Productivity Tips To Master Your To-Do List
We get it! Being productive can be hard when you have a million tasks to juggle. You have the kiddos to get ready for virtual school, Zoom meetings to get presentable for... and if you’re in a relationship… Uff! Who’s supposed to handle all of that in a day? *face palm*
Trust us, it’s A LOT! 🗣
But rest assured getting things done can be as simple as creating a great to-do list. You aren’t going anywhere if you don’t have a roadmap and your to-do list is the coordinates to get you to your destination without taking all of those unplanned pit stops. Creating the perfect list can be tricky but we’ve got you covered! Here are 5 tips we swear by that will help boost your productivity.
Tip#1 Create your list the night before.
Picture this: You start your day knowing exactly what needs to get done & what you have to work on first. You’re not frantic trying to remember your tasks because you’ve already mapped them out the night before.
Creating your to-do list the night before gives you clarity and stops you from wasting time.
Our suggestion? Take 30 minutes to 1 hour out of your Sundays to roughly plan out your week. You don’t have to schedule your days to the minute, but having an idea of what they will look like will give you major clarity for when you sit down to create your daily to-do lists.
Then repeat that same step for every weekday night by looking at what you laid out for the week and assigning them to the days you plan to complete each task.
Tip #2 Prioritize your tasks.
When creating your to-do list, be sure to list them by priority! Why? Because although you have a never-ending list of things to do mama, everything can’t get done (and doesn’t need to) in one day! We always recommend sticking to 3 tasks that must absolutely get done that day and do those first.
By prioritizing your tasks, you avoid doing the small things that can be easily completed in less time, later on.
Follow these 3 easy steps when prioritizing your daily tasks:
Braindump your tasks into a master to-do list.
Go through each task and ask yourself these questions:
Does this task get me closer to my (weekly, monthly, yearly) goals?
What impact will this task have on my business if I do it today? (If this task impacts your clients, for example, you may want to do it ASAP.)
When can I complete this task if not now? (Hint: if the answer is a long time from today, come back to it later.)
Again the major game-changer 👇🏽
Number your tasks from the highest priority level to the lowest priority level.
Tip #3 Be Realistic
Can you really do those 20+ tasks you added to your to-do list in one day and still have time to eat lunch before 6 pm, walk the dogs, show up to your meetings on time, and most importantly, breathe?
Be honest with yourself.
It’s okay to not get everything done in one day it’s impossible to. So there’s no reason to kill yourself trying to.
I know we think we can do it all in 24 hours, but we need to protect our sanity and avoid the burnout monster at all costs!
Tip # 4 Be specific.
“Create content” can mean SO many different things: Write a blog post, record a Reels for Instagram, or draft your next IG caption. Lacking clarity is a one-way stop to not taking action.
The more specific you get when creating your to-do list the more motivated you’ll be to complete it! Instead of writing “create content,” try writing “brainstorm content ideas for XYZ client” or “create Canva Graphics for week 4 IG posts.”
Keep your goals S.M.A.R.T (specific, manageable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound).
Clarity = Action 👏🏾
Tip #5 Schedule your tasks.
If you’re anything like our team we hope you become very strict about scheduling your tasks.
Let it become a ritual that if it needs to get done, it needs to get scheduled.
If you’re an old soul and love your pen to paper, we say create a daily planner and pencil in your tasks. If you’re a planner hoarder ✋🏽 get yourself a cute one from Target and get in the habit of using it DAILY. If you’re like the new kids, digital is the way to go!
Our team is loving the digital planners by Jess Massey: it features a master to-do list, monthly, weekly and daily views, and even a spot you can build out your vision board! You can grab our favorite here.
