9 ways to keep track of your to-do list

To-do lists can help you stay on top of everything you need to do, but they can also make things more stressful. If you’ve ever had a situation where your to-do list gets out of hand and becomes harder to manage, check out our list of 9 ways to stay on top of your to-do list. The goal is to make to-do lists work for you and not against you!

1. Don’t make the to-do list too complicated

The first step to staying on top of your to-do list is not to make it too complicated. If it looks tough, it’s never going to get done. This means that you want your to-do list to be straightforward enough to understand. If you read your to-do’s and are unsure how to start and what steps you need to take to finish them, it’s counterproductive! Try to write concise directions to yourself when making to-do lists.

2. Breakdown larger to-dos into smaller ones

Large to-dos take many steps to accomplish. By breaking them down, you’ll be able to take manageable steps to reach your ultimate goal of achieving them. It can help to write the smaller steps underneath the more extensive to-do and check them off as you go.

3. Rank your to-do list based on importance

Ranking your to-do list based on importance can help you do the most important tasks first. Look through your list and decide what you should prioritize. Don’t do something you could do tomorrow if you still have tasks for today. Ensure you do the tasks in the most time-sensitive way.

4. Group small tasks together

Small tasks that you can do quickly can sometimes be grouped. For example, if your to-do includes replying to emails and managing your social media accounts, you could put them together as one block of tasks. Your to-do list will look much simpler if you group several tasks that only take a minute or two to accomplish.

5. Organize to-do based on the type of task

You can also divide the tasks based on their type when looking at your to-do list. This means that you can group similar tasks based on how you will accomplish them. For example, some of your tasks may involve using a computer, but you may have other tasks, including calling people. It can be good to group your computer tasks and call tasks separately, and you might save time using this technique!

6. Schedule your to-do list in a calendar

An excellent way to make sure you do your tasks is by scheduling them into a calendar. This can include blocking time out to do the tasks. By scheduling the task, you know you have a designated time to accomplish them. It’s also helpful because you’ll know exactly how much time you’ll allocate to the task.

7. It can help to have a list of “maybe” tasks

Some of the ways we tend to fail with our to-do lists are by trying too hard to accomplish everything. It can be less stressful and more productive in the long run if you have some “maybe” tasks. You don’t have to do these tasks, but they can be nice if you have time. This way, you’ll also be able to prioritize the important tasks.

8. Find out what systems work for you

Not every system for keeping track of your to-do list will work for everyone! It’s essential to figure out which methods work for you and your personality. Don’t be afraid to try new ideas on task organization. It might be more productive for some people to have a simple checkbox-based to-do list, while others prefer scheduling them into a calendar.

9. Keep track of your to-do list digitally

Another great way to stay on top of your tasks is by digitally keeping track of your list. You can save everything you’ve done by using a digital to-do list or task management tool. This is useful so you can store all of your past data. In addition, moving tasks to another day can be as simple as dragging them over. At the Organized Notebook, we highly recommend using Notion to keep track of your to-do list. Check out our template and tutorial here.