BS: to do lists

Subject: BS: to do lists
From: Alice
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 04:32 PM

I'm trying to get into the habit of doing a "to do" list for work each evening so I can
plan the next day. This is part of an effort to use my time for efficiently, but being
a person who is used to having the freedom to wing it, I'm struggling with the plan.
Normally, I've just written in appointments and notes in my calendar book for daily
planning. Now I'm working on getting more specific in breaking down goals to daily and
weekly accomplishments to meet deadlines.

Does anyone really do this on a regular basis? How do you keep yourself on track?
I find that I can do it for a day or two then feel too exhausted at night to write that list again
and fall off for a few days.

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: Midchuck
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 04:35 PM

It helps to do it in your word processor. Then all you have to do each day is delete the ones that got done (if any!) and add the new ones. The bad part is that the damn thing keeps getting longer...

Peter

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: Alice
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 04:35 PM

that should be "more efficiently", not for

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: Alice
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 04:38 PM

Well, writing the list in my calendar is good for me, as I am not usually near a computer
on the days I am on the road, but I always have my calendar.

Maybe my problem is like ADD... I tend to start on crossing things off and then feel
like doing other things, .... like checking Mudcat or just resting.

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: artbrooks
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 04:46 PM

I worked for a guy once that was a believer in the Gospel according to Stephen Covey - who wrote Seven Habits for Highly Obnoxious People. You may gather that I was not entirely a convert. One thing that I did get out of the program that he made us all attend is that there is a wide variety of calenders and day-keeper-type things out there, and I'm pretty sure that there is one (or many) that has a "to-do" list on the same sheet as the calendar page itself. You might look for one of those (in Office Max or some such place) and see how that works for you.

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: John MacKenzie
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 04:48 PM

My partner writes things I have to do on the calendar, and I HAVE to do them when they come round
Giok ¦¬]

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: Bill D
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 05:43 PM

Daytimer is one which has both 'book' formats and, I believe, online versions....I used to have the book form, but was not very good at using it.

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: Alice
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 06:29 PM

Making the list is easy. Doing what is on the list is hard.

I've even been listening to Procrastination and Time Efficiency
books on tape from the library while I drive, hoping to instill
a new attitude towards it.

I've written a list of "Anti-crastination" thoughts to put in a
prominent place. One of the things at the top of my Anticrastination
list is to stop Dreading the Task.
I think that is my biggest downfall. Tasks are not so hard to do, but
tasks are hard to start and stay with without being bored or
distracted before they are finished.

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: terrier
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 07:15 PM

One of the problems I you'st to have getting through my working day was in under estimating the time it would take to complete a task. I now build in a 'comfort' time so that when inevitably things go wrong, I should still have time to complete. Having established that I am going to get lumbered with a difficult task, I let my brain get on with other important things until required to tackle the 'difficult' task. Somehow, once I get involved in the task, it never seems as 'difficult'. All in the mind.!

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: JulieF
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 07:22 PM

Always start a list with something that you have already done - some how it seems to help

J

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: Rapparee
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 07:24 PM

I've been meaning to get around to doing this.

Actually, I use a calendar that opens flat and presents each month in two 8.5 x 11 inch sheets. I keep three or four years in it, ready to go, so I can put meetings, etc. on them.

For the "to do" list at home, well, mostly it's "Gee, I'd better pay some bills" and "Wow! Does that grass need cutting!"

I do use shopping lists. I don't like to spend any more time in stores than I have to.

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: katlaughing
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 07:53 PM

Start out by listing all of the things you always do, simple things, such as wash the dishes, walk the dog, hang up a towel interspersed with the other things you want to do. Make sure to cross off each task after your do it. It may seem simple but it will show what you really HAVE been doing AND give you a feeling of accomplishment. When I was sick, I'd tell a friend, each night on the phone, that I hadn't done much that day. Then, as we talked, I'd say well I wrote this, or washed the dishes, etc. all usual things. She urged me to start writing them down. I was surprised, pleased, and glad to know part of why I felt so tired at the end of the day!

When I was in sales, we had an 8.5 X 11 sheet of paper, laid out horizontally for each day. At the top it said, "Plan Your Day - Work Your Plan. Underneath, it had lines going all the way across and blocked vertically in half hour increments from 8a-5p. I think the boxes across the top were for Client, Purpose, Outcome, Next Appt. which we would list in the appropriate hour box. I hope this is making sense. Anyway, it helped to plan the day, but also served as a very good reference for things we might need to look up.

I don't use anything so rigid, now, but I do have a calendar book and put appts. in it and things I know I need to remember to do, i.e. phone calls, errands, etc. I make a small to do daily list from that and cross off each thing as I get it done. I like the feeling I get from that.

Good luck,

kat

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: Alice
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 07:57 PM

I think I've always rebelled against rigid schedules. A backlash to Catholic school, maybe.

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: Big Mick
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 08:05 PM

The Franklin Covey system is no better than most with one exception. It's Daily Task list method of planning works very well. It breaks tasks down two ways. First one goes through and gives each task an A,B,C, or D designation. A's are things that absolutely must be done. No equivocation, these must be done on that day. B means it should be done, but can wait if need be. C is something to work on if all other tasks are completed, but not critical. Then you assign the order to each category with a numerical value. So A1 would be the first task to be completed.

Another component is to assign a date on a task. If a client tells you to call back on 15th of next month, write it in on the 15th of next month, with an A designation and forget it. It is very important to compartmentalize tasks or they just don't get done.

I am not a big fan of Franklin Covey, but getting in the habit of taking a few minutes to think out the next day and to plan and schedule tasks really makes ones life easier when they juggle a schedlule like mine, and I am sure, yours.

All the best,

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: The Fooles Troupe
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 08:09 PM

Robin's To Do List

Item 1 - Start a To Do list...

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: Big Mick
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 08:13 PM

You and me both, Alice. Them folks in the black and white outfits kept it pretty rigid. Turned me into a right brainer, but I do plan using the system. Frees up more time for playing music.

Mick

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: Amos
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 08:52 PM

My BBW uses sips of white paper -- about 2"x6". Keeps them going all the time, generates new ones whenever her brain gets full. It is very useful, and I have half-caught the habit after many years.    But as mentioned, it is a different thing to generate the lists than to do them. One thing that is easy to confront is to write a task on the NEXT day's list if you didn't do it. Keep that little discipline in and pretty soon it gets easier to DO thedamn thing than to face rolling it over yet another time.

A

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: JennyO
Date: 26 Aug 07 - 11:05 PM

I'm a great list maker. I always have a little spiral notebook full of lists - to do, shopping, how much money I've spent, how much money I think I'm going to spend, what to take on camping trips etc etc etc.

I find that part fun in a way, because it's interesting to see how close I can get to actually achieving what I've planned. Unfortunately things ALWAYS take longer than you have planned, and you ALWAYS spend more money than planned.

With the to do lists, I only make one if it's going to be a busy day and there is a lot to remember. Otherwise I don't bother. When I do a list I tend to write the most important things first, with asterisks next to them to mark that they MUST be done that day, then cross them off as I do them. The things that didn't get done I put a circle around, and they go on the next day's list - if there is one.

With the camping lists, I do have a master list of things to take, but that varies with the festival I'm going to - eg more warm clothes for Canberra - but I always have a checklist of things under the headings of "Don't forget" or "last minute things", and that list always includes "this book". That's not as silly as it seems, cos it's easy to forget the notebook as I'm carting it around all over the place and I'd feel really lost without my little notebook.

If there is a specific event I'm planning for, such as when I spent several days cleaning the house and completely redoing my room for my brother's visit last year, I will actually write down a schedule with a certain length of time allotted for different tasks. I try to be realistic with this, allowing time for breakfast, meal and snack breaks, and some time at the end for Mudcat, but no matter how generous my allotments, it never seems to go entirely to plan. Still I enjoy the challenge of trying.

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: MBSLynne
Date: 27 Aug 07 - 04:10 AM

Yes I'm a list maker too and I find a to-do list the only way to get any amount of the stuff done that I need to. I cross things off as they get done so that "Make a list" is the first one and that gets crossed of straightaway and already you feel as though you've got started.

I always put in breaks because after a break I find I have more energy and enthusiasm. I do find that if I sit down at the computer or whatever, I tend to waste time so I have forced myself to set a timer and stick to it rigidly.

The only way to strt the tasks though, is self-discipline and I don't think there's any shortcut to that

Love Lynne

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: Bobert
Date: 27 Aug 07 - 07:58 AM

I don't need to make to-do lists...

The P-Vine does 'um for me...

B~

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: mack/misophist
Date: 27 Aug 07 - 09:37 AM

I tell Orca - my computer - to remind me of any appointments a week or more in the future. Current jobs reside in wetware memory and are reviewed every 2-3 hours. It works for me and helps improve my failing memory.

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: Peace
Date: 27 Aug 07 - 01:28 PM

Y'all sound super organized to me. I recently went to a folk festival in another province way across the country. My plan: Go to Montreal, return five days later. Anything more than that gets too confusing for me.

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: Sorcha
Date: 27 Aug 07 - 02:22 PM

I make them all the time or I forget what I was going to do. Then, I lose the list, or forget the grocery list. Sometimes, if I'm truly desperate to feel Productive, I put things I've already done on the List so I can cross it off! LOL!

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: Becca72
Date: 27 Aug 07 - 02:23 PM

I have just a touch of OCD and I used to make lists for everything! I got so caught up in the lists that they took over. Took me a long time to get myself to STOP making lists. Now I wing it :-)

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: GUEST,rock chick
Date: 27 Aug 07 - 02:43 PM

I write a to do list for work, have it in my office, I work from home. I also have a to do list for normal daily things that I 'should' do, both of these I find make me focus on completing the jobs otherwise I faf around doing part of one job then getting distracted on another, so yes it works great for me.....although I blame it on age!!! God what will I do when I get really old!!!

Subject: RE: BS: to do lists
From: MBSLynne
Date: 27 Aug 07 - 03:45 PM

Another thing I find that helps....there are usually things to do that I quite enjoy so I make myself do some of the things I don't like so much before I'm allowed to do the nicer ones.

Love Lynne