Take Charge: Make Your To-Do List Work for You The To-Do List. It’s familiar to everyone—in fact, you could say that it’s the backbone of any planning system. Without a defined listing of tasks, it’s difficult to stay on track as you work toward achieving your goals for the day. That’s why it’s critical to have a to-do list that works for you. There are four steps that need to be taken to ensure your to-do list is one that can lead to greater productivity and not take you in the wrong direction.

1. Make the List! It sounds simple enough, but unless you leave dedicated time in your schedule to actually create and update your to-do list, it will never happen. We suggest taking five minutes at the beginning of the day to compile your list, which can include things like appointments, errands, personal needs, time to check email and messages, and projects. These five minutes can easily be moved to the end of the day if it works better for your planning system and schedule.

2. Be Conservative. As much as you would like to cram (and hopefully accomplish) every possible task that comes to mind, play it smart. Keep your list reasonable and realistic. Planning too many tasks will leave you feeling overwhelmed and less productive. Plus, by planning conservatively, if you complete your list and there is extra time left in your day, you can always add those things left off today’s list or even accomplish something completely new.

3. Small and Achievable. Along the same lines of playing it conservatively, you need to make your task bite-size as opposed to a mouthful. By breaking down tasks into smaller, more achievable steps, you make them more manageable and leave less chance for procrastination to set in. And don’t forget to delegate when possible.

4. Don’t Avoid It. It’s easy to avoid certain tasks or the to-do list all together. If you see yourself avoiding certain things, consider the specific reason(s) why you’re dreading it. The bottom line is that if it made it to the to-do list at the start, it must be important and must be dealt with. Bite the bullet, come to grips with the task and get moving on it. You may opt to move it to the next day’s task list, which is fine—just make sure not to move it more than twice.

So, get out your to-do list and look it over, making sure you’re meeting these criteria and not procrastinating or avoiding the tasks at hand. How do you make your to-do list work for you? Let us know on our Facebook page (www.facebook.com/DayRunner), and we can all benefit from your great ideas. About Day Runner At Day Runner, our mission is to assist people in “designing their day” with a touch of fashion and function. Many products can be configured for individual planning needs. Our loose-leaf day planners allow users the flexibility to easily select the page formats and style that they like and put them where they need those most. Our products are available from many office product retailers and dealers nationwide and can also be found in office supply catalogs. For more information or to order your planning and organizing tools, visit www.dayrunner.com. Photo by Courtney Dirks (http://www.flickr.com/photos/courtneyrian/)