Re-do the To Do List

I read a lot of business magazines when I get the free chance. It's my dirty little secret, much like that hidden Halloween candy in the kitchen. One thing that that has been written in an article is the dreaded to do list. Why is it so dreaded. Well, really when was the last time you did a to do list? They make you feel as though not a lot is getting accomplished. And who doesn't have things that don't roll over to the next day. Back when I worked a full 9-5 job for other companies I kept a To Do List. Every couple of months I would need to get a new notebook and start the whole process all over again. Yeah, there are trees out there that I owe an apologies to.

So when was the last time you didn't get stressed out from your to do list? It's one of the things that stress me out to no end. The article I read takes all the stress out of the unfinished work making it finished work in the correct amount of time. My to do lists always consisted of trying to get more then 25 things done in a day. now that is pretty stressful and not every day it could be done. As long as everything was finished by Friday before I left work for the weekend I think I was doing pretty good. According to this article I can still get all 25+ things done but in a better time line.

Some companies are moving towards to do lists that take a week not a day to get things done. In some cases the to do list are for the month or more depending on the projects. Why didn't I ever think to do that? Because before I became an entrepreneur I never had a reason to think outside of the box. Put a special needs child into the mix and you've got a to do list that's gone to a to don't get done list. And believe me as busy as life can get having a to do list where you actually mark things off the list and feel more gets accomplished keeps you moving forward. It's kind of like a mini evaluation at the time frame end. Seeing that you are able to get what needs to be done actually done motivates you more to add just a bit more at a time. You see what you need to work on time wise and are able to find your time wasters.

Time wasters are the little things that keep you from getting your work done. Finding time to place time wasters in their own "time zone". Time Zone's are a certain that you set aside for things that need to get done but not during your time for your projects. Think about it the way that a doctor's office get their call backs done. Time set aside in the morning for call backs and time in the afternoon for the call backs. Yes we all have to deal with phone calls but when it comes to getting all your projects done and phone calls are the killers set aside time to tackle them and don't go over that time. Don't forget to stay organized. Even messy organization is okay as long as you know where everything is. Not being able to locate what your looking for kills you on being able to stay on track and marking things off the to do list.

Re-think how you keep up with your work and projects by re-thinking how you tackle your to do list and change it from daily to weekly.