Work / Life » Archive

to-do-to-do

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.”


Sigh. Such fabulous advice but so very, very hard to follow.

You’ll usually find me playing with my daughter 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.

How do you organize your time? Any tips?

Amanda Hawkins

Amanda Hawkins

Take care of little humans,
stare at tiny computer,
scribble on paper,
daydream.
Maker of DIY Planners and 🎨 artist; front-end web developer and designer well-versed in CSS & WordPress. Make music with RBK & as Love Morris. Check out littlebird.ahhh.co if you're interested in hiring me for WordPress dev. Subscribe to a newsletter I never send out. Connect on Instagram & Twitter.

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