3 Reasons Your To-Do List Doesn’t Work

Disclosure – This question was originally asked in the Women for Hire group on LinkedIn.

Q: The to-do list creates an illusion of efficiency, of being “on top” of things. In fact, it seems to do more harm than good. The really important tasks get lost in the list. At the same time, once the list is compiled, it’s left ”as-is” and all the thinking on the matter stops. What are your thoughts on list making?

A: IMHO to-do lists are important, but they are overused and abused. Some of the reasons to-do lists fail are:

Lists are too long

A list of 30 items is overwhelming and obscures the fact that only about 5 of the items are truly important. I think many people confuse to-do lists with brain dumps (when they put down on paper whatever is on their mind regarding any given subject). Brain dumps are awesome in helping you clear your head and get a record of ALL SORTS of ideas and things. But they are not to-do lists.

Proposed solution – create a brain dump list, then work some more on it to transform it into an actual actionable list (whether a to-do list or a packing list or a shopping list). Eliminate all that’s not critical. Then prioritize and do another round of elimination. I read somewhere that a to-do list for one day shouldn’t be any longer than 5 items. Seems reasonable.

Lists that shouldn’t be lists 

As I mentioned, lists are overused. Sometimes what you need is not a list at all, but a different (and more visual) structure.

Proposed Solution – I personally prefer using mindmapping. It helps me get the ideas/thoughts/notes out of my head and on paper (or in a computer file). Joanna mentioned how creating a full structure is more important to her than creating a to do list. A mind map can help create just such a structure.

Lists that are filed away

A lot of times putting together a list makes you stop thinking about the issue altogether. I don’t think it’s the list’s fault. Developing a to-do list doesn’t mean things get done (although it does create a sense of being at least half-way there).

Proposed Solution – it might sound obvious, but a list is just a list. It won’t do your work for you (been there, made this mistake countless times). What I do now is for each item on a to-do list, I come up with the “Next Step” action.

The REAL benefit of To-Do Lists

Finally, something that I noticed about my lists. The real benefit of keeping to-do lists for me is not for the stuff that gets done, but for the stuff that consistently doesn’t make it to my list (getting missed accidentally) or, being on my list, doesn’t get done (when I conveniently forget about it).

These “missed” items are like a message from myself to myself – hey there, here’s what I really don’t like doing and trying to avoid altogether.

Technorati Tags: organizing, project management, LinkedIn

Related posts:

1. How to Use Mind Map to Stay Organized
2. January Check-in
3. 7 Reasons Social Networks Are a Waste of Time