To-Do List

There are many types and flavors of To-Do list that can help you to get things done. I use multiple types of To-Do lists at the same time to help me stay on task and remember what I need to get done.

For Ongoing Small Tasks

I have a job that requires me to be able to task-switch with relative ease and to be able to come back to dropped tasks. Frequently I'll be working on something that requires a fair amount of attention, then will get a call and will need to totally pivot to something that takes priority. This isn't particularly easy for me, so one of the ways that I manage this is to keep a permanent ongoing task list of "small" tasks.

These small tasks are almost all things that can be accomplished in under an hour, and if they are part of a multi-step process each step will be its own list item. So, for instance, if I need to get a quote approved by a customer, "Find solution," "Build Quote," "Send Quote," "Send Follow-Up on Quote" will all be different items on my list.

I keep track of these tasks in tiny graph-paper notebooks. These notebooks (spiral bound, about 2x3 inches with about 50 sheets and 20 lines per sheet - I get them in 3-packs for $1.75 at my local Daiso; a pack of lined index cards or any other small notebook with lined sheets would work similarly) live on my desk with a pen on top of them. I also keep a set of highlighters nearby (mine are scented because that incentivizes using them; love a notebook that smells like Pez) to mark off task as I complete them.

This is my To-Do list that sees the heaviest use. Anything that comes up while I'm at my desk goes into the notebook. I write down things that I need to remember (like what pages I want to add to this wiki) and things I need to accomplish. If I get to the end of the list I can flip back through previous pages to get an idea of something that I might need to do that hasn't been written down yet.

Steps for a Small Task To-Do List

• Find a notebook that you will be able to use effectively in your most high-traffic area. This may mean a notebook for your purse, one to keep on your desk, or one that sits on the counter in your kitchen or workshop. Wherever you are the most, that's where your notebook needs to fit in.
• Keep a writing tool that you like with the notebook at all times.
• Write down everything that you are not going to do immediately. If it can't be accomplished as soon as you think of it, it should go in the notebook.
• Mark off tasks as they are complete. I prefer to do this with highlighters because it makes the notebook look fun to me and allows me to read previous tasks if I'm trying to figure out something to do.
• If you are unable to accomplish a task in your small To-Do List, move that task to the Ongoing Large Task To-Do List.

For Ongoing Large Tasks

Some things we need to do are too big for a little notebook. I have a Libre Office document titled "Ongoing" that is always open on my computer; it is currently 11 pages long and includes everything from a pumpkin bread recipe that I want to try to a list of hardware replacements I need to plan for work to snippets of code I've used for reference while writing various pages of this website.

An Ongoing Large Task list is to use for reference for long-term projects you want to accomplish. "Long-Term" is flexible; this could be something to bake in three weeks or it could be working on your dissertation. It's a document you'll return to frequently to remind yourself what you're doing so you don't have to restart everything from scratch every time you remember that you're working on a project in the background of your life.

I like using a word processor document for this, but you can also use a larger notebook for tasks like this. The important thing is just that you need to be able to go in and add more information or steps to a task.

One example of something I put on the larger was setting up this website. I don't know if you've set up a wiki before, but it is a multi-step process and each step can spawn ten new steps. So "Set up Wiki" was one task, but as I found more tasks like "migrate domain from Godaddy" and "set up database" and "redirect URL to main page" I'd add them under the header for "Set up Wiki" (and because I was doing this on a word processor I also dropped in links so I could keep them in one place instead of having to dig for them every time I remembered to come back to the site). It actually took me an embarrassingly long time to go from deciding I wanted to run this as a wiki to having the site go live - something like four months - because every time I found a new step I got frustrated (see Speedbumps), but collecting the list of steps and resources to finish them helped to make sure that it actually got done eventually.

Steps for a Large Task To-Do List

• Create a document or assign a notebook for your large tasks.
• Add tasks as they come up. If you are using a document, make sure that each task has its own header so that you can easily navigate from header to header instead of scrolling. If you are using a notebook, assign at least two pages to each task so that you have room to add information or steps as needed.
• Write down what you think the major steps of each task will be - you might want to try the Goblin.Tools Magic ToDo for this.
• Research each of those steps and make notes on what you will need to finish each of these steps. If you've got a recipe on the list, do you have the ingredients or do you need to add shopping as a step? If you've got "build a wiki" on the list do you have links information about markdown?
• Continually add steps, references, and tools to each task until the task is done.
• If you finish a task from your Large Task To-Do, do something really nice for yourself to celebrate. I baked myself a cake for finishing a conference program and I deserved it.

For Short-Term Plans

This one is kind of an odd category because it's kind of a combination of all the others. For lists like this, I typically use a single sheet of paper and the lists are typically time or task limited. This is the kind of list I make when I have one day on a weekend to work in the yard, or when I'm doing car maintenance. It may mean putting together a list of the things I need, or what actions I need to take, and I may not adhere to the list very closely at all. It can be used as a reference to redirect me back to focus if I'm spending all day on a list or it can serve as a checklist if the things I need to do have to take place over the course of a couple of weeks.

These kinds of To-Do lists are the least to-do-y for me; they're not stuff that I have to get done to function, they're suggestions for things that I'd like to get accomplished in a short-term situation and if it doesn't happen it's not the end of the world.

You have to be judicious with your choices, though. "Vacuum floorboards of my car" may not be a huge issue, but "Change Oil" is a huge issue.

Steps for a Short-Term Plan To-Do List

• Identify your short-term plan; this can be something that has a defined working period (what you'll do on a single weekend) or that is a self-contained project (car maintenance), but have a discrete plan or project in mind.
• Get out at least two pieces of paper.
• List the things you want to get accomplished in a best-case scenario; all of the possible things you could get done if you don't lose energy or get distracted.
• Group the items from the best-case list into things that can be accomplished at the same time or with the same tools (if you're getting your hedge clipper out, you might as well clip all the hedges, not just the ones in the front yard).
• Divide your best-case list into chunks, prioritizing based on what you want to get accomplished the most and what will be easiest to do if you've got your tools or are already out and about. Figure out if there are any steps that have to happen in order, and put those at the top of the list.
• Select the five things that you'd want to get done in a worst-case scenario, where if everything went to hell you'd be happy saying "at least I got one of these things done."
• Make a list of the tools, locations, or tasks that will be necessary to get your short-term plan accomplished.
• On the second piece of paper, make a list of your five priorities, what tools you need, the things you have to get done first, and then "bonus" tasks that would be great if you could accomplish them from your first list. Maybe you HAVE to get the lawn mowed and the front hedge trimmed and it's not a problem if you can't get the back hedge trimmed but it would be nice to do it while you've got the trimmer out. "Back Hedge" is a bonus task.

This kind of list isn't a list so much as a general plan of attack, but having it in list form helps me to function, so that's how I think of it.

Task-Specific Lists

Task-Specific Lists are for individual tasks with multiple steps. "Write an essay" is a task (it can also be a short-term plan). "Change your oil" is a task. "Bake a cake" is a task. These are one-time events for which you will need to gather tools and plan time.

Steps for a Task-Specific To-Do List

• Identify a Task
• Consider the steps you will need to do for each phase of the task. For instance, "Change Oil" might have "gather tools" "work on car" "clean up driveway" as different phases, and each phase will have multiple steps - perhaps gathering tools means going to the auto parts store for oil; perhaps cleaning up after means filling a pressure washer with water.
• Write down each step and check them off as you go.

The hardest part of making a task-specific To-Do List is knowing what the steps are. Goblin.Tools has created a wonderful tool for this that can help you identify the steps needed to accomplish your tasks.

Online Tools

I am not a phone-look-at-er so mobile task managers don't tend to work well for me, neither do calendar apps or phone timers. I don't have much that I can recommend in this space, however for habit building that comes with a bonus task manager, I have been using Habitica since 2013 and I highly recommend it.