Your to-do list is an extension of your mind. If you don’t regularly tidy up your list, things get cluttered. Instead of being a reliable source of to-dos, it becomes a task in itself to sort through the mess and figure out what to work on next.
Before you start, visualize your destination
Before touching any clutter, Marie first asks her clients to envision the life they want to achieve by tidying up.
- Once you’re clear on why you’re tidying, you’re ready to start tackling the hard decisions of what to keep on your to-do list and what to let go of.
Finish discarding first
If your task list is too full of random stuff, it becomes too hard to find the things you need, so throw away what you don’t need.
- Discard first, organize second
- David Allen, the author of Gettings Things Done, believes that organizing is a search for mental space.
Make sure your to-do list “sparks joy”
Write clear, specific, and motivating project and task titles
- Add text formatting and emojis to give them life
- Use a color theme that matches your style or mood
- Arrange your projects in an intuitive way
- Let go of the projects and tasks that don’t excite you
Do a complete task inventory
This isn’t just about decluttering your to-do list, it’s about cutting away the nonessential so that the only tasks you have left are the ones that bring you closer to the life you want to live.
- Marie Kondo recommends that you do a full inventory of all the tasks and projects in your Todoist, dedicating a full day or even a weekend to this endeavor.
Change your mindset, then your habits
Does this task lead to your vision? If not, discard it and add it to the proper spot on the to-do list
- Weekly review
- Organize spare tasks into the right projects
- Check in on your big picture goals every few months
- Update your “life vision” task to document
Let things go
Even unfinished tasks have a purpose
- Letting go of old tasks and projects teaches you how to create space for what’s important to you now
- Don’t be afraid to delete things that are no longer relevant to the life you want to live
- You can always come back and unarchive them later
Give every task a place
Group your tasks together in ways that are intuitive to you
- Keep your projects visible
- Sequence your tasks
- Rearrange tasks by dragging the handlebar to the left of each task or tapping, holding, and dragging
- Add priorities
- Give each task a due date
- Set a date to complete each task
