To-do lists are a great way of increasing productivity. It’s easy to become overwhelmed by the tasks we have to do during the course of a week, but we can eliminate stress by creating achievable goals. If you take the time to write down the tasks you need to complete, you will find that the list will help you to put your workload in perspective and keep the end in sight.
Here are some tips on creating to-do lists to make your workload more manageable:
1. Be realistic. Set achievable outcomes for each day and don’t put too much on your list.
2. Prioritise. Rank your tasks in order of importance and complete them in that order. Make sure you finish each task before moving on to the next, as this will help you to focus.
3. Break your tasks into bite-size pieces. Create a list of subtasks under each task. Each subtask will help you to complete the overall task.
4. Schedule rest times. Make sure that you take a break. You will then be refreshed and more able to concentrate on the work at hand.
The Internet is awash with to-do list software and Web applications. Here are five of the best:
1. toDoo. As I mentioned in my last article, toDoo is a great cross-platform to-do list application that’s loaded with features.
2. Backpack. Backpack, by 37 Signals, is probably one of the best and most feature-rich to-do list applications on the Web. It’s so good that it almost does the tasks on your list for you. The downside is that you need to pay for it. If your employer is willing to budget for it, however, then this should be the top choice.
3. Ta-da List. Also made by 37 Signals, this is a completely free to-do list with some of the functionality of Backpack. It’s definitely worth trying.
4. Remember the Milk is a great Web-based app and it also runs on both iPhone and Android-based smart phones. While not quite marketed toward the corporate environment it is definitely one of the most useful apps for these phones.
5. voo2do is another browser-based platform for sharing tasks and managing to-do lists. It’s free to use and there’s also a premium version.