Practical Tips for Managing Your To-Do List

When I started this blog, I posted more regularly about items related to faith, creativity, and everyday life. That's still my goal. But over the past few months I've been bogged down with so many things to do, that I decided blogging had to take a back seat for a bit. Yep. That's me. Backseat blogger. I've been still posting the free Kindle downloads as I find them, but I've neglected the rest of my blog topics. 

If you're new to Faith, Creativity, Life, I want you to know that I DO post about more than just free Kindle books. Normally. Over the next few weeks, I hope to get back on track with regular posting, on topic. 

A few days ago, as I gathered my thoughts, I grabbed a note tablet to write up my to-do list for the week. At the top of the page, I wrote "To-Do List." Or that's what I planned to write. Instead, I wrote "To-Do Lost." Ironically, that's more realistically what my list feels like.

I feel like I get lost in that list of stuff that I have to get done every week. Every day. Are you to-do lost? Swamped in more than you'd like on a list? Here's one practical way I've tackled that list.

I have a day planner that includes planning pages for each week as well as a month at a glance calendar. I pretty much just use the calendar. It's easier. But I've figured out how the planning pages (you know, the ones with spots for appointments and reminders?) can be a great asset for me. 

At the beginning of the week, I make up a master list of what I need to accomplish. Then, I take those items and fill them in on the planner pages. I ignore the time slots and just use each day's spot as a place to write the tasks I plan to accomplish that day. By the end, I've taken my to-do list and sliced it up, writing tasks on all five days of the week, making sure that on the days I have a heap of stuff scheduled, I don't write down many tasks.

It's so great to see that to-do list in smaller pieces. Instead of a long list of 20 items. I have about 5 or so on each day of the week.

If you are to-do lost, I encourage you to try it for a week or two and see how it works for you.

Oh, and thanks for being a faithful Faith, Creativity, Life reader!