Big Ideas and Little Tasks

To-do lists are the bread and butter of my life. I plan to take a deeper dive in the future into how I use them, but today I want to talk about them on a higher level.

As with reminders, the more you write down on a list, the less you have to clutter your brain with random things you need to get done. An ongoing list will also help reduce clutter, as it removes the need for a plethora of little notes.

I would caution, however, against avoiding a task by just adding it to your list. If it will take about the same amount of time (5 or less minutes) to complete as it would to add it to your list, just do it now! I realize that may be easier said than done, but it’s something to keep in mind.

If there are large ideas or projects that you are looking to tackle, create a to-do list just for that project and break it down into small pieces. If you can approach the project as a series of smaller tasks it will seem less overwhelming (and, therefore, much more achievable) than always thinking about it from the big picture view.

How do you use to-do lists? Are there any particular aspects of to-do lists that you are hoping I cover in more detail?

(You get a repeat picture this week, because it’s been a bit of a day.)