As professionals, our days are obviously questionably organised, with new tasks finding their way into our inboxes at regular intervals. One of the main reasons that we can diagnose for debatable organisation is our naivety in producing a to-do list that actually helps us organise our day. We often write our tasks in the form of a long list, which can be hard to read and also demoralising when we see it. The trick is to split your list into a window; four boxes, each placing tasks into 4 defined categories.
Highly Urgent, Highly Important
At the start of the day, these are the tasks that you should be working through at speed, considered as highly important. Realistically, nothing (or at least, very little) should be completed before these tasks can be ticked off.
Highly Urgent, Less Important
These tasks require less of your time, but it is important that they should be completed at speed. Once these tasks are completed, you will be focus on less urgent projects that may require more time and investment to be completed.
Less Urgent, Highly Important
Requiring less focus on speed, these tasks tend to be larger projects that take longer to complete and require greater attention to detail. The importance of each of these tasks generally means that your deadline will be more manageable.
Less Urgent, Less Important
The tasks in this section are tasks that will need doing, but generally bring little value to your day or the business. People doing these tasks first often fall into the trap of a badly planned day. Another important piece of advice that we can give is to write to-do lists at the end of the day instead of the start. By writing at the end of the day, you are prepared for the upcoming day and you nullify any worrying about the next day in your evening and can be immediately productive the next day. A well-written to-do list can be an important part of enjoying a productive day, do you have any top tips for writing the perfect to do list. Leave your thoughts in the comments section below.
