Do You Find Daily To-Do Lists Good or Bad?

Most people I know keep lists of one sort or another.  I find if I go food shopping without a list I spend far more than usual and still manage to come home without the most important meal ingredients.  This usually means I have to go back to the shop!  So, in my opinion, a shopping list is a good list to make.

Another list I keep are reminders - birthday cards to buy & send; insurance renewal dates; doctor & dentist appointments to make - all the routine but vital stuff that can easily be forgotten when you’re busy.  I keep a list in the kitchen where I look at it every morning, cross out what I’ve done and add any new items on the bottom.  My reminder list is a good list to make.

The lists I really struggle with are Daily To-Do Lists.  You see, I always write down more, many more to-dos than I can possibly get through in one normal length day.  Optimism gets the better of me when I write the list.  And then, at the end of the day, I beat myself up over how little I’ve achieved.

What I find is, because all the ‘to-dos’ are hanging over me throughout the day, I don’t allow myself the luxury to just sit and daydream - there isn't enough time left free for doing that.  Which is crazy, because when I switch off from the busyness, I get some of my best ideas.

What I’m experimenting with as an alternative to the shackles of a daily to-do list is a weekly to-do list.  While some tasks are date sensitive, others just need to be completed before the end of the week.  The weekly to-do list is just as long as the previous 5 days worth of lists, but somehow it doesn’t seem as rigid.  There might even be time for a bit of daydreaming ;)

Do you find daily To-Do Lists good or bad for creativity?  Please let me know by commenting below - and if you enjoyed this post, I'd appreciate if you'd share it :)

Comments

[LouiseBJ]

Thanks for stopping by and commenting Clare. So good to read your comment about adding more than we can realistically achieve - at least it isn't only me who gets that wrong :)

I think the time-wasters and low value tasks creep in when we procrastinate - for whatever reason (and there can be many!).

[Clare Evans]

What we normally use as a to-do list has all the downsides you mention. We write down far too much - we add more than we 'do' and they can seem overwhelming.

Create a daily 'action' list and just write down the things you know you'll actually achieve. This is usually a maximum of 10 but could just be 2-3. If you usually achieve 5 each day then that's the number of actions you have on your list. Depending on the nature of your work and the type of tasks, you may be able to realistically achieve only 2-6 things each day.

Focus on the important tasks and get rid of the time-wasters or low value tasks.

Add those reminders to your dairy or scheduler, then they're in one place and if you use a computer based diary you'll automatically be reminded.

Time for 'thinking' is also important. I often do this when I'm out exercising. As you say some of our best ideas come when we've mentally switched off.

[LouiseBJ]

Hi Jackie, thanks for commenting (& for letting me know about the problem you experienced with comments!).

I love your Super 7 idea!! 7 seems a reasonable number of things to plan to get through in a day - most of us tend to think we can do more & so are likely to be disappointed more often.

Writing a highlight of the day is s nice touch too, it's good to be able to review and remind ourselves of our great achievements when feeling a bit low.

Thanks again for sharing :)