Writing Effective To-Do Lists
After reading "The Tyranny of the To-Do List" in The Times, by John Tierney on 25th January, I suddenly realised that the way I had been writing my to-do lists was worthless and a waste of time. Each item on my list was much too vague and, physiologically, when you don't specify exactly how you will do something your unconscious mind will bug your conscious mind to make a plan; the Zeigarnik effect.
As soon as I read this I was straight onto Trello to create my own personal to-do list with "To-Do (In Short)", "To-Do (Planned)" and "Done" as separate lists. As soon as I have an action it is put into the first column, just so that it is not forgotten. Then, the next stage is to write exactly
how that will be achieved, however obvious the plan seems.
Suddenly, your unconscious mind stops nagging and you can concentrate much more clearly. Give it a try and see how it works for you!
Here's a little snippet of the article:
"That's how a proper to-do list can liberate you. Once you make a plan to deal with something, you're free to concentrate on other things. But you have to be reasonably specific in what you write down. The problem with most to-do lists is that they're too vague. They don't contain what Allen calls "Next Actions". If your list has 'Write thank-you notes,' that's a fine Next Action, as long as you have a pen and cards," Allen said. "But if you don't have the cards, you'll know subliminally that you can't write the notes, so you'll avoid the list and procrastinate." Your to-do list should instead begin with the task of buying cards - including the specifics such as where you're going to buy them and how you'll get to the shop.
That distinction might sound simple enough, but people get it wrong all the time."
Suggested reading:
Getting Things Done by David Allen
Willpower: Rediscovering Our Greatest Strength by Roy F. Baumeister
Trello: Say Hello to Easy Organisation
Introduced to us by Jeremy, of Knowology, Trello has made team collaboration and todo-ism an absolute breeze.
Trello allows you to create 'boards', which can separate teams/departments/categories, and then place 'cards' on 'lists'. Cards are individual actions, which can be expanded to give more details. Colleagues can be assigned to tasks, cards can be voted for, checklists can be added and due dates can be set. Checklists are a great way to manage progress, showing the percentage completion and giving a methodical way of working.
We have boards for each department, boards for current projects and boards to manage personal achievements. They can be made public to clients, or kept to yourself, and the best thing about Trello is that it is completely web based. You can access it from any device with an internet browser (made easier by the Trello app).
It's completely free, totally expandable (it has an API to enable internal software integration), and very intuitive.
Give it a try and see how versatile it is!
Read this for how to write an effective to-do list to get things done!