Do you make to-do lists?

I do, but I think that I will stop doing it. I’ve already realized that to-do lists are not very useful and that I rarely (read never!) complete all the tasks on them. This morning, when I stumbled upon an article about how highly successful people manage their time, I finally understood why they are so inefficient and I wanted to share it with you.

There are three big problems with to-do lists.

• a to-do list doesn’t account for time. When we have a long list of tasks, we tend to tackle those that can be completed quickly in a few minutes, leaving the longer items left undone. Researches indicate that 41% of all to-do list items are never completed!
• a to-do list doesn’t distinguish between urgent and important. Once again, our impulse is to fight the urgent and ignore the important.
• to-do lists contribute to stress. Unfinished tasks contribute to intrusive, uncontrolled thoughts. So, it’s no wonder we feel so overwhelmed in the day, but fight insomnia at night.

So, ultra-productive don’t make to-do lists. Instead, they live and work from their calendar.

There are several key concepts to managing your life using your calendar instead of a to-do list.

• make the default event duration in your calendar only 15 minutes. Ultra-productive people only spend as much time as is necessary for each task. When your default setting is 15 minutes, you’ll automatically discover that you can fit more tasks into each day.
• time-block the most important things in your life, first. Don’t let your calendar fill up randomly by accepting every request that comes your way. You should first get clear on your life and career priorities and pre-schedule sacred time-blocks for these items.
• schedule everything. Instead of checking email every few minutes, schedule three times a day to process it. Instead of writing “Call back my sister” put it in your calendar.

According to studies, that which is scheduled actually gets done.

So, I’m willing to give it a try and I’ll let you know if it works better then to-do lists.

In the meantime, happy Tuesday to you all!