As many of you have surely experienced, a to-do list can be both the most awesome and the scariest thing. What happens if you don’t get your day’s tasks done? They roll over to the next day. This potentially perpetual cycle can become quite daunting, preventing the smaller, quicker tasks from getting done.
My solution to this perpetual cycle occurred to me just the other day (why didn’t it occur sooner?). If I can’t fit a task into my daily to-do, I switch the task over to another day. “Doesn’t that not resolve the cycle?” But wait… I look at the days to follow and make sure to swap in a manageable task or two from a day to come. That way, tasks are getting done and being done in a time frame suited to the task. I’ve found that this also aids me in being feeling more productive, getting tasks done and (as a result of the productive feeling) getting more done.
Just a short word for a Sunday post. More of a thought, really. How do you handle your to-do list?
One Comment
One of the benefits of GTD is that the to-do items are not tied to specific days, but organized by context. There are exceptions of course, calendar events for example.
For implementing GTD you can use this web-based application:
http://www.Gtdagenda.com [link removed]
You can use it to manage your goals, projects and tasks, set next actions and contexts, use checklists, schedules and a calendar.
A mobile version is available too.