your tasks in this stage of establishing your task list system.
All the tasks rumbling in your head
When you can get quiet you will start to remember things you need to complete enter them into your system as they come to you. No overthinking, no judgement.
All the tasks on your calendar
You already have things scheduled. Think about tomorrow, next week, this month, next month. Looking at the future events in your life do you see things that need “something” to happen before that moment? Enter them into your task list.
Little Notes Around Your Office (And Other Places)
In the book Getting Things Done by David Allen, he talks about “inboxes”. Establishing a physical inbox in your office (if you don’t already have one) is an essential tool for maintaining a good task list. Take all your little paper notes and put them in your physical “inbox”. We will add them to your digital task list later.
Your Paper To Do List
If you are a dedicated paper list user and have a notebook where all your tasks are organized, you have a head start in this process. When you are ready to move on to the “Evaluate your Tasks” step in the process put your notebook in your physical “inbox”.
Your Email Inbox
This is a gold mind for finding tasks you need to complete. Many task list systems have a feature where you can forward an email to your task list system. Find this feature in your new system and create a contact entry in your email contacts so you can go through your email and start forwarding.
When Everything is Entered
The first time you go through this process you may be astounded with how many tasks you uncover. Do not let this daunt you. These are not things that need to be done today. When all your tasks are captured you can then look at them and determine which are true priorities and which are a waste of time and energy. You will have a better idea of what you can actually accomplish with the time you have, and you can KNOW (within reason) what things you can actually commit to.
With a good collection of tasks entered into your new task system, you can take the time to set due dates and add elements that will help you organize them.
- You can set priorities on things: High, Normal, Low
- You can set timeframes: Morning, Noon, Afternoon
WARNING: It is easy to over-complicate a task system. Take a few days to get used to the simple due date and priority way of organizing. Add more complicated things as you need them.
For more on evaluating your tasks check out the BLOG POST: The Rhythm of a Good Task List
Nicole Lux-Ritchie - Founder of Luxcentric
Nicole's mission is to help feminine professionals gain the technical
skills they need to grow their business and focus on their missions.
The focus of Luxcentric is on training practical strategies in the area of the core technologies.
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