The right to-do list for the right job
Here is an incomplete collection of my go-to to-do lists.
My relationship to my to-do list changed completely when I realized there were different styles of to-do lists I could use.
Different types of lists for different types of projects, or purposes, or days.
Sometimes the point of my to-do list is focus, sometimes it’s productivity, sometimes it is merely to have a record of the day.
Here is an incomplete collecting of the types of to-do lists I use and how I think about them:
As always, use what works, leave what doesn’t.
Classic to-do list:
This is what I assume people mean when they say a “to-do list.”
Purpose: task tracking and management.
Format: a list of things that need to be done. There may or may not be some sort of organization or prioritization. Maybe all the tasks that involve the same project or person or area get highlighted in one color. Maybe some tasks get sub-tasks or sub-sub-tasks. Maybe highest priority tasks go at the top or get stars or something else. But then again, maybe not.
Length / Time Frame: unspecified. I’ve had classic to-do lists that last an hour. I’ve had classic to-do lists that kept running for months, with tasks flowing in and out.
Running done list:
This is less task management, and more energy and momentum management.
Purpose: momentum.
Format: a list of tasks that you build as you’ve completed them. You start with a blank page. Write down one or two (preferably tiny) things, then you do them, check them off, and write down the next one or two tiny things to be done.
For example: write down “Email Erin.” Then go email Erin. Come back. Mark the task as done. Repeat.
This builds a cadence of keeping commitments to yourself and getting things done. Which generates momentum and keeps the day moving forward.
Length / Time Frame: short. The aim is to build momentum and give yourself credit for what you’re completing. (Though it could be fun, maybe in an overwhelming kind of way, to keep this going for days on end.)
The Most Important:
A micro list of the 1 to 3 most important things.
Purpose: focus.
Format: write down the most important things, keep it short, and as long as those 1, 2, or 3 things get done, you’re good to go.
Length / Time Frame: short list, unspecified time frame. Though I’ve found, with a longer the time frame this becomes more like a list of goals or objectives and less like a to-do list.
I find “the most important things for today” or “the most important things for this week” or “the most important things for this project” the most impactful time frames for me.
But I know some people like doing these for the month, or the quarter, or the year. You do you.
The Most Important (+ some other stuff):
A micro list of the 1 to 3 most important things + some other stuff.
Purpose: focus when you don’t have the luxury of hyper focus.
Format: this is like The Most Important with a Classic To-Do List tacked on at the end. The key here is keeping the focus on the 1, 2, or 3 most important things to do.
Being able to hyper focus on the ultra essential is a luxury that not everyone has access to. This style of to-do list gives the ultra essential items their due focus while also having space for the other stuff.
Length / Time Frame: short list, unspecified time frame. But again, I find the shorter the time frame the easier this is to wrap my head around.
The Punch List:
A punch list can have a very specific project-management meaning. But I think of them as: a to-do list for the very end of a project when there are a million tiny tasks to be completed and you just need to work your way through them.
Purpose: a long list of all the final touches and tasks. I use these kind of like a parking lot of to-dos for a project I’m actively working on. The real goal is to get things out of my head and into something resembling order.
Format: a list of tasks, sometimes with some sort of grouping or organizing, but usually just a startlingly long list. As much as I try to have a complete picture of what still needs to be done when I create this list, inevitably new tasks pop up and get added to it.
Length / Time Frame: the final push to get a project done. If I start a punch list before the final stretch of a project I find it overwhelming or something more akin to project planning.
The Parking Lot By Any Other Name Still Gets Ignored:
A list of projects, tasks, or ideas that live in one place but you are not actively working on.
Purpose: keep ideas and projects contained and safe somewhere I can find them again but out of my brain.
Format: I’m still working on figuring out a method for using a parking lot that fits into my life and projects. Ideally this is one spot for everything that is a good idea but not a priority right now, and I’d review it regularly.
In reality, these ideas end up in the nearest notebook, post-it, journal, planner, or scrap of paper. Until I rediscover them.
Length / Time Frame: TBD.
Do you have a to-do list type you’d add?
I use a punch list when I'm at the very end of a book, to make sure I've tied up all the plot threads I need to! Otherwise my list is kind of a strange combo of a parking lot with the top 3 moved up for each day on the night before, so I know what's still to be done, but mostly care about the few things at the top.