Why to make a to-do

Physics assignments, cleaning the desktop folders, redoing the test, checking the syllabus for environmental studies, working out, helping mom with container alignments in the kitchen, calling my best friend and cleaning my room, phew! This is what my to-do looks like. Ever heard your teen saying something similar about their to-do? No? This is serious, you have to make them understand why a to-do is important. Hang-on, but before you do it, are you keeping a to-do tool or journal with you to stay organized and remove stress? Don’t tell me a No.

A to-do list is the ultimate boon for bringing your productivity out.If you don’t want to grab your journal to write things down, how about having an application on your phone or tablet. Some super-fun apps with their amazing UX can make you fall in love with them.

Suggesting you some below:

• Habitica

• Memorigi

• ClickUp

• TickTick

• Trello

• Microsoft to do

• Google Keep

Of course, we do have many reasons to keep a to-do but let’s talk rather about how-to. Read the quick guide on how to make your to-do:

1. Prioritize what’s important: This is the toughest task while starting the to-do planning. Prioritizing tasks means picking up the important ones. As in things that we need to finish today and will be impacting tomorrow if today it won’t get done. Or those tasks which have a deadline for today. Play smart here and bring up the tasks which you have to complete for the day.

2. Map the timeline: I will share my cheat hack here. I usually label my to-do as the first half, post lunch and evening. This makes me feel like I have work for each part of my whole 24*7 and I take them as per the labels. I usually start with something which I was trying to complete or thinking of completing yesterday. In the first half, take up the bigger or most important tasks so that you won’t regret it in the evening. It’s a good idea if you label blocks with the estimated time of completion and their sense of emergency.

3. Organize the cells or blocks: Using Labels and color coding in your task management system helps your brain with an easy ride to process the importance of the work. A clear color contrast always attracts more attention and an interesting visibility of an object or information someone wants to spread or convey. Hence using colors is always a good mantra to get the brain involved.

4. Piece down a huge task into bricks: As you just read above, it is a good idea to start your day with the most important task. Post completion of the most important task, streamline those tasks that are pretty much aligning to the work you have completed or are planning to complete. In simple work if Work 1 has A,B,C part, start with A and then to B and then to C. In this way your Work 1 will be completed. It’s never a good idea to pick random tasks from your to-do. Sequence always adds to flow.

5. Share it with someone: “Log kya sochenge”, using this psyc one can achieve what they have talked about. Because of the fear and the feeling of accountability towards ourselves and our growth we end up completing tough projects, finishing up our studies with good grades, taking risks in our career and what not. Same story rolls out for to-do. If you share your to-do with a colleague, parent, sibling or a friend, you have a thing in mind that they know that I have planned to complete N tasks for today and I will have to do it . As a result, you will work towards that aggressively.

6. Be kind to yourself: Life is all about initiating things with baby steps. If you are new to “to-do planning”, initiate with 3-5 tasks per day and later when you feel efficient, keep adding tasks as per your efficiency. Please don’t bombard your to-do with a lot of lists which may end up making you mentally and physically exhausted.

I hope you will try making one for yourself. Happy planning and wish you a productive day.