Creating and Managing Your To Do List

Feeling overwhelmed by so many tasks and not sure where to start? Overcome this paralysis with an organized system for creating and managing your to-do list.

At the beginning of the year, I was feeling buried under a running list of items needing my attention. The list seemed to grow with more tasks daily but nothing was getting accomplished. Nothing was ever marked off the list.

The overwhelming feeling stifled my creativity, and my days were spent binging on episodes of “Fixer Upper.” A blogging friend would tease me by saying, “Chip and Jojo are not going to make you a millionaire.”

But when I would sit down behind the computer, my brain would freeze.

How is it possible to have so much to do and yet not know where to start?

I was missing deadlines and making a ton of excuses.

At a mastermind weekend, I was introduced to a time management concept that changed how I approach my to-do list each day.

SCRUM for Bloggers

SCRUM is a concept designed to help teams work more efficiently on large and multi-faceted projects.

Right about now you are tempted to bounce from this post because you are thinking:

Wait… I don’t have a team. It’s just me and this tremendously long to-do list.

I understand. But watch the video and then check the video notes for how I make SCRUM work for me.

SCRUM 101 Video Notes

1 – Make your work visible

Create a list of everything that needs to happen and place the tasks in order by priority. Make your list as detailed as possible.

2 – Choose your weekly tasks

Think of your week as a “sprint.” During your sprint, how much of your list can you accomplish?

3 – Break the list down again

From your weekly sprint, pull out any larger projects and create another list of everything needing to be done for those individual projects. Rank them according to priority or date due.

Scrum: The Art of Doing Twice the Work in Half the Time

4 – Create your daily to-do list

Based on the list of items you decide to tackle for the week, create a to-do list for each day. Keep the highest priority items early in your week.

5 – Review your daily to-do list at the beginning of each work day

Spend 15 minutes reviewing your list of items and plan how you will create blocks of time during your day. For instance, if you only have five hours to work, create deadlines within those hours to have each task completed.

6 – Keep notes

As you work through the SCRUM process, make notes of what is working and what is not so you can be more efficient during future sprints.

Read how Amy Porterfield uses SCRUM to organize her launch team.

Tools for To-Do List Management

You need more than a gazillion post-it notes to keep this task management system organized. These tools will help you make and track your to-do list.

Google Keep

Price: FREE

Available for Android, iOS, Chrome and web version, Google Keep allows you to create a to-do list, add reminders, and much more. With Google Keep, you can insert photos, speak voice memos, add labels, create a checklist, and share with a team.

The best part… the notes you save can be easily searched, creating a database of all your thoughts and ideas.

Wunderlist

Price: Free but some features require an upgrade

Although recently having problems, Wunderlist was recommended to me by several bloggers. Available for free on iOS devices, Mac, Android, Windows, Kindle Fire and the Web, Wunderlist allows you to create a to-do list, set reminders, set due dates, share with a team, and receive notifications. You can organize your tasks using folders and hashtags.

The best part… you can forward emails to your Wunderlist account.

Todoist

Price: Free but some features require an upgrade

Todoist is available for iOS devices, Mac, Android, Windows, every major web browser, and email. Build a to-do list with multiple levels using sub-tasks and sub-projects and share your lists with others.

The best part… Todoist has the capability of setting recurring tasks and for creating a color-coded priorities system.

Asana

Price: Free but some features require an upgrade

Especially useful for teams, Asana has a very simple system for tracking what needs to be done “today” versus what is coming soon.

The best part… Asana integrates with multiple apps including Dropbox, Google Drive, Slack, MailChimp, and Google Calendar.

Trello

Price: Free although security and administrative features require an upgrade

Trello is unique from the other task management systems as items are organized in “boards” and “lists.”

Since Trello is my preference, I must admit that it can be overwhelming when you are new to the platform. However, once you adapt to the organizational style, Trello will quickly become your favorite place for planning, goal setting, and managing your tasks.

The best part… You can drag and drop your tasks from list to list as well as click to move them to another board.

Subscribe and receive a sneak peek behind the scenes of my personal Trello account. View a tutorial video where I walk you through how I use Trello to track my goals and create a manageable to-do list.

 

More help for overcoming the overwhelm

• Finding the time, money and everything else to be a blogger.
• How to streamline your social media strategy.
• Time management tips for bloggers by bloggers.
• WordPress plugins to save time and effort.