Replace to-do lists with a schedule

- The to-do list is a common tool that many people use yet actually gets in the way of effective time management. Now the to-do list is a running list of things that you want to accomplish and you add things to it and you cross them off as they get done, and some of them do get accomplished, but often the list grows endlessly. This contributes to a feeling of being overwhelmed. It also contributes to the myth of multitasking. You're switch-tasking by looking at all those different to-dos at the same time.

Instead, we want to get into the habit of using a time budget. We want to make a commitment as to when we're going to accomplish these things. So how do we make that transition away from a to-do list and what should we use instead? Here are a few steps. First of all, establish a calendar. One calendar. Choose that calendar that you're going to use consistently and you're going to carry with you at all times. If you've already taken this step, then great, but if you haven't, take a moment and decide whether you're going to use a calendar on your phone or your computer or both together in the cloud, or whether you carry a paper planner with you.

It doesn't matter as long as you've chosen one to use. Second, you're going to want to establish a time in that calendar to process those to-dos. Rather than let that list grow indefinitely and maybe get to it at some point, you want to have a specific time in your calendar each week when you go through the list and bring it to zero. How do you bring it to zero? Well I cover this in my course Time Management Fundamentals, but essentially you need to decide what you're going to do with each item, when you're going to do it, and where, if anywhere, the home is for notes related to that.

Once you've decided what, when, where, you can process the item off your to-do list and cross it off even if it's not complete. Third, replace the to-do list with something like a notepad or a note taking app. You can use something as simple as a paper notepad where you write down the to-dos and then cross them off as you process them. Or you can use something like Evernote where you take one note for each action item and delete it or archive it after you process those.

And number four, as you might imagine, we want to consistently process this notepad or note taking app. By doing this, we stay on top of those to-dos, bringing them to zero every single week rather than being buried by them. The fifth tip is kind of a bonus. You might want to create a to-don't list. The to-don't list is a list of items that you've learned in the past you shouldn't spend your time doing. Perhaps create the top 10 list of the things that you won't do in the future and that will help you better protect your time.

Now the to-do list may have worked in the past, decades ago, when we had an abundance of time and could choose at will the things we would work on. In the 21st century though, where are lives are dominated by interruptions, it's important for us to use the calendar effectively to stay on top of all of our many to-dos.