what do you find is always left until last on your to-do list

Practise you oftentimes feel overwhelmed by the amount of work you have to practise? Do you lot notice yourself missing deadlines? Or exercise you sometimes just forget to do something important, so that people take to chase you to get piece of work done?

All of these are symptoms of not keeping a proper "To-Practise Listing." These are prioritized lists of all the tasks that y'all demand to carry out. They list everything that you have to exercise, with the nigh of import tasks at the height of the listing, and the least of import tasks at the bottom.

By keeping such a list, you make sure that your tasks are written down all in i identify so you don't forget anything important. And by prioritizing tasks, you plan the social club in which you'll practice them, so that you lot tin tell what needs your immediate attention, and what yous tin leave until later.

To-practise lists are essential if yous're going to beat piece of work overload. When you don't utilise them effectively, yous'll appear unfocused and unreliable to the people around you.

When you lot do use them finer, yous'll be much meliorate organized, and yous'll be much more than reliable. You'll feel less stress, rubber in the cognition that you lot haven't forgotten anything important. More than than this, if you prioritize intelligently, you'll focus your time and free energy on high-value activities, which will mean that yous're more productive, and more valuable to your team.

Keeping a properly structured and thought-out list sounds elementary enough. But it tin can be surprising how many people fail to utilize them at all, never mind employ them effectively.

In fact, it'south often when people beginning to employ them finer and sensibly that they make their starting time personal productivity breakthroughs, and start making a success of their careers. The video, below, gives some tips on how you can showtime to use to-practice lists more effectively.

Click hither to view a transcript of this video.

Preparing a To-Do List

Start by downloading our free template. Then follow these steps:

Step 1:

Write down all of the tasks that yous need to complete. If they're large tasks, break out the starting time action stride, and write this downwards with the larger chore. (Ideally, tasks or action steps should take no longer than 1-2 hours to complete.)

Note:

You may observe it easier to compile several lists (covering personal, written report, and workplace, for example). Endeavor different approaches and use the all-time for your ain state of affairs.

Step two:

Run through these tasks allocating priorities from A (very important, or very urgent) to F (unimportant, or not at all urgent).

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If besides many tasks take a loftier priority, run through the list again and demote the less important ones. Once you have done this, rewrite the list in priority order.

Using Your To-Do List

To apply your list, simply work your way through it in gild, dealing with the A priority tasks first, then the Bs, then the Cs, and so on. Every bit you complete tasks, tick them off or strike them through.

What yous put on your listing and how yous utilize information technology will depend on your situation. For instance, if y'all're in a sales-blazon function, a good style to motivate yourself is to keep your list relatively short, and aim to consummate it every twenty-four hours.

But if you lot're in an operational role, or if tasks are large or dependent on too many other people, then it may be meliorate to focus on a longer-term list, and "scrap away" at it day-by-day.

Many people find it helpful to spend, say, 10 minutes at the end of the day, organizing tasks on their listing for the next day.

Using Software

Although using a newspaper list is an easy way to get started, software-based approaches can be more efficient in spite of the learning curve. These tin can remind you lot of events or tasks that will before long be overdue, they can also be synchronized with your phone or email, and they can exist shared with others on your team, if y'all're collaborating on a project.

There are many time management software programs bachelor. At a simple level, you can employ MSWord or MSExcel to manage your lists. Some versions of Microsoft Outlook, and other email services such as Gmail™, have task lists equally standard features. Recollect the Milk is some other popular online task direction tool that volition sync with your smartphone, PDA, or e-mail account. It tin even show yous where your tasks are on a map. Other similar services include Todoist and Toodledo.

One of the biggest advantages to using a software-based approach to manage your list is that you tin can update it easily. For example, instead of scratching off tasks and rewriting the listing every 24-hour interval, software allows you to move and prioritize tasks quickly.

Tip:

All of us think, plan and work differently. A program that works well for a colleague might not work well for you simply because you learn and think in your own style. This is why information technology's useful to research and try several different ways of compiling your list earlier deciding on a single system.

Examples

To-do lists can assistance yous become, and stay, on top of important projects and piles of tasks or decisions.

For example, imagine you lot're heading a team that's working on a projection. There are so many tasks to do, and then many people doing them, that staying on top of it all seems overwhelming.

In this situation, construction your list by squad member, writing out tasks and deadlines for every person on the project. Each day equally you write out your own tasks that need completion, you lot can also cheque your Team To-Do List to run across who'due south working on what, and if anything is due in that mean solar day. Y'all tin can also include other tasks that you demand to complete as part of your job.

Or, imagine you're in a sales role and have a long list of people who you need to talk to. You write out a list of everyone you need to call and every customer yous need to see, and start prioritizing.

You know that one client is actually smashing on your product and is ready to buy, and then you prioritize them with an "A" – this is a prospect that's actually worth focusing on. Conversely, you know that another prospect is playing you off confronting several competitors, meaning that you lot'll make less profit, and that there's a reasonable chance that y'all won't get the business. You prioritize this person with a "D". Information technology's worth making some effort here, only you lot should focus well-nigh of your attention on better prospects.

Tip:

To-do lists are especially useful when yous have a pocket-sized number of tasks that y'all need to complete. However, they tin become cumbersome when you take besides many items on them, or when you lot need to progress multiple projects. At this stage, it'southward worth starting to use Action Programs, which are designed to manage more circuitous situations reliably.

Key Points

To be well organized in the workplace, you need to be using to-do lists. By using them, you will ensure that:

• Yous recollect to conduct out all necessary tasks.
• Yous tackle the well-nigh of import jobs first, and don't waste time on trivial tasks.
• You don't get stressed by a large number of unimportant jobs.

Start by list all of the tasks that you lot must comport out.

Marking the importance of the task next to it, with a priority from A (very important) to F (unimportant). Redraft the listing into this society of importance. And then carry out the jobs at the top of the listing first. These are the virtually important, most beneficial tasks to consummate.

You tin also apply software-based approaches to manage your list. You lot can ofttimes access these from anywhere, and they tin ofttimes be synced with your Smartphone or PDA.

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Source: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newHTE_05.htm

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