7 tips for making the ultimate to-do list.

If I could share my number one piece of advice when it comes to being productive, it would be making a to-do list. I’m actually surprised I haven’t written a blog post on this yet!

Having a to-do list isn’t revolutionary by any means. I’m pretty sure most people have a running to-do list in some shape or form. But for me…it’s a must. A lifesaver. An absolute necessity.

Here’s the thing about having a (well done) to-do list - it doesn’t just help you to be more productive, but it actually FREES you from a lot of stress.

I don’t know about you, but I can have a million and one tasks/responsibilities to do at any given time, and to say it’s overwhelming to think about them all at once is an understatement. But when you have a to-do list that is properly organized (by priority, time, ease, etc.) it makes all the difference in the world and actually removes so much anxiety.

Here are a few of my tips for keeping a to-do list that have literally changed my life.

Pick 3-5 of your TOP things to accomplish per day.

This. Is. CRUCIAL. It goes back to what I was saying about having your list help lessen stress. If you only have a select number of things that you have to accomplish on any given day, it makes them much more easy to focus on and complete. For me, my top 3-5 things are typically work-related, because 99% of the time that is my highest priority.

^ Do those things first.

You can have other tasks on your to-do list for any given day, but they should be smaller, easier tasks. For example, my 3-5 tops tasks are usually work projects, and then my remaining tasks are things like laundry, errands, etc. But once the “hard” stuff is out of the way, it’s like it’s all downhill from there.

Assign certain categories to each day.

So I must admit that this isn’t something I do ALL the time, but it can definitely be extremely helpful. A friends recently told me about this tip and I thought it was genius. The idea is to divide days up into certain task categories. So for example could have something like “Administrative Monday” for paying bills, planning appointments, and so on. And other days focused on things like marketing, new projects, research, etc.

This is very dependent on your job, of course, and probably more suitable if you create your own schedule. But it’s an interesting concept that I think could be tweaked no matter what your role is.

Keep your to-do list in the notes on your phone, iPad, or computer.

There are so many fancy-pants apps and journals for to-do lists, but I’m personally a fan of keeping it pretty simple in the notes on my iPad. The reason I like this is because I add to and edit my list often (see below), and this makes it way easier to do so. It’s simple, straightforward, and efficient. I also divide it up by day, so my list usually looks like this:

MONDAY
blah blah blah
blah blah blah
blah blah blah

TUESDAY
blah blah blah
blah blah blah
blah blah blah

Write down even the smallest of tasks.

If you saw some of the things I have on my list, you might think I’m a crazy person (and probably wouldn’t understand half of it, to be honest). That’s because I add every single little thing I could possibly think of. WHY? Because the more tasks you can get on that list, the less they’re swirling around in your head taking up your precious time and thoughts. Even if it’s something you have to do in a few days or even a few weeks, once it’s on the list you just don’t have to think about it again until it’s time to actually do it.

Edit your list frequently.

This is why I find it so easy to keep my to-do list in my digital notes. Depending on how my day is going (because we all know that days have so many twists and turns), I edit my tasks often. Sometimes I get more done in a day than I thought. Sometimes I have to push tasks to the following day. But instead of giving up on the list all together (which is something I think a lot of people end up doing), I just keep editing it. And you know what? Eventually everything still always gets done.

Want to take it to the next level? Look into Podio.

I’ve tried a handful of different workspaces over the years, and hands down Podio is my absolute favorite. I don’t know if I’d recommend it so much for personal use (we use it to manage NYC Collective) or just for a to-do list, but if you are in search of a more extensive work space I could not recommend it more highly.

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Do you regularly keep a to-do list? What’s your best advice/method?