You know those crazy busy days…the days that you have tons to do and you spend the day running around like crazy? Those days when you don’t stop for a minute but yet, at the end of the day you can’t think of a single thing that you actually accomplished. It’s incredibly frustrating isn’t it?
As a business owner, no matter how much you delegate there’s still lots to do and unless you stay productive your business won’t go where you want it to.
There are many secrets to getting things done but one of the main things you need is a to-do list that works. You may be thinking…a to-do list…UGH!
Many business owners have a love/hate relationship with to-do lists. They want a to-do list because they think it will provide a kind of map to guide them through their day and remind them of what they want to do.
BUT, many people find their to-do lists don’t help. Instead of helping to stay on track, their to-do lists remind them of all the things they are “supposed” to be doing but aren’t actually doing or the things that they should have done yesterday but didn’t finish or never even started.
A to-do list can be incredibly helpful but ONLY if you have the right things on it.
Here are five suggestions I give my clients that help make their to-do lists useful and enable them to get the things that they really want to do done. After all, isn’t that really what it is all about?
- A to-do list is just that…a list of things that you want to do. It is not a storage place for ideas. You can certainly include individual tasks that are a piece of a larger idea on your list but in general keep larger, longer term ideas separate.
- Keep your daily to-do list short; it is not a wish list. Only include a few things that you can realistically get done on a given day.
- Create your daily to-do list with a set of specific actions that you plan to get done. A to-do list needs to be a list of actions. For instance if “follow up with prospect clients” is on your list take a moment to define what you mean. Who will you reach out to? How will you contact them and when? What will you say? The more specific you are the better your list will be.
- Make a realistic approximation of how long each task will take. Now double it. Consider if you really have enough time in your day to do it and if you do, decide when you’ll do it.
- Finally, despite our best intentions life sometimes gets in the way and you may get pulled away from what you intended to do. So for a moment, assume that you’ll be able to accomplish only one of the things on your to-do list. Pick the one that will make the most difference to you, your business and your clients and focus your attention there.
When you create a to-do list that is a list of specific things that you really understand, and can act on in the amount of time you have available it is possible to look at your list at the end of the day, cross items off your list and feel good about what you’ve accomplished.
I’d love to know what’s on your to-do list today.
I couldn’t live without my daily to-do list! I not only have my list for each day, but I also use my online calendar to schedule when I’ll do the task. This way I can stay more focused. When life does get in the way, I just move it to the next day.
Hi Jama,
For me a daily to-do list is key. I don’t usually schedule tasks on my calendar unless it’s something that I tend to be avoiding. Everyone has to respect their way of working, thanks for sharing yours. !
I love when I get a to do list written and at least mostly crossed off. Do you have a “big” to do list that has everything on it and you just move what you can/need to do ‘today’ onto it? I have a million things that need to be done but could never get them done in one day but if I don’t write them down they get lost since I’ll never remember them if I don’t put them on paper. Any advice?