I was just reading Defeating Busy by Brett Harned over on the Happy Cog blog. It’s a great list of ways to keep on top of your to-do list, but one item really stuck out to me.
“3. Make your to-do list #1 on your to-do list.
Review and revise your morning to-do list before you get embroiled in the dramas of “inbox zero.” Determine what must be done today and what can be completed tomorrow, and prioritize accordingly. Then check your email.”
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Sigh. Such fabulous advice but so very, very hard to follow.
You’ll usually find me playing with my kid at the park or backyard, it’s a rough life I know! However, I have two days (10am-5) a week, totally to myself, to work on freelance and other projects. (Thanks mom!) I plan for those days the other 5 days of the week. What I don’t finish then I do at night instead of sleeping or when my husband is off work on the weekends which is even harder – I’d rather be hanging out! With such a limited schedule I’m really trying to get myself organized to make the most of the time I have available.
Every morning I have a list of things to-do before I can even start on my to-do list. It’s never-ending and I always feel a bit behind and overwhelmed. It feels silly even writing this, but it also drives me crazy knowing the house is a mess and laundry is piling up. And then the email, OH the email! I’m actually really good at keeping up with it, maybe too good… but that’s a whole other post.
For now though, inspired by Brett:
A tiny new daily to-do list:
- Prioritize to-do list (be partial to pushiness)
- Add new requests, no matter how urgent, into my prioritized to-do list and respond to email accordingly.
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