Checkbox
Long to-do lists are often a big challenge for many of us. Most people I’ve asked feel de-motivated and overwhelmed each time they glance at a list any longer than 10 different tasks.

One of the problems with long lists, whether at home or work, is that the longer the list, the more likely we are to focus on doing the simple stuff we can do the fastest.

We want to start things off quick and we like to get immediate gratification for our efforts. So we find the easiest tasks to get us going. We may have the intention of doing some more complicated things later in the day, but invariably we get sidetracked. By 5 pm, the list looks just as daunting as it did at 9 am.

Action – First thing in the morning, review your to-do list. Identify the 5 most important tasks that need to be done next. And then arrange your day to get them done first.

It’s a simple way to get focused and feel successful quickly.

6 Responses

  1. This is a wonderful suggestion and I will try and incorporate this into my day so that I can mark off the correct items from my list.

  2. Color coding items works good as well! Important items for the day get color coded to green for go!

  3. From GTD methodology, I like taking 1 hour to do all things I can do within 5min. This way I can get rid of all tiny stuff that can become bigger and then focus on the big stuff.

  4. That’s exactly how I felt yesterday with my 10+ Todoist list! I felt demotivated and overwhelmed. So that’s why! Thanks for this insight!

  5. I make a weekly list and a daily list.

    My daily list contains 3 major projects. After completing one project – I allow myself 20 minutes to do some of the small tasks that aren’t as important but still have to get done. Gives my brain a break and in a weird way is like a reward for getting the big task done, then there’s a sense of satisfaction being able to cross a few more things off the list.

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