Why I Use To-Do Lists For Everything

Are you feeling overwhelmed by tasks? Or quite the opposite, you have no idea what to do next? You know what to do, but not when, or in what order?

These are all common problems of people who don't use to-do lists. To-do lists are effective because they keep you organised, reduce anxiety and stress, and give you clear tasks to accomplish. In this blog, I want to cover why I personally love to-do lists above everything, together with 6 actionable ways in which you can use to-do lists efficiently for studying and productivity.

So, let's get started.

You don't forget anything

Especially when I have a lot of tasks left to tick off, it's easy to let one or two slip out of my mind. This can be disastrous, however. What if I forget an essay which was due, and only remember an hour before the deadline? Or, even worse, I completely forget about an in-person meeting that I had scheduled for that day, so I arrive half an hour late?

We often overestimate how much we can actually remember. Sometimes, our brains miraculously remind us of some task or event at exactly the right time. However, often for less important tasks, we will quickly forget about them. On top of that, ideas often pop up at the most inconvenient times. You might suddenly remember your car needs new tires while you are walking your dog, for example. But then, once you return home, you maybe still vaguely remember you needed to do something with your car, but it can be quite a struggle to actually remember what needed doing.

When you have somewhere that you can dump all your thoughts and ideas, it takes a lot of this chaos away. Now, it is true, to-do lists can get quite long, especially if you meticulously write down every little task. But again, I much prefer that to the uncertain chaos of guessing my way through what I have to do next. And that leads me on to my next point.

To-do lists reduce stress

When you have everything in one place, it frees up quite a bit of mental real estate. Instead of constantly worrying that you may have forgotten something, or worse, having that nagging feeling of knowing you forgot something, you can be confident that at least you know what to do.

I personally found that before using to-do lists, I spent a lot of time thinking about what I still have left to do. If you don't have anything to do at the moment, that's great. But if you're in the middle of a task and you're already thinking about what you need to do afterwards, it's distracting.

With a to-do lists, these thoughts disappeared, because I let them out of my mind and stored them as a piece of text.

Now, again, once you do have a to-do list, this can lead to a different kind of stress, due to being faced with an endless list of tasks to accomplish. This, however, can easily be mitigated by dividing your list into smaller sub-lists. More on that later.

Finally, to-do lists let you know when to stop

This is a major struggle when you're done with a task. If I'm still in a work flow and not too tired, I'll often find myself looking for more things to accomplish. Once the intial hurdle of starting to work is overcome, often I keep looking for new tasks, as I already have some momentum and motivation.

But, that can go too far. After a while, you run out of tasks, and instead of taking a break and stopping, you keep on optimising the tasks you were on, and busy yourself with pointless work.

With a to-do list, once you've crossed everything off for the day, you can confidently say you have done enough. This not only improves work-life balance, but also gives you a better idea of how much you've actually done.

There's quite some satisfaction in seeing a whole page of tasks you have crossed off. Especially if you feel like you struggle to make any progress, to-do lists can really help, as they give you an exact record of everything you have recently completed.

Now, here are some tips so that you can optimally use to-do lists

Tip 1: Organise your to-do lists by day

I do not recommend having one long list. Instead, opt for multiple smaller lists, one for each day. When I have a lot to do, I will often plan 3 - 4 days into the future. Other times, I'll only create a to-do list for the next day.

Either way, limit how much you put on your plate.

If you divide your to-do lists into days, you can also group tasks together. For example, you can say on this day I want to study biology, and the day after I'll do history. This allows you to really focus in on one topic and get into the flow of that topic, instead of stopping your tasks in that category halfway.

Plus, as I said before, you know once you're done. If you have one endless to-do list, you could maybe work through that in a day, but most of the time more modest, but consistent efforts lead to better results.

Tip 2: Go digital!

A couple years ago, I still had a small notebook in which I wrote down everything I had to do. A couple weeks later, I lost that notebook, and got a new one. Then, I lost that one.

For the short periods that I did have a notebook, I rarely carried it with me. I'd have it on my desk somewhere, and check in on it once per day.

So, I switched to OneNote.

Since most people have their phone with them throughout the day, this ensures that you can always add a new task to your list if one comes up. It also saves paper, since you can simply delete a task from your list after it's done. And, you can easily create new lists and switch between them, or copy-paste tasks from one to-do list to another.

Tip 3: Break your tasks down into simpler, actionable steps

Instead of writing: "Revise chemistry"

I suggest you write: "Read through topic on esters", "Complete practice exam from 2016", "Take notes on chapter 2"

This way, you already know exactly what to do when you sit down to study. Granted, you'll have more on your list, but you'll spend a lot less time thinking about what to actually work on.

On top of that, each step will take less time. This results in smaller, more consistent burst of motivation during the day, as tasks can be crossed off from the list more often. It additionally aids with motivation by filling your to-do list with easier tasks.

To continue with the example above, instead of needing to face the dreadful, undefined concept of revising chemistry, you can simply only read through the topic on esters. At least from personal experience, I can say I'm much more likely to complete one small task and then be motivated enough to do the rest, instead of having to work through one endless task.

Tip 4: Don't include deadlines in your to-do lists

This is optional, but I personally prefer not to include deadlines in my to-do lists, since I already have the tasks divided into days. Instead, I keep important deadlines in my calendar or in reminders.

So, when you are dividing your to-do list into day-by-day lists, I suggest you not only take into account how tasks link together, but also how urgent they are. More urgent ones go near the top of the to-do list for a closer day, while less urgent tasks can go on a to-do list for next week.

Once you have your to-do lists organised in this manner, you no longer need to worry about deadlines, as long as you stick to your to-do list. As a result of this, a lot of time pressure goes away, and stress is reduced.

Tip 5: Start with the hardest task

There's always a task that you've been putting off for a while. Either because its effortful, boring, or simply monotonous.

But if you start with the hardest task, you gain something valuable: momentum. Once you've overcome that task, all following tasks will feel a lot easier.

On top of that, not only physical, but also mental energy is limited. Harder tasks are more tiring, so if you tick them off earlier, you will still have sufficient energy to complete them. By contrast, if you had already completed a handful of tasks beforehand, and had already spent some mental energy, you would have less remaining for the harder task.

Tip 6: One task at a time - the problem with multitasking

Multitasking rarely works. If you try to do two or more tasks at a time, you often spread your attention too thinly. You might think that it's more efficient, but often you'd be better off just focusing on one task.

Switching between tasks requires some parts of your brain to switch off, and some parts to switch on. That means, it takes a bit of time to get into a new task. The more you switch, the more time is wasted on this, and the more mental effort is required.

Because, when you're multitasking, you're often not actually multitasking. You aren't actually doing two tasks at the exact same time. A counter example would be that you're on a call while riding a bicycle. That is actual multitasking. But that is only the case for when you are doing one physical act and one mental act at the same time.

If you attempt two mental actions at the same time, it won't work. You cannot talk to someone while you are writing. You cannot listen to a video while reading. Instead, what happens is that you constantly switch back and forth every couple seconds, shifting your focus constantly.

But that way, all those short moments of readjusting to the new task begin to add up, and you never fully focus on either task.

So it's not just about time. It's also about quality.

From personal experience I can say that the quality of my work suffers a lot when I am doing something at the same time. To produce something of useful quality, you need undivided attention, and you need it for a long period of time.