A magic of a to-do list

We usually find ourself so busy, so many things needs to be done. This relates to job, social activities, and personal life. This leads to frequent need of choosing a next item to do. Sometimes we even have two or more tasks which needs to be addressed very quickly. A simple to-do list can help.

The goal of a to-do list

To get most of a to-do list technique let's think about its goals. We all know that it's hard to concentrate if our mind is busy something else. Can you remember a situation when you worry about an upcoming event or about a meeting speech. This rarely supports completion of other tasks and usually significantly increases required time for the task.

Let's imagine a magic which can help us to skip worrying about anything except the current task and to stay concentrated. Do you think it can help? Consider writing tasks into a to-do list. Think about it as a magic for temporary forgetting about anything except the current item. Isn't it our desired goal of using a to-do list?

To conclude the idea of a to-do list: let "to-do list" worry about upcoming tasks and necessery time, release your mind to finish the current one.

Types of to-do lists

To-do lists are widely used. It is so natural that many people do not require any special training or a manual. However some education can help. Everyone is unique and approaches of using a to-do list can be different. Let's highlight three commonly used to-do list types:

1. Plain or sequential to-do list

Everyone at least once did use this kind of to-do list. It looks like a numbered list of tasks to be done. Such to-do list user works on these tasks starting with most important first. Every completed task marked with a check or simply crossed out.

2. One day to-do list

This type of to-do list is used for collecting most important and time sensitive tasks. This includes meetings, phone calls and events. People usually write these tasks on sticky notes and place them in a visible location. In addition to task title it has a scheduled time or timeframe.

3. To-do list software

This list is probably the most effective. User can benefit from an additional information, forecasts and reports. Software can use a data for generating timesheets or comparison tables of planned time versus time spent. Don't get me wrong, but AcePlanner is a good example.

Effective to-do list is not just a plan of things to be done. It is a tool for collecting tasks and picking most important to work on in a moment.

We will come back to software to-do lists in next posts.

I'm looking forward to hear your questions and comments.