I Tried 4 To-Do List Methods. Here’s What Worked.

Embarking on a quest to find the perfect to-do list method can be daunting. With countless techniques available, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. Dive into a personal journey of trial and error, exploring four different methods and discovering what truly works.

Over four days, I tried four ways of organizing my to-do list

I tracked my overall productivity and stress levels to see which worked best.

• Here’s what I learned:
• There are a lot of methods out there for staying organized. Which one works best for you?

Wednesday: Use a digital task manager

Todoist

• Project sorting
• Task scheduling
• Routinely asked, “What am I actually going to complete today?”
• Color-coding feature to assign meaning to each task
• Scheduling recurring tasks frees up brain space
• Hard to track in-progress tasks
• Less dopamine

Thursday: Make three lists

Make three to-do lists: important non-time-sensitive tasks, tasks you need to complete today, and tasks you’re never going to get done

• Schedule tasks by priority to acknowledge that your time is a valuable, finite resource
• This method is good for: people who have competing priorities, people who love crossing easy items off their list, or people who don’t need much support to stay focused

Monday: No list, just a calendar

Use your digital calendar to organize your time

• For every task you have to get done, estimate how long it will take, and block that period off in advance
• This method helps you better prioritize your work, gives you built-in deadlines, and keeps you from prioritizing super easy tasks
• The downside is that you may not get to check off every completed task

What’s My Verdict

The “do one thing” method made me feel more productive and in control

• It was really best for completing my most immediate tasks
• Moving forward, I’m going to combine it with Todoist, my digital task manager, which is better for scheduling important tasks that are due down the line

Tuesday: Keep a running list but do just “one thing” on it

The “do one thing” method is a strategy highlighted in Peter Bergman’s article, “Your To-Do List Is, in Fact, Too Long”

• Keep your to-do list but use it only as a reference – not something to work off of.
• Every time you want to tackle a task, write it down on a Post-It and stick it where you can see it. Then, hide your full list and focus. Once you finish your chosen task, cross it off your list, and start again.

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