Productivity

How to Effectively Create Action Lists

Every day, people make to-do lists that are rarely accomplished. These lists help remind us of the things we want to get done, but the overwhelming number of unchecked items at the end of each day can be depressing and discouraging. To avoid those feelings of frustration and anger, use these tips to turn your simple to-do lists into an effective action plan:

1. Turn your base unit into the month or week. Avoid using daily lists as your primary source of organization. Plan for the month or week ahead as this will give a needed flexibility.

2. When planning ahead, make a large and comprehensive list of all the things you’d like to accomplish within the given timeframe (again, a week or a month). Now be realistic with yourself – you won’t be able to accomplish all of those, so prioritize. Pick out the things that are most important to you, and cross out the ones that aren’t. Fit the bigger things into your life first, and you’ll naturally find time for some smaller things.

3. Make sure you account for things that are important but not urgent. If you have a big project deadline in three months, work a little of it into this coming month. Being on top of future tasks means you won’t be overwhelmed later, and forced to neglect other important items just to reach your deadline.

4. Once you have picked the most important of the items on your list, make a plan. Write down the following:

- Visualize your goal. What do you want the end-result to look like? Write out as many details as you can think of.

- Consider how you will get the goal done – what things do you need to accomplish in order for the goal to be complete? Break larger goals down into stages of tasks.

- Give yourself deadlines. You’ll need at least a final deadline, but for larger goals, make sure you create deadlines for your sub-tasks as well.

- Write everything down in an easy to access and visible place. This could be a calendar, colorful sticky notes, or a journal you keep.

- Keep track of your progress, and of the things that get done. For things that aren’t getting done, ask yourself: Are there certain tasks that are repeatedly neglected? Is there a particular type of task you always leave behind? Then ask yourself: Why? Maybe you don’t have the required skills, in which case you’ll need to fit training or skill-building into your schedule. Or maybe the item isn’t really as important to your core, and you should just get rid of if from your life. Don’t be afraid to do a mental detox.

5. Learn and adjust. As you go along and learn more about your own habits, you’ll get a better sense of how many things you can accomplish within a week or a month. People tend to begin by overestimating how much they’ll actually be able to do. Reduce the items on your action plan until you find something that works for you. This doesn’t mean that you’ll be reducing the amount of work you get done – you’ll actually be doing more while simply worrying less about things that aren’t as important!