3 ways to create a more useful to-do list

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3 ways to create a more useful to-do list

By Julia Herbst

As we approach the holiday season, your calendar is probably filling up. And undoubtedly your to-do list is as well.

If you’re nearing the point of overwhelm, it might be time for a to-do list refresh. Here are some creative ways to build a list that works better for you:

Make a to-do list based on your energy level

Writer Stephanie Vozza recently had the opportunity to interview author Rebecca Arnold, who coaches Harvard University faculty members about productivity and leadership. Arnold shared her strategy of creating three different lists, based on your energy level at any given moment, which she names: “rock star,” “so-so,” and “blah.”

The idea is that you can maximize your productivity at a given time. When you’re feeling great, that’s the time you want to do your most challenging, biggest-picture thinking. After lunch, when your energy is low, that’s the time to do something simple, like catching up on emails.?

“At the beginning of a work block, ask yourself, Where’s my energy at right now?” Arnold tells Vozza. “Then you’ll know exactly what to tackle based on that. You don’t lose a lot of time thinking, What should I work on? It’s all there.”?

Write a “might-do” list

Former Google executive John Zeratsky keeps a "might-do" list, where he puts minor tasks like scheduling appointments or submitting expenses, writes Amanda Imber, founder of the behavior change consultancy Inventium and host of the How I Work podcast.?

This strategy helps Zeratsky by preventing small tasks from cannibalizing too much space on his actual to-do list and making him feel unnecessarily overwhelmed. When enough of these minor projects pile up, he can then make time to do them all at once, maximizing efficiency.?

“The 'might-do' list strategy has several benefits," Imber writes. "It removes the psychological weight of obligation from minor tasks, increasing your motivation and sense of freedom. Psychologists find we get more satisfaction from picking tasks ourselves versus being mandated to do them.”

Get honest about letting go

Writer Rachel Kramer Bussel asked organizational experts to review her to-do lists with the hope they could help her feel less like keeping up with these lists was “a job in and of itself.” One of the hardest lessons she learned was that there are times—especially when you’ve been putting off something for a while—that you need to be honest and remove that task from your list for good.

"Maybe you’ve changed course in your career goals since you initially wrote down the task or other, more urgent work has crossed your desk," Rashelle Isip, author of How to Be More Organized Right Now, explained to Kramer Bussel.

"If certain responsibilities are truly vital to your work or well-being, 'you’ll find a way to get them done,' Isip added. So, if you haven’t, figuring out why can help you move past it—and get to the next item on your list.”

Deeper Dive:

• The trick Harvard faculty uses to get more done
• A neurobiology coach explains why you feel overwhelmed at work and how to manage
• I asked experts to analyze my to-do lists. This is what they found

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