How To Reduce Your To-do list.

Traditional to-do lists don’t work. You know this, right? They don’t work because most of the tasks on to-do lists are mundane, low-value tasks that move very little forward.

The key to better task management is being strategic about what goes on a task list. Clearly written and thought out high-value tasks that move you towards the outcomes you want should be dominating, not low-value tasks that are moved to a project folder never to see the light of day again.

The biggest failure with traditional to-do lists, though, is they soon become too long and overwhelming, and then you stop looking at them, which means they are no longer useful.

So, what can you do to make your task list more effective and shorter? Here are five ways to consider.

Eliminate email duplication

The first step to reducing your task list is to avoid duplication. For example, you do not need to send email to a task manager. Your email application is where you manage your email, so you do not need an actionable email in your email app and a task reminding you to reply to or read a specific email.

Instead, create an “Action This Day” folder in your email app, and put anything that needs any kind of action in there. Then, create a single recurring routine task in your task manager telling you to “clear your Action This Day” folder.

This way, instead of having ten email tasks in your task manager’s inbox, you have a single task reminding you to clear a specified folder in your email. This avoids moving to and from your task manager, and you have a simple list from which to work from.

Master your email in less than ninety minutes.

Make use of checklists

A lot of the work we do is routine. For instance, I create YouTube videos each week. There is a process for creating a YouTube video, from the planning to the recording and editing. I could put each step into my task manager, but when I am recording a video, all I need to know is its time to record the video.

Part of recording the video is to check the settings on my camera, the lighting, and sound. I could put all those checks in my task manager too, but they would be worthless there. All I need is a checklist in my notes app to make sure I am doing the right things in the correct order, and a date on my calendar for a two-hour block to do the recording. I combine that checklist with the plan for the video, and this ensures I consistently complete my recording without missing any steps.

Checklists do not need to be in your task manager. You can hold checklists such as a packing list, a morning routine list or a closing down routine in your notes app or journal. These can be copied for each new session, and you can add any relevant notes to the list.

Again, all you need in your task manager is a single task telling you to begin a particular process.

Use your calendar

Your calendar should contain all your fixed, time specific work and appointments. Things like appointments naturally go on your calendar, but you should also use your calendar for timed blocks of work. I have a one-hour block of time each day for dealing with my communications. Usually, this is between 5:00 and 6:00pm. I also have a block of time for writing my blog posts and recording my podcast.

Doing this means I not only have the required time for doing my important work, it also means I do not need to have tasks in my task manager telling me to do this important work.

The rule is: what goes on my calendar gets done, and once something is on my calendar, I know I have time for doing it. I can relax.

Use your notes app

Managing all your project tasks inside a to-do list is asking for trouble. Tasks will be added, moved to a project folder and then get lost in the shuffle. To avoid this, you are likely to add a random date, so at least you will be reminded of a task you think needs doing on a date in the future. Only to reschedule the task once it comes back up to another, a random date.

Instead of all this organising and reorganising, just create a project note in your notes app. In this note, you can keep all your relevant information on the project, add links to files you are working on and notes about what needs to happen next.

In your task manager, all you then need is a single task telling you to work on or review a particular project. Then you open up your project note, and you will quickly see what needs to happen next, and you can get straight to work.

If you have to contact someone about a project, you can add that task to your task manager with a clear description. For example, “contact Nicola about the slide design for next week’s presentation”. This way, the task is a unique task with a clear outcome, which makes it a lot more motivating to do.

Learn more about connecting your notes and task manager together with the Time Sector System course.

Be very clear in the way you write your tasks

Too often, in our rush to add a task, we will write something down sloppily. We may write something like “call Rachel” with no desired outcome attached to it. If you do not see that task again for a day or two, when you do come back to it, you now have to think what you meant when you wrote it. Instead, make sure you write out the task in as clear a manner as possible. “Call Rachel and confirm next month’s concert is still going ahead”. Sure, it will take you an extra three or four seconds to write, but it will save you a lot more than that when it comes to remembering why you need to call Rachel.

If a task is unclear, you will find you will ignore it. The additional cognitive energy required to remember everything about the task will just cause you to procrastinate and not do it.

Of all your productivity tools, your task manager is the one that needs to be the most clean and tight. Only have tasks that you know you need to do and make sure they are clearly written and any dates you have added to them are real dates and not just random dates you have picked out of the air, so you do not forget to do them.

When you begin the day with a task list that is clear, relevant, and achievable, you will have a lot less on there, it will be more focused, and you are much more likely to clear your day’s list.

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