Productivity tips: to-do lists or no?
Pooja Jyothy-Seshadri
29 replies
Do you make to-do lists to organize your day better and get that extra dose of motivation when you cross off an item on your list?
If yes, how long have you been doing this, and how else does it help you?
If no, what are some other productivity hacks you use to keep yourself motivated throughout the day/week and get work done?
Replies
Alexander Nicholas (Sketch)@tgsketch
As a neurospicy person, I can’t function without some preprogramming.
I’ve been doing it for years. If I need to do something I’ll jot it down in my app then if it’s not an immediate task, that night I’ll pre plan 3-4 things to do the next day.
When it comes to larger projects. I’ll plan out the projects with tiny bite sized tasks, make room for risk management and execute. At the end I’ll have a mini retro to see if there are any improvements in my process.
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@pooja_0712 At first yes because it’s something new that you have to get used to doing. But I use Motion App and it allows me to create tasks with voice. You can do the same if you have an iPhone; “Siri, remind me to …”
Once you get is the habit of prioritizing it’s gets a lot easier to do other things IMO.
To do lists are a definite YES for me! I've been using this tactic right from the start of my career and it helps me prioritize tasks and also reduces the chance of memory failing at times :P
Launching soon!
to-do lists are a must but a little slack must be allowed to adjust to the situations :)
I use todo list apps in combination of toggl track, I plan my day in the morning for about 15 min.
You can find some hot tools on productivity on my list:
https://productivity.directory
Absolutely, I’m all about to-do lists! 📝 I've been making them for over a decade now. There's something so satisfying about crossing off completed tasks—it gives me a little boost of motivation. Besides helping me stay organized, they also make it easy to prioritize my day.
Another tip I swear by is time-blocking. I dedicate specific chunks of my day to different tasks, which helps me stay focused and efficient. Also, regular breaks are a must! They keep my mind fresh and prevent burnout.
Yes I love To-do lists! They help me so much and give me the feeling, that I have everything under control!
@julia_engelsmann Any favourite tools/apps?
I like to write down the tasks on paper. So I have them physically in front of me and can cross out the single tasks. It's also good for the mindset to see what you have achieved on that day I guess. We often see the tasks we didn't do instead of the many tasks we did.
@marvin_maendle Pen to paper sounds easier and therapeutic in a way as well! I agree, we do tend to focus more on the pending ones unfortunately.
I usually prefer using a prioritization matrix. I've been trying it for a couple of month and I feel like it better fit my case
@filippo_calabrese Interesting. Would appreciate it if you could explain what that entails/how it works!
@filippo_calabrese Wow this is quite an efficient process. Thank you so much for sharing in such detail! I'll try to follow along and see how it works for me 👏
@pooja_0712 Happy to share with you :)
First, I identify the elements I need to evaluate. They can be projects, daily tasks, customer requests or strategic initiatives. The list can be generated through brainstorming with the team, business needs analysis, or customer feedback.
Subsequently, I define the criteria on which to base the evaluation of each element. In a business context, common criteria include:
Importance: How crucial the element is to achieving company objectives.
Urgency: How quickly the item needs to be addressed.
Impact: The effect the item will have on the organization.
Feasibility: The ability to complete the item with available resources.
Once the criteria are defined, I build a matrix, usually a two-dimensional table. The most common matrix is the Eisenhower matrix, which divides activities into four quadrants:
Important and Urgent: These tasks are priority and must be addressed immediately.
Important but Not Urgent: These activities are important to achieving long-term goals, but they can be scheduled.
Not Important but Urgent: These tasks can be delegated to others, as they require immediate attention but are not crucial.
Not Important and Not Urgent: These tasks are the lowest priority and can be eliminated or postponed.
I score each item for each criterion, using a predefined scale (e.g. 1 to 5). After evaluating all the elements, I enter them into the matrix in the appropriate quadrants. This allows me to clearly see which tasks need immediate attention and which can be scheduled, delegated or eliminated.
Finally, I act based on the classification obtained. Tasks in the “Important and Urgent” quadrant are addressed first. I continue to monitor and review the matrix regularly to ensure that the priorities are up to date and reflect the current needs of the organization.
Sometimes I need to have those lines written down and tick checkmarks. It is a great feeling to complete something and have "something similar to schedule" :)
Yes, after the strategic goal set to be first priority then, we start making an action list accordingly. The thing really motivates the item list is to divide our range from small to super goal that what we really try to offer this time. That's how I try to focus on upcoming agenda.
For sure that we use the project calendars such as Notion or Google to help schedule. However, here comes the funny part, the motivation items are in my daily 'notepad' saved in Desktop.
They're definitely useful, but I keep deviating from my to-do lists as and when some new work comes up. Need to work on maintaining that discipline you need to stick to a plan!
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