Don’t Let Your To-Do Lists Undo You

Given how connected we are and available to others and our networks each day, it’s a wonder we get anything done. Just as we’re set to work on one project, a text comes in about something else we’ve got to do — and then our children’s school calls to say our kids are sick. And there goes the appointment we were hoping to keep in a couple of hours.

When are we supposed to get anything done?

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If your to-do list seems never-ending, Steve McClatchy, author of “Decide: Work Smarter, Reduce Your Stress and Lead By Example,” offers some great advice on how to get to the bottom of it. Be sure to watch the video above.

Perhaps the most important advice he shared in an interview with The Wall Street Journal was to make sure the tasks that have an immediate consequence go on your “today” list — everything else gets assigned to the day it’s due. Broader goals you’d like to work toward go on their own list, or — as you most likely know, they continue to get pushed back and rarely, if ever, get done.

“Some of these tips simplify the way we make decisions each day,” McClatchy told the WSJ. “That treadmill to-do list — you get the feeling you’re burned out and we see the types of things that people do when they’re burned out. And that’s a place we want to avoid.”

Using the to-do app on your phone, he added, will help. McClatchy calls it one of the most under-used features on your smartphone.

Others disagree and say there is a movement to take to-do lists back to pen and paper. With all of the other distractions coming on phones throughout the day, the electronic to-do list gets overlooked.

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It’s not easy balancing all of the information we have coming at us each day and then sorting through it to decide what’s a priority. But unless you step back and find a better system that works for you, it can be consuming and hard to get anything done.

Related: Keep the TV and Phones Off When You’re Eating

Some people work better writing things down than typing them. Plus, a pen and paper never crash, freeze or get deleted. Others can’t stand having a paper mess around. Whatever you choose, try not to let all of the day’s distractions keep you from getting a better to-do list done.