Three simple steps to getting stuff done

SOME people swear by them but do to-do lists really work? Not so, according to a new school of thought. Here's how to manage your life instead.

A productive to-do list should consist of no more than five tasks a day.

IF you want to get stuff done, then throw away your long list of tasks.

To-do lists as we know them don't work, according to TimeBack Management president Daniel Markovitz.

"They're simply setting you up for failure and frustration," he writes in a blog post for the Harvard Business Review.

Two big reasons are that we are faced with too many choices and prioritise choices that take shorter amounts of time, he says.

Another reason for the failure of to-do lists include their lack of context, he says.

Because a traditional to-do list is simply a laundry list of items, it doesn't provide sufficient context to tell you what you should work on when, based on how long the task will take and how much free time you have.

Plus, people are prone to do the most pleasant task over the most important or difficult because traditional to-do lists don't have "commitment devices" to make you take another course of action.

So what should you do instead of using the traditional paper to-do list?

Here's a step-by-step guide to transforming your long paper list into something functional and actionable, as outlined by our friends at MarketWatch.

Step 1: Break the list into daily, manageable chunks.

In other words, a very short to-do list. To combat the problem of too many choices, "create a critical path - a list of the 3 -5 things that you need to get done that day," says New York-based executive coach Marc Dorio, who works with a number of clients on time management. So, if you have a list with 25 things on it, you will select the 3-5 most important things for you to do that day (not the things you're most willing to do, but those that you need to do) and put those into a separate online list (see below).

"The critical path helps you stay on track: If you get off track - as we're all bound to do - at least you have a road map for how to get back on track," he says.

Dorio recommends creating this list the night before so that first thing in the morning you're aware of what you need to do that day.

Step 2: Put each task into an online calendar.

Chicago-area psychologist Elizabeth Lombardo, author of A Happy You, says that putting those tasks from your mini-list into an online calendar (like with Outlook or Google using either your computer or smartphone) can help you schedule and prioritise the items so that you don't simply do the easiest first (and end up tired at the end of the day and ditch out on the harder items). With a calendar, you can block out specific times for yourself to do each task, as well as set reminders for yourself on what to do when.

She adds that you should give yourself a little wiggle room, as issues will come up and sometimes items will take longer than you think they will.

Dorio suggests that you may want to do the hardest thing first thing in the morning so that it's out of the way, and you have all day to complete easier tasks; he also recommends blocking out certain times of the day for dealing with email and other administrative tasks that can disrupt your list of tasks if you're checking/doing the throughout the day.

Step 3: Connect the list items with rewards.

Give yourself a small reward for completing your mini-to-do list that day - something like letting yourself watch your favourite show or join a friend for dinner - she says.

This helps you overcome the commitment issues, as you now have a reason to get the tasks done.

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